Human Geography
Teacher: Annette Scott
Grades: 9 - 12
Meets: Wednesday 1:30 - 3:00
Class Description:
Human
Geography (in preparation to sit for the College Board Advanced Placement Human
Geography exam)
Human
Geography covers a wide variety of topics, with the basic goal of understanding
patterns and processes that have shaped human relationships on Earth over space
and time. This overarching goal can
be divided into five main sub-goals derived from the National Geography World
Literacy Standards, introduced in 1994.
Upon completion of an Introductory Geography course, students should be
able to:
Use and
think about maps and spatial data sets
Understand and interpret the implications of associations among phenomena in
places
Recognize and interpret at different scales the relationships among patterns
and processes
Characterize and analyze changing interconnections among places.
THEO’s Human
Geography course has seven main divisions of study followed by the percent of
questions on the AP exam in each division:
1.
Geography:
Its Nature and Perspectives
5 – 10%
2.
Population
and Migration 13 – 17%
3.
Cultural
Geography 13 – 17%
4.
Political
Geography 13 – 17%
5.
Agriculture
13 – 17%
6.
Economic
Geography 13 – 17%
7.
Urban
Geography 13 – 17%
Each of the
divisions will be addressed in class as a unit which tie directly back to the AP
exam.
Unique for
its newness (maybe five years old and is gaining popularity in the high school
systems) to AP College Board testing, Human Geography allows students in all
grades of High School to take the exam.
Generally an AP course is linear in study where the student must complete
a series of courses to be able to finally take the AP exam in their 11th
or 12th grade year. With
Human Geography, all grades may take the exam at the end of one year of study.
Therefore, the THEO Human Geography class can be taken by a 9th
or 10th grader since it is probably the only AP exam that they will
be taking allowing more time in preparing for the exam.
Background
information on Advanced Placement Exams:
AP exams are
scored as:
5 –
Extremely well qualified;
4 – Well
qualified;
3 -
Qualified;
2 - Possibly
qualified; and
1 – Not
recommended.
From
research of Texas State Universities, AP scores are accepted by Texas A&M
University and The University of Texas as well as others. Texas A&M and UT will
accept a 3 and better for credit in – Introduction to Human Geography.
This course would be considered part of the core curriculum at the
university. Please see
www.collegeboard.com for additional
information on this specific exam.
The results
of the AP examination for May 2009 are listed below:
5
5,855
11.6%
4
8,480
16.7%
3
11,116
21.9%
2
8,438 16.6%
1
16,830 33.2%
Every AP
exam is divided into two main sections:
Multiple Choice 50% (75 questions – 60 minutes), Free Response (essays)
50% (3 essays – 75 minutes.) The
essays will be graded based on knowledge, not on proper essay technique which
would require an introductory paragraph and thesis statements.
AP essays require knowledge be presented in an orderly manner answering
the detailed questions.
Taking the
AP exam is not a requirement to take this course. The AP exam currently costs
$86 and is offered each May to home educated students through a local private
school. A student may select to take
the course, but not take the exam. The
teacher will be responsible to see that each student is enrolled in the AP exam
if they so choose to take the exam.
Regardless,
this course will present itself well on the diligent student’s transcript.
Human Geography, even without the AP examination, satisfies the TEA’s
Graduation requirement of World Geography, but it could also be used by the
parent as they see fit for other possible credits—Social Studies, Sociology and
more.
Prerequisites:
Maximum number of students:
Homework:
This course
will require a fair amount of work on the part of the student, taking up to four
hours/week. There will be work
assigned each week and an exam will be given at the end of each unit.
During class, we will introduce the material for the week and work
through the AP study guides, text books and flash cards.
Towards the
end of the year we will take 4 or 5 practice exams during class.
If we run out of time for practice exams in class, we will meet an extra
time or two to get through as many exams as necessary to feel as prepared as
possible. The extra meeting times
will not be required but recommended.
Cost: $50/mo
Supplies that the students should bring to class:
Materials
are included in the price of tuition and the semester supply fee of $50 (paid in
fall and in spring both) and they include:
Classroom
materials will include:
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