Welcome to AP Human Geography!
The purpose of the AP Human Geography course is to introduce students to the systematic study of patterns and processes that have shaped human understanding, use, and alteration of Earth’s surface. Students learn to employ spatial concepts and landscape analysis to examine human socioeconomic organization and its environmental consequences. They also learn about the methods and tools geographers use in their research and applications.
Course Overview
Human geography is the study of where humans and their activities and institutions such as ethnic groups, cities, and industries are located and why they are there. Human geographers also study the interactions of humans with their environment and draw on some basic elements of physical geography. For example, looking for and thinking about cultural imprints on the landscape, such as how Hispanic markets or religious institutions affect their environments, is geography. Locational questions like “Why is the interstate highway where it is?” or “Why do most Indonesians practice Islam?” are geographic questions with geographic answers. These are just two examples of how we can use the world around us in classroom lessons.
Course Objectives
The particular topics studied in an AP Human Geography course should be judged in light of the following five college-level goals that build on the National Geography Standards developed in 1994 and revised in 2012.
Curriculum of Study
I. Geography: Its Nature and Perspectives
II. Population and Migration
III. Cultural Patterns and Processes
IV. Political Organization of Space
V. Agriculture, Food Production, and Rural Land Use
VI. Industrialization and Economic Development
VII. Cities and Urban Land Use