AP Human Geography / Mrs. Tweed, CHS
AP Human Geography Syllabus
Mrs. Tweed – Room 210 – Camas High School – Camas, WA Conference Period: 2:10-2:40 p.m. 360-833-5750, x 37210 BLOG: http://staff.camas.wednet.edu/blogs/
“This is not all that complicated: Give young people a context where they can translate a positive imagination into reality . . . and guess what? They usually don’t want to blow up the
world. They usually want to be a part of it.”
~The World is Flat, Thomas L. Friedman, p. 459
Course Overview:
AP Human Geography is for the exceptionally studious student who wishes to earn college credit in high school through a rigorous academic program. We will also be stressing habits of mind that will assist students in developing higher-level critical analysis. AP Human Geography is a year-long course that focuses on the distribution, processes, and effects of human populations on the planet. Units of study include population, migration, culture, language, religion, ethnicity, political geography, economic development, industry, agriculture, and urban geography, including resource issues. Emphasis is placed on geographic models and their applications. Case studies from around the globe are compared to the situation in both the United States and locally in Washington state. CD-ROM, videos, and Internet activities are used to explore certain topics.
The course will be divided into two components: Cultural and Political; and Economic, which both align with the outline encouraged by the College Board. We will complete the first component in our first semester. The final unit will be completed during our second semester. This will leave room for review time before the national AP exam in May.
Fall Semester Spring Semester
Thinking Geographically Development
Population Agriculture
Migration Industry
Folk and Popular Culture Services
Language Urban Patterns
Religion Resource Issues
Ethnicity
Political Geography
Course Objectives:
The College Board suggests the development of a skill set they term as AP “Habits of Mind”. My goal as a teacher is to provide meaningful instruction, activities, and projects that challenge students to develop these skill-based ways of interpreting AP Human Geography. Besides the Advanced Placement test in May, students will be given a variety of opportunities and options to practice and demonstrate their knowledge, growth, and learning towards the following skills and goals:
· Use evidence to construct and evaluate plausible arguments.
· Analyze point of view, context, and bias to interpret primary source documents.
· Assess issues of change and continuity over time.
· Understand diversity of interpretation arises from frame of reference.
· Connect global patterns over time and space to local developments.
· Compare reactions to global issues within and among societies.
· Use effective writing style.
· Ability to evaluate critically and to compare scholarly works
· Ability to synthesize data
· The ability to analyze, interpret, and respond to stimulus-based data including charts, graphs, maps, cartoons, and quotes.
Course Materials:
Main Textbooks
(Atlas) Geography Alive! Palo Alto: Teacher’s Curriculum Institute, 2006.
Princeton Review. Cracking the AP Human Geography Exam. 2012 ed. New York:
Random House, Inc., 2012. Encourage each student to buy a copy.
Kuby, Michael. Human Geography in Action. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.,
2010.
Rubenstein, James M. The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human
Geography. 10th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2010.
Steinberg, Philip and Kathleen Sheran-Morris. People in Places: A Documentary
Case-Study Workbook. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2005.
Outside Readings and Resources Used in the Course:
de Blij, H. J., and Alexander B. Murphy. Human Geography: Culture, Society, and
Space. 7th ed. New York: John Wiley, 2003.
Fellman, Jerome, Arthur Getis, and Judith Getis. Human Geography: Landscape of
Human Activities. 11th ed. Boston: WCB/McGraw-Hill, 2010.
Friedman, Thomas L. The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first
Century. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005.
Human Geography: People, Place, and Change. Produced by Eleanor Morris.
Narrated by Dane Hahn. South Burlington, VT: Annenberg/CPB Collection,
1996. DVD set.
The Human Mosaic: A Cultural Approach to Human Geography, 11 ed. New York: W. H.
Freeman and Company, 2010.
Knox, Paul, and Sallie A. Marston. Human Geography: Places and Regions in Global
Context, 5th ed. New York: Prentice Hall, 2010.
Kunstler, James Howard. The Geography of Nowhere: the Rise and Decline of
America’s Man-made Landscape. New York: Touchstone, 1993.
Population Growth. Washington, DC: Zero Population Growth, 1999.
The Power of Place: Geography for the 21st Century series. Video. Santa Barbara:
Annenberg/CPB Project, 1996. DVD set.
Population Reference Bureau Population and Migration Teaching Modules.
www.prb.org
Reid, T.R. Confucius Lives Next Door: What Living in the East Teaches Us about
Living in the West. New York: Vintage Books, 1999.
Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. New
York: Perennial, 2002.
Upfront Magazines, published monthly by New York Times
** Official College Board AP Human Geography Website”
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/courses/teachers_corner/8154.html
Basic Standards & Policies:
To guarantee a successful year, students need to adhere to the following:
Be Prompt:
· When the bell rings, be inside the classroom (class tardy/attendance policy in the CHS Student Handbook)
Be Prepared:
· Come to class rested and ready to learn with your materials, supplies, and homework.
Be Polite:
· Respect everyone’s personal rights, property, and opinion
Be Attentive:
· Practice active listening skills when the teacher, visitors, or other students are addressing the class. Raise your hand if you wish to question or contribute.
Be Cooperative:
· Cooperate with your teachers, CHS staff, principals, and classmates
Be Responsible:
· Ask for help when you need it
· Keep track of your books and assignments
· Turn your work in on time
· Do your part in cooperative learning projects
· Challenge yourself to grow
· Accept responsibility for your grades and actions
Supplies:
· Buy this invaluable resource for helping yourself review the AP Human Geography portion of the course: Princeton Review. Cracking the AP Human Geography Exam 2010.
· 1 large 3-hole binder for just AP Human Geography
· 18 dividers for 13 chapters + vocabulary + project guides – placed in binder
· 100 3x5 or 4x6 for vocabulary flashcards – optional
· Ruler
· 8 ½ x 11 college ruled notebook paper for activities
· 3.5” diskette or storage device (USB flash drive); please label with name
· CHS Format and Documentation Guidelines 2012/2013 0 Mrs. Niebrugge, Librarian
Homework Policy:
Homework is a tool in the teaching and learning process when it has purpose and meaning as an extension of learning in the classroom. In my classroom, work may be completed outside of the normal school day for a number of reasons:
· Absence: to make up work missed during an excused absence
· Completion: to finish work not completed at school for which time has been given to do so in class
· Extension: to provide students with opportunities to transfer specific skills or concepts to new situations
· Practice: to help students master specific skills which have been presented in class
· Preparation: to help students prepare for the next step in a unit or study for a quiz or test
Since this is an AP course, students should be expected to spend approximately 60-70 minutes of homework each night. This includes daily assigned reading, monthly ESPeN assignments, chapter reading quizzes, chapter vocabulary tests, 13 unit tests that mirror the AP May Test in re: to multiple choice and short essay responses, and a Semester I Final.
Submitting Course Work:
Written Work:
· Outside written work, unless otherwise noted, must be typed double-spaced on 8 ½ x 11 paper with 1” margins. 12-point Times/Arial or another standard font is acceptable. Identifying information must be included on a cover page OR in the upper left margin (MLA with Name, Mrs. Tweed, AP Human Geography-Period 1 or 3, date (23 March 2011), title of assignment).
· If turned in digitally (Turnitin.com) files must be placed in the appropriate network/assignment folder with appropriate titles.
· Turnitin.com passwords for 2010/2011 are:
Period 1: class name: AP Human Geography Period 1
class ID: 4093553 class password: tweed23
Period 4: class name: AP Human Geography Period 4
class ID: 4093554 class password: tweed23
Period 6: class name: AP Human Geography Period 6
class ID: 4093555 class password: tweed23
· In-class written work must be hand written on 8 ½ x 11 college ruled paper in black or dark blue ink. Indentifying information must be included on the first page in the left upper margin MLA style (name, teacher, course-period, date (23 March 2012), title of assignment.
· Students may re-write any written work that was initially completed outside of class for a revise grade. A rewrite conference is optional (unless otherwise noted) but strongly suggested. To receive credit, the original copy must be attached to the finial copy. The revised grade will be the average of the two scores.
Readings:
· Students will be assigned a variety of readings each week. In order for us to make good use of our class time together, students will obviously need to complete these and related assignments prior to their due dates. Readings will come primarily from the main course text, but they may be assigned from additional sources. It is absolutely essential that students keep up with the weekly readings in this AP course.
Grading Policy;
A student’s letter grade is just one of the ways progress and learning in a subject is measured. Progress report and semester grades will reflect work done in the grading cycle. In accordance with the Camas High School grading policy, letter grades will be awarded using the standard grading scale in the CHS Student Handbook.
Grades are based on work done in four weighted categories:
· Daily Homework, Projects, Participation: 30%. This category includes any papers, Key Issue assignments per chapter, participation, and ESPeN chapter assignments (13 total over year). Any assignment covering multiple days or one assigned for completion out of class falls into this category. The bulk of homework assignments will come from weekly readings and notes students take at home, vocabulary, and extended writing tasks assigned for completion outside of class.
· Reading Quizzes: 30%. This category covers weekly reading assignments and quizzes for each Key Issue in a chapter. Understanding the text materials is measured by weekly quizzes and helps me encourage students to participate in study sessions after school if they are not performing well on weekly quizzes.
· Chapter /Unit Tests: 40%. This category covers the 13 chapter tests plus practice AP tests which mirror the May tests in multiple choice and short essay response.
AP Incentive: If you take the AP Test and pass with a grade of three or better, your class grade will go up one grade, both semesters. If you score a five on the test, you automatically receive an “A” in the class, both semesters. However, you must have at least a 73% (C) in the class and all assignments turned in to qualify for the AP incentive. The AP Test will be your final for second semester. If you choose not to take the test, you will be given an in-class final of equal rigor that counts toward your grade @ 30% of the class grade.
To help improve communication with home and empower students to be responsible for their academic progress, students and parents will have access to grades and class information online through the district grading system SKYWARD. Passwords and individual logons will be established and communicated in the first few weeks of school.
Late Work/ Attendance Policy:
I will state it simply; unexcused late work is not acceptable. As always, late work issues not specifically covered in this policy will arise due to family emergencies, extenuating circumstances, etc. Students should see me with any individual concerns they may have, preferable prior to due dates. Please make every effort to minimize unnecessary absences while taking an AP course. It is impossible to replace the learning situations and whole class activities students miss while out of the classroom. For specifics on the CHS attendance policy we adhere to, consult the student handbook. Please note the following: For each day of excused absence, one day is given to complete or make up work.
Academic Honesty Policy:
Plagiarism occurs when a person passes off someone else’s work as his or her own. This can range from failing to cite an author or source for ideas incorporated into a paper to handling in a paper or assignment copied completely or partially from the Internet or another person. A student is guilty of plagiarism when he or she presents another person’s intellectual property, consciously or not, as his or her own. For the purpose of this class, this would also include the academically dishonest practice of cheating on a test or stealing another person’s answers or work.
Based on guidelines adopted by Camas High School, students caught plagiarizing or being academically dishonest will receive a zero/”0” for that assignment and a failing grade in the course until the assignment has been made up or original work has been submitted. To help promote a culture of academic honesty, we will use turnitin.com as a tool in our classroom. The class ID and password are included under Submitting Course Work p. 5 of syllabus.
Closing Thoughts from Mrs. Tweed:
For many students in this class, this will be their first experience with an AP class, thus a challenging and rewarding experience awaits them with the potential to earn future college credit. Due to the rigorous nature of the course, some students may initially earn grades lower than what they might have experienced in previous academic settings. It must be clear the AP portion of this course is designed to stretch students in ways similar or equivalent to what an entry level college human geography course would do. In order to colleges to agree to award credit for AP scores earned through a course of study while in high school, the college Board has outlined a challenging curriculum and provided for a rigorous assessment to meet the expectations of these institutions. Therefore, the content and materials are mature, reflecting the diversity of culture and geographical perspective of people and places on Earth that leads to the study of human geography.
Please, if you find yourself struggling, look at it as an opportunity to grow and learn. Come and visit with me early so that we can figure out a successful course of action. Before unit tests, I offer study sessions after school as well as for several weeks before the May testing time. I look forward to working with you to create a positive and fascinating learning experience.