Welcome to AP Human Geography

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Welcome to AP Human Geography The Why of Where!
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As a young man my fondest dream was to become a
geographer. However, while working in the customs
office I thought deeply about the matter and
concluded that it was far too difficult a
subject. With some reluctance, I then turned to
physics as a substitute.
Albert Einstein (1879-1955), Unpublished Letters
this quote was a hoax!
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Note Before we begin, whenever you see text in a
different colour than the rest of the text -
yellow, red, orange, green etc. This means that
it is a moment to stop, reflect, discuss and take
some important notes. Each chapter contains a
number of slide shows. Most of the slide shows
that are linked on the web are student versions.
In other words they have been stripped of
content. The teacher will use the more detailed
version and project it on the big screen.
Whenever you see three dots () it means that
material has been removed from your slide show
and that you need to take notes.
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These slide shows are designed to go hand in hand
with your readings of the book and the Key Issues
that you will be assigned to complete for each
chapter. It is simple - Read the textbook, do
the key issues, do the activities, follow the
slide shows in class and take notes!!!!
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The first day or so, we all pointed to our
countries. The third or fourth day we were
pointing to our continents. By the fifth day, we
were aware of only ONE earth Sultan Bin Salan
al-Saud, astronaut
Challenge to the students Get to know the
World! Geo-Games, Handouts, Maps and Atlas!
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"Geography is a discipline of diversity, under
whose spatial umbrella we study and analyze
processes, systems, behaviours, and countless
other phenomena that have spatial expression. It
is this tie that binds geographers, this interest
in patterns, distributions, diffusions,
circulations, interactions, juxtapositions - the
way in which the physical and human worlds are
laid out, interconnect and interact" Harm de
Blij, Why Geography Matters Discussion
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One last quote about what a Geographer is A
Geographer is a mile wide and an inch
deep Discussion!
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A mile wide and an inch deep!
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• One key aspect as to what a Geographer is, is
  that they can think spatially.
• Here is a quick look at Spatial Thinking
• How many decisions have to be made when parking a
  car in a large parking lot like Yorkdale Shopping
  Mall?
• Which section of Yorkdale do you wish to park?
• What stores do you want to go to?
• How close to the entrance can you park? - this
  can be a 3 dimensional decision

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• How far from the entrance (distance y)? lets
  call this the side distance
• What floor are you going to park and then can
  you park near stairs or an elevator
• How far from the entrance (distance x)? lets
  call this the straight-on distance

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• Remember that this is just to enter the mall,
  you will have to come back to this area to exit
  the mall.
• If you had your choice what would be the ideal
  spot? In the front, in the middle, next to a
  curb.
• The weather conditions might play a role - eg.
  you don't mind walking on a sunny warm day
• If it is night you may want to be near a lamp
  post

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• Who is with you may play a role? - an older
  person who does not want to walk a great
  distance, special parking
• Once a spot has been found - is there enough
  room to park, who are you next to, think about
  scratches, do you want to back in?
• Once the car is parked how are you going to
  remember where you parked it?- near certain
  stores, near certain landmarks including
  identified areas, remembering letters and numbers
  and colours and even other cars, looking at the
  stores and making a decision of how relative your
  car is to a store.

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Back to the course There is no ISP (Independent
Study Unit) in this course. Instead you will have
a series of Case Studies/Activities to write
about. Some of these Case Studies/Activities
will come from readings (a book or a newspaper),
some will come from research and some will come
from doing an assignment on a particular topic.
There is a text book called Human Geography in
Action. This book is full of hands on activities
that allow you to learn in an interactive way.
This book also comes with an interactive computer
program. Discussion about trying to use past work!
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You will have two exams in this course. One will
be the final exam for your Ontario credit. I will
set up this final exam. The other final exam
will be set up by the College Board. You will
write both exams in May. I will do my best to try
and get the two exam dates as close together as
possible. We have no control over the College
Board exam date. The Ontario credit exam is worth
20 of your final mark. The College Board exam is
out of 5 and it will go towards getting an AP
credit. It will have no effect on your Ontario
mark. This AP mark is treated differently
depending on the University you attend.
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Because the College Board and AP courses are
American based and all of the textbooks are
American, you will come across many examples from
the United States. There are two Canadian
versions of AP texts. Some of the content you
will find easy and a review of things you have
done before. If I may add a personal comment
The subject of Geography is in a better state at
the high school level in Canada than it is in the
United States. It is my job also to bring in
Canadian content to this course through the
Activities/Case Studies. There will not be a lot
of GIS in this course although you will be able
to see how GIS can help you in analyzing a lot of
the content.
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All of your tests this year will follow the
format of the AP exam Part A Multiple Choice
mainly coming from the key issues of the texts
and what we discussed in class. Knowledge portion
of your evaluation. Part B CRQ 1 to 3 essay
questions dealing with major topics discussed in
class. Thinking/Inquiry, Communication and
Application portion of your evaluation.
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The AP exam is marked out of 5!
AP Grade Qualification
5 Extremely well qualified 4
Well Qualified 3
Qualified 2
Possibly qualified 1
No recommendation
Our goal is to get you a 4 or a 5.
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Results for the Debut year (2004/2005) Total
enrollment for section 31 Grade 5 7 Grade 4
8 Grade 3 11 Grade 2 4 Grade 1 1 Average 3.52
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Results for the second year (2005/2006) Total
enrollment for section 41 Grade 5 10 Grade 4
19 Grade 3 9 Grade 2 3 Grade 1 0 Average 3.87
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Results for the third year (2006/2007) Total
enrollment for section 48 Grade 5 11 Grade 4
14 Grade 3 5 Grade 2 8 Grade 1 4 Average 3.48
Recalculated Total 30 Grade 5 11 Grade 4
14 Grade 3 3 Grade 2 2 Grade 1 0 Average
4.10
Note 1 did not write and 5 got 0 did not
write Part B. 12 walked out after 30 minutes
into Part B. The Students that stayed.

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Results for the fourth year (2007/2008) Total
enrollment for section 42 Grade 5 11 Grade 4
14 Grade 3 12 Grade 2 4 Grade 1 1 Average
3.71
The majority of students that received the 4s and
5s were the ones that consistently did the key
issues and activities and kept up with the course.
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Results for the fifth year (2008/2009) Total
enrollment for section 42 Grade 5 5 Grade 4
16 Grade 3 12 Grade 2 8 Grade 1 1 Average 3.4
Students tend to take the exam lightly since it
is the end of the year and they do not see the
importance of the AP grade. Wasted opportunity.
Lowest scores yet. How will you do against
students around the world.
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• Comments from the 04/05 - 05/06- 06/07 07/08 -
  08/09 classes
• The worksheets are great do them, dont copy
  them! Work Sheet Checks
• Read the book and make sure the teacher gathers
  content from other AP books - Vocabulary,
  Theories and What to know lists
• Be prepared when the teacher takes up the
  worksheets in class questions
• You must prepare for the tests and we should
  have more one after each chapter
• Less Case Studies no more case studies
  activities that take 60 minutes can be done in
  class very hands on from another book
• Work on Vocabulary Vocabulary list
• Know the world (eg. Countries and major cities)
  Periodical games and quizzes on countries of
  the world
• Too much content in the slide shows - Create
  student versions!

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What I have noticed in the last few years is that
students at Crescent already have a solid
background in Geography and that students who can
think on a global scale and are aware of what is
going on in the world have a better chance at a 5
on the final exam. You have to be able to think
out of the box. With that in mind we will be
incorporating some World Issues in the course
to keep you up-to-date. Also there is a super
Vocabulary list and a Theories list that will
really help you prepare.
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• Structure of the course from Day to Day
• Day to Day Homework
• Readings Each chapter has 4 KEY ISSUES. Your
  job is to read the chapter and complete the key
  issues worksheets. I will try and organize this
  work on your homework pages check the page
  regularly. Your in-class lectures and slide shows
  will be based on these key issues. Your tests
  will be based on these issues as well They are
  important.
• Key Terms/Slide Show Notes You will define key
  terms (in different colours in the slide shows)
  as you read through the chapter. Take notes as
  we go through the slide shows. There will be an
  extensive Vocabulary list at the end of each
  slide show.

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• Activities/Case Studies
• I will give you an activity or case study for
  each chapter you will be given a week or so to
  do them and hand them in for marking. The Late
  Policy applies.
• You will also be getting some short readings. In
  university you will be constantly reading. It is
  a good habit to get into.

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One last point The class of 05/06 and 06/07
mentioned that having a general knowledge of the
location of major countries, regions and cities
of the world was a good foundation for this
course. In other words Do you know where Chad
is?. With this in mind the teacher will hand
out a series of black line masters for each
continent. Your job is to identify the country.
Try your best and do not be embarrassed to make a
mistake. Click here to go to a page which takes
you to a Geography Games page, this is here for
you to learn and have fun at the same time.
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The End!