Embedded Files
Eastside High School (2026-2027)
Instructor: Nathan Shaw
Room: C139
Course Title: Advanced Placement Human Geography
Credit: 1 Unit
AP Human Geography Exam Date: May 3rd, 2027
Teacher Contact Information
Phone: 864-355-2843
Email: nmshaw@greenville.k12.sc.us (preferred method of contact)
Teacher Schedule – 2026-2027
1st Semester:
1st Block: Human Geo. (CP) 8:45–10:15
2nd Block: Human Geo. (H) 10:20-11:55
3rd Block: Planning 12:00-2:05
4th Block: Human Geo. (CP) 2:10-3:40
2nd Semester:
1st Block: AP Human Geo. 8:45–10:15
2nd Block: Human Geo. (H) 10:20-11:55
3rd Block: AP Human Geo. 12:00-2:05
4th Block: Planning 2:10-3:40
Steps to Effectively Reading Your Textbook
Recommended Materials
3 ring binder
Subject dividers for notebook
College ruled notebook paper
Blue or black pens
#2 pencils
12 pack of colored pencils
Course Introduction
AP Human Geography is a year-long, college-level course offering dual high school and college credit. The course is a systematic study of the nature of geography, focusing on human interaction with the geographical landscape of the earth. Topics to be discussed include basic geographical skills, concepts in population analysis, human cultural patterns, human migration, descriptions of political spaces and landscapes, agriculture and food production, industrialization, economic development of states, theories in city development, and urban land use.
Students will learn and employ geographical skills to analyze maps and spatial data, understand and apply geographical models to explain and predict human interaction with the environment, and illustrate geographical concepts with examples from both local and global geography.
Course Textbooks
● Bednarz, Sarah, Mark Bockenhauer, and Fred Hiebert. Human Geography: A Spatial Perspective. AP Edition. Chicago: National Geographic Learning, 2021. (required; available through Google Classroom)
● Barron’s AP Human Geography (not required)
○ Students are strongly encouraged to purchase this review guide for the AP Exam at a local book store or online. (Amazon: 2025 premium edition – $29.99; older/used editions are also acceptable).
● AMSCO Advanced Placement Human Geography, 2nd Edition (not required)
○ This is another excellent recommended text for students to use during the course and review (Perfection Learning – $22.95; no answers in text)
Resources/Materials Used
● Goode’s World Atlas. 22nd edition. New York: Rand McNally.
● National Geographic Magazine
○ Including maps, articles, and website
● Various other articles, films/videos, images, maps, etc.
Course Objectives
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
● Interpret maps and analyze geospatial data.
● Understand the associations and networks among phenomena in particular places and explain their implications.
● Understand and apply geographical models to explain and predict human interaction with the environment.
● Recognize and interpret the relationships among patterns and processes at different scales of analysis.
● Define regions and evaluate the regionalization process.
● Illustrate geographical concepts with examples from local geography.
The AP Exam
On May 3rd, 2027, all students will take the AP Exam. A score of 3, 4, or 5 (on a 1-5 scale) is accepted for credit at most colleges and universities. The exam is 2 hours 15 minutes in length and includes a multiple-choice section (60 questions in 60 minutes) and a free response section (3 essays in 75 minutes). This exam does not affect a student’s grade for this course; a passing score will only determine whether college credit has been earned.
Late Testing Policy
Please be aware of College Board testing policies regarding late or make-up AP Exam testing. All students are expected to take the AP Human Geography exam on May 3rd, 2027. If a student fails to take an AP exam on its scheduled date and time for certain unexcused reasons (see below), students will be assessed a late fee of $99.00 per exam. In addition, students will be required to pay an additional $40.00 to register for a make-up test.
Unexcused reasons for missing an AP exam include:
● Student Decides Not to Take the Exam: Student decides not to take the exam after exam order is submitted, and November 15 final ordering deadline has passed (Unused/canceled exam fee applied). Reasons include:
○ College of choice doesn’t award credit for the exam.
○ Student who is performing poorly in the class decides not to take the exam after November 15.
○ After conflicts with regularly scheduled exam administration dates, student refuses to test on any other available scheduled testing dates.
● Student Joins or Drops a Class After Nov. 15: Student joins or drops a class after the November 15 final exam ordering deadline. (Unused/canceled exam fee applied, unless a student transfers to or from the school.)
● Late Student Registration: Exam orders placed after November 15 due to an outstanding balance hold, a security hold, or an incomplete AP Participation Form (Late order fee applied)
● School Policy Late order fee applied: Any local policy that prevents submission of the exam order (in full or for an individual student) by the November 15 final ordering deadline.
● Late order or unused/canceled exam fee applied: School decides to move a student into or out of a full-year AP class after the November 15 final ordering deadline has passed.
If a student fails to take an AP exam on its scheduled date and time for certain excused reasons (see below), late testing is permitted without incurring an additional fee.
Excused reasons for missing an AP exam without incurring an additional fee are:
● Academic contest/event
● Athletic contest/event
● Conflict with IB or Cambridge exam
● Conflict with nationally, province-, or state-mandated test
● Delayed shipment
● Disabilities accommodations issue
● Emergency: bomb scare or fire alarm
● High school graduation
● Language lab scheduling conflict
● Makeup AP Exam due to an incident during the initial exam
● Religious/holiday observance
● School closing: election, national holiday, or natural disaster
● Serious injury, illness, or family tragedy
● Strike/labor conflict
● Student court appearance
● 2 or more AP Exams on the same date at the same time
Note to all AP Students:
Absences for AP exams must be cleared through your AP Teacher and AP Testing Coordinator (Dr. Roessler - aroessle@greenville.k12.sc.us) a minimum of 48 hours prior to the day of the scheduled AP test. In an emergency, please contact your teacher as soon as possible to let them know of your intentions for the make-up exam. Make-up exams must be ordered and are on a deadline.
For more information, please see the College Board statement and polices on late testing.
Description of Assignments and Assessments
Students will be exposed to a variety of in-class activities and assignments, in addition to out-of-class homework assignments. Students will be expected to follow an assignment calendar, to be distributed at the beginning of each unit. Activities and assignments will consist of:
- Textbook readings - Article Reviews/Responses
- Textbook reading questions - Essays
- Map assignments - Current events
- Review guides
Assessments will include chapter tests, periodic quizzes (reading quizzes and pop quizzes) projects, and FRQ’s (free-response questions). Tests and quizzes will be structured in similar fashion as the AP exam. FRQ’s will be assigned along with tests and periodically throughout the year. In an FRQ, students will be expected to answer a series of questions in essay format, providing all relevant information possible to answer the question. FRQ’s will not be graded according to writing style, but in according to accuracy and completeness of the answer.
Students are expected to submit assignments on the day they are assigned. Assignments and assessments will be noted on a chapter/unit assignment calendar, along with their due dates. If a student fails to submit an assignment in class on the day assigned, he/she has until 11:59 PM on the same day to submit the assignment (in a picture or scanned image) to nmshaw@greenvilleschools.us. After 11:59, the assignment will be counted late and will be subject to the Late Work Policy, outlined below.
Course Pacing Guide
Table includes topics of study, estimated time spent per unit, weighting of the AP exam per unit, and the corresponding textbook reading for each unit.
Unit I: Thinking Geographically
Time: 1.5-2 weeks
% of AP Exam: 8-10%
Textbook Reading: Human Geography: A Spatial Perspective, Ch. 1-2
Unit II: Population and Migration Patterns and Processes
Time: 2 weeks
% of AP Exam: 12-17%
Textbook Reading: Human Geography: A Spatial Perspective, Ch. 3-5
Unit III: Cultural Patterns and Processes
Time: 3 weeks
% of AP Exam: 12-17%
Textbook Reading: Human Geography: A Spatial Perspective, Ch. 6-8
Unit IV: Political Patterns and Processes
Time: 2 weeks
% of AP Exam: 12-17%
Textbook Reading: Human Geography: A Spatial Perspective, Ch. 9-11
Unit V: Agricultural and Rural Land-Use Patterns and Processes
Time: 1.5 weeks
% of AP Exam: 12-17%
Textbook Reading: Human Geography: A Spatial Perspective, Ch. 12-14
Unit VII: Industrial and Economic Development Patterns and Processes
Time: 2 weeks
% of AP Exam: 12-17%
Textbook Reading: Human Geography: A Spatial Perspective, Ch. 18-20
Unit VI: Cities and Urban Land-Use Patterns and Processes
Time: 2.5 weeks
% of AP Exam: 12-17%
Textbook Reading: Human Geography: A Spatial Perspective, Ch. 15-17
Exam Review and Preparation
Time: 2 weeks
Recommended Reading: AP Human review books (AMSCO, Barron’s, etc.)
Final Exam Project
Time: 1 week
AP Human Geography Exam
May 3rd, 2027
Unit Outline and Topics Discussed
I. Geography: Its Nature and Perspectives
● Geography as a field of study
● Geographical concepts, skills, and tools in spatial analysis
○ Location, place, scale, pattern, nature, networks, etc.
● Geographical skills to analyze world patterns and processes
○ Using spatial thinking to explain population and migration, cultural patterns, political geography, agriculture, etc.
○ Using and interpreting maps
○ Using models to think systematically about geographic topics (Demographic Transition Model, Von Thünen Model, Burgess Concentric Zone Model, etc.)
● Technologies that gather and analyze spatial data
○ GIS, GPS
● Gathering geographic information in the field
● Required Reading:
○ Human Geography: A Spatial Perspective, Ch. 1-2
II. Population and Migration
● Geographic analysis of human populations
○ Influence of physical and political geography on population distribution
○ Spatial patterns of human population: global, national, local scales
○ Demographic description of populations
○ Use of population pyramids to illustrate population information
● Growth and decline of populations
○ Birth rates, death rates, growth rates, etc.
○ Use of the Demographic Transition Model to explain periods of population growth and decline
○ Residential mobility, population distribution and density, and need for infrastructure
○ Causes and consequences of human migration
○ Push and pull factors of migration
○ Forced and voluntary migrations
○ Historical migrations
● Required Reading:
○ Human Geography: A Spatial Perspective, Ch. 3-5
III. Cultural Patterns and Processes
● Concepts of culture
○ Shared characteristics of cultures
○ Using maps to plot cultural regions and cultural traits
● Variety of cultures
○ Language, religion, customs, ethnicity, gender, etc.
● Required Reading:
○ Human Geography: A Spatial Perspective, Ch. 6-8
IV. Political Organization of Space
● Historical influences on political geography
○ Rise of the nation-state and modern state
● Territoriality and power influence spatial political patterns
○ Political control over regions of a state
○ International, national, and local boundaries
○ Types of political power, state morphology, local power, etc.
● Globalization’s influence on political-territorial arrangements
○ Supranationalism, devolution, centripetal and centrifugal forces
● Required Reading:
○ Human Geography: A Spatial Perspective, Ch. 9-11
V. Agriculture, Food Production, and Rural Land Use
● Agriculture spurred human alteration of the environment
○ Hearths of agriculture and animal husbandry
○ Impact of the second agricultural revolution on food production and the Industrial Revolution
○ The Green Revolution as a force in modern agriculture
● Physical geography and economic forces affect agriculture
○ Spatial organization of commercial and local farms
○ Global supply chain of food
● Settlement patterns and rural land use affect the cultural and environmental landscape
○ Von Thünen’s Model of Agricultural Land Use
○ Consequences of agriculture on the environment
● Challenges and opportunities resulting from changes in food production and consumption
○ Biotechnology, GMO’s, depletion of agricultural resources, etc.
○ Changing role of women in food production and consumption
● Required Reading:
○ Human Geography: A Spatial Perspective, Ch. 12-14
VI. Industrialization and Economic Development
● The Industrial Revolution improved standards of living
○ New technologies, resources, etc.
○ Weber’s model
● Describing social and economic differences by measuring economic development •
○ Gross National Income, gender inequality, demographic statistics
● Development is a process that varies across space and time.
○ International trade, interdependence of economic systems
○ Changing economic front through high-technology industries
● Addressing depleting resources and environmental degradation through sustainable development
○ Natural resource depletion, pollution, challenges of climate change,
● Required Reading:
○ Human Geography: A Spatial Perspective, Ch. 18-20
VII. Cities and Urban Land Use
● Changing urban settlements
○ Site and situation of urban settlements
○ Rise of world cities
○ Megacities and megalopoli
● Using models to understand city distribution and size
○ Christallers’s central place theory
○ Gravity model
● Using models of city structure and development to analyze urban spaces
○ Burgess Concentric Zone model, Hoyt Sector model, Harris-Ullman Multiple-Nuclei model
○ World regional models
● Analyzing attitudes and values of a population through city development
● Challenges facing urban areas
○ Economic, social, political, cultural, and environmental
○ Economic and social problems stemming from the decline of urban communities
○ Land use and environmental problems stemming from urban sprawl, pollution, energy use, etc.
● Required Reading:
○ Human Geography: A Spatial Perspective, Ch. 15-17
Grading System/Course Requirements
This course will be taught in a manner similar to a college course. Students are expected to read outside of class, take notes from lectures, complete field study assignments, and write frequent essays and free response essays. Students will take a vocabulary quiz during each unit.
The grading breakdown for this class is found below:
- Unit/Chapter Tests, Major Essays, Projects: 60%
- Quizzes/Class Assignments/Homework: 40%
Make-up Work Policy
● Make-up work is defined as work not completed or turned in due to a student’s absence.
● This policy is set by the district.
● Students may be allowed to make up work due to absences that are excused, unexcused or related to discipline with no penalty within 5 days or a reasonable time according to GCSD board policy.
● If a student misses work due to an absence, it is the student’s responsibility to coordinate time with the teacher within 5 days of return to make up the work. Any work not submitted within the 5 day makeup period will turn into “late work.”
● Alternative assignments may be given for performance-based tasks that cannot be recreated in a make up format.
● If a student is present on the day a test, quiz or project due date is announced and then absent on the day of the test, quiz or project deadline, he/she must be prepared to take the test, quiz or turn in the project on the day he/she returns to school.
● Field trips and participation in other extracurricular events (such as athletics) are considered attendance days. Work missed due to such events can be submitted electronically by midnight on the day that it is due. Items that cannot be submitted electronically should be submitted the following attendance day.
● Students are encouraged to utilize the before and after school tutoring programs to complete make-up and late work in a proactive manner.
Late Work Policy
Teachers reserve the right to alter this policy based on extenuating circumstances. Extenuating circumstances should be discussed with the administration.
● Late work is defined as work not completed/turned in on time even though the student attended the class.
● Any assignment which is not turned in on time will be deducted 10 points off of the original grade earned for each school day the assignment is late up to five days.
● After five days, the student will be assigned a 0 for the assignment.
● Late work will not be accepted after the end of a grading period.
● Students who have 504/IEP/ESOL accommodations specifically allowing for extra time may exceed the 5 day window to maintain compliance with their respective educational plan.
● Dual Credit courses may have varying late work policies that are aligned with their parent university.
● Students are encouraged to utilize the before and after school tutoring programs to complete make-up and late work in a proactive manner.
South Carolina Grading System
A 90-100 D 60-69
B 80-89 F 51-59 (Partial GPA Credit)
C 70-79 F 50 or below (No GPA Credit)
Class Expectations
● Daily Materials: Students need a 3-ring binder, dividers, notebook paper, blue or black pens, and textbook each day. Optional package of index cards to use as a study aid (Barron’s APHG Flash Cards are an alternative to index cards)
● Classroom Management: Good behavior is expected of all students. Each student should participate in class activities. All school policies will be enforced. Be respectful of everyone in class. • Restroom and Tardy Policies: School tardy policy will be enforced. Students should use the restroom facilities before class or use a smartpass at an appropriate time in class.
● Phone Usage: The school phone policy, as outlined below, will be followed.
○ Eastside High School is a Personalized Learning School with each student having access to a chromebook to use for instructional purposes.
○ To increase student engagement and minimize distractions to the instructional environment, students are not allowed to use their personal electronic devices, which include, but are not limited to cell phones and earbuds, during any class.
○ Students may use their personal devices before school, after school, during lunch and during class changes.
○ Failure to comply with this policy will be treated as a refusal to obey. A consequence matrix addressing infractions is included in the student handbook and located on the school’s website.
○ Neither the school nor the district will be responsible for any lost, stolen, or damaged electronic device or cell phone brought onto school property.
Discipline Plan
Depending on the offense, students may have one or more of the following as consequences for their actions (Some offenses will require an immediate referral.):
1. Warning
2. Parent contact: phone call/email
3. Detention
4. Referral to appropriate administrator
Classroom Procedures and Regulations
● Students will, during class discussions and lectures, raise their hand to be recognized by the teacher before they speak. If the teacher or a student is addressing the class, no one is to talk or leave his/her seat for any reason.
● Reading the textbook is a daily assignment, even when it is not specifically assigned.
● Bring textbooks and materials every day.
● Be seated when the tardy bell rings and remain seated until dismissed.
● All assignments are due as scheduled unless the student is absent the day the assignment was announced. If a student is present when an assignment or assessment is announced and is absent on the due date, the student will bring the completed assignment or take the assessment (i.e. a test) on the first day returned to class.
● It is the student’s responsibility to ask the teacher for any work missed due to an absence, not the other way around.
● No food is allowed in class. Only drinks that may be sealed will be accepted in class.
● Students are expected to keep the room neat and will properly dispose of trash or recyclables.
● No personal grooming or applying makeup during class. This includes brushing hair, trimming or painting fingernails, etc.
● Do not sleep in class. Students will not be allowed to make-up missed work because of sleeping.
All rules of conduct stated in the student handbook apply to this class
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