AP Human Geography

All course materials are posted to Google Classroom.

Registration for the 2025-2026 School Year:

This year-long class is open to interested students in grades 9-12, however, incoming 9th graders need to fill out an application for consideration in a college-level class. The application form is below. This course can be used in place of the required World Geography credit for 9th graders. AP Human Geography is an elective option for students in grades 10-12.

Requirements and Expectations:

-General interest in Geography and Social Studies

-Strong time management skills

-Strong reading and writing skills

-Appropriate maturity level and behavior for a college-level course

-Excellent classroom behavior

-Completed Application (for incoming 9th graders only)

-Application includes a personal essay explaining why the student is prepared to be challenged at a college level

-Grade Expectations: A’s/B’s earned in 7th and 8th grade Social Studies AND English classes

About:

"AP Human Geography introduces high school students to college-level introductory human geography or cultural geography. The content is presented thematically rather than regionally and is organized around the discipline’s main subfields: economic geography, cultural geography, political geography, and urban geography. The approach is spatial and problem oriented. Case studies are drawn from all world regions, with an emphasis on understanding the world in which we live today. Historical information serves to enrich analysis of the impacts of phenomena such as globalization, colonialism, and human–environment relationships on places, regions, cultural landscapes, and patterns of interaction. Specific topics with which students engage include the following:

problems of economic development and cultural change
consequences of population growth, changing fertility rates, and international migration
impacts of technological innovation on transportation, communication, industrialization, and other aspects of human life
struggles over political power and control of territory
conflicts over the demands of ethnic minorities, the role of women in society, and the inequalities between developed and developing economies
explanations of why location matters to agricultural land use, industrial development, and urban problems
the role of climate change and environmental abuses in shaping the human landscapes on Earth

The goal for the course is for students to become more geoliterate, more engaged in contemporary global issues, and more informed about multicultural viewpoints. They will develop skills in approaching problems geographically, using maps and geospatial technologies, thinking critically about texts and graphic images, interpreting cultural landscapes, and applying geographic concepts such as scale, region, diffusion, interdependence, and spatial interaction, among others. Students will see geography as a discipline relevant to the world in which they live; as a source of ideas for identifying, clarifying, and solving problems at various scales; and as a key component of building global citizenship and environmental stewardship."

Source: College Board, AP Human Geography Course Description

Summer Assignment

This assignment is due the first official day of school! You do not need to worry about it on Freshman Orientation.

AP Geo Summer Assignment 2024.pdf

Textbook information:

Rubenstein, J. M. (2013-2023) The Cultural Landscape: An Introduction to Human Geography (11th, 12th, 13th, or 14th editions). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson. The 13th or 14th edition is preferred but I want to be flexible with you to save you money. It’s definitely ok to buy used! Some AP Geography students will sell their textbooks after the AP Exam in May. Email me if you are interested in one of these books. The textbook can be purchased through online discount retailers like Amazon.com. It is also possible to rent a textbook or order an eTextBook. If you choose to rent a textbook, make sure it is available to you for the entire school year. Students have also been able to download the textbook on the Kindle app.

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