THE COURSE
An introductory college course in human geography is generally one semester in length, with some variation among colleges.
An AP Human Geography course need not follow any specific college course curriculum but is taught as a yearlong course in
most high schools. The aim of the AP course is to provide students with a learning experience equivalent to that obtained in most college-level introductory human geography courses.
Purpose
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.
Goals
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. On successful completion of the course, students should have developed skills that enable them to: