Systematic approach to understanding the world’s processes and relationships within and between places What is AP Human Geography

Have you ever: Wondered why people locate things in certain places. Wondered what make people successful. Thought about the jobs of the future. Wondered how you “fit in”. Then this is the class for you!

What can you do with Geography? Make generalizations - understanding a place and giving it characteristics Making predictions -by understanding processes, location, and relationships you can determine future impacts to a particular place

Learn how to use these processes Diffusion models: how things spread Patterns Point pattern analysis and spatial autocorrelation GIS and GPS

Learn how these process impact your life. (clockwise from top left) Von Thunen: Bid Rent R&D by private and public sector Demographic Transition Model Weber’s Least Cost Theory

Learn how to understand linkages What does this World City map tell you about: Agriculture Development Politics Demography

L earn how to analyze cartoons L earn how new technologies are changing the way we can look at the world. Twitter/Flickr geocached locations in NYC

How my student be able to use these processes? Students should be able to analyze this map and understand the comparative advantage the USA holds in communications and information. What does this map show about American standard of living and its place in the global economy? What processes will allow the USA to continue its advantage? How would call centers in Mumbai impact this advantage?

This is a map of all of the data cables to/from Europe, allowing secure personal and commercial data. Find out interesting stuff about the world. Find out how to analyze photos Some of this class is scary. Many data cables come to shore unprotected in remote places. Where is this place? Now if a teacher in a small high school in Florida can locate this stuff like this how hard would it be for a terrorist?

So how can you be successful in Advanced Placement classes? Develop good study skills -time management -study groups -use resources -do assignments in a timely manner Be sure to have things explained by the instructor -AP teachers are very generous with their time “Want to” -these are rigorous classes, if you don’t want to or enjoy the work it can be very hard

READ for data THINK for yourself WRITE for expression Learn to:

How will taking AP Human Geography help you? School: allows students to challenge themselves and build study skills allows students to make connections with the “Real World” gives the basic foundation for the other AP classes College: shows a college you are willing to attempt rigorous work even as a high school freshmen (worse case) shows a college you were able to do college level work as a high school freshmen (best case) Career Geography is the tenth fastest growing occupation in the USA median entry level salary for geographers is approximately $66,000 (about.com)

Interdisciplinary Skills You Learn in AP Human Geography Finding and evaluating data and marking it. Understanding what a question is asking and how to answer it. Knowing major regions of the world and their characteristics. Analyzing processes and evaluating their ramifications. Linking processes to form a better understanding. Learning to write both precisely and concisely.