Human Geography in 9th. Background knowledge? How to prepare in 8th?

[LNC]

My daughter wants to take her first AP class online in 9th. We thought AP Human Geography would be a good first choice.

 

What kinds of background knowledge would you recommend? I realize it is an interdisciplinary course, but I wasn't sure how much geography should should know. I don't think she has time to squeeze in an entire course like BJU Cultural Geography next year.

 

1. Read through a World Geography Textbook? Which one?

 

2. List of geography cultural literacy goals like Core Knowledge grades 1-8?

Edited February 20, 2012 by LNC

[Elinor Everywhere]

We are contemplating the exact same thing for 9th grade next year. Honestly, I wasn't going to prepare at all - now I'm wondering if we should!

[Beth in SW WA]

Dd14 took a World Geo class taught by Mrs. Runkle via TPS in 8th. Great class & book.

[kangato3]

Dd is in the midst of online AP Human Geo. through AP homeschoolers. The course content has been unlike anything she had studied before. Quite honestly, I think the best prep would be paying attention to in-depth current events, especially as relates to economy, culture, and environment of various nations, as well as differences between third world countries vs industrialized countries.

[Karis]

Dd is in the midst of online AP Human Geo. through AP homeschoolers. The course content has been unlike anything she had studied before. Quite honestly, I think the best prep would be paying attention to in-depth current events, especially as relates to economy, culture, and environment of various nations, as well as differences between third world countries vs industrialized countries.

 

 

 

Do you mean PA Homeschoolers?

 

or something else - I am really intrigued by this PA AP Geo. class - have been reading good things.

 

When you say "unlike anything she's studied before" - what EXACTLY do you mean?

[kangato3]

Do you mean PA Homeschoolers?

 

or something else - I am really intrigued by this PA AP Geo. class - have been reading good things.

 

When you say "unlike anything she's studied before" - what EXACTLY do you mean?

 

Yes - I did mean PA Homeschoolers. :tongue_smilie:

 

My dd's prior course experience has been mainly history studies integrated with geography (mostly places and cultures). The human geography course introduces a lot of unfamiliar vocabulary, theories, and mathematical models to patterns of human activity. For example, in a chapter on migration patterns, she has learned about chain migration, channelized migration, counter migration, friction of distance, gravity model, etc. The students are often asked to apply the concepts they learn to real world conditions. My dd often isn't familiar with some of the world conditions that she has to consider, which is why I made the suggestions that I did in the above post.

[mooooom]

series that your dd could watch over the summer. Might be a relatively painless way to prep. We also had a cool book, Harm de Blij's Geography Book (I believe he also writes an AP textbook, but this was just a mainstream, much lighter, version, I found it interesting for all the ideas it proposes (like, who owns the oil under the ground, near the border of two countries...)

[Nan in Mass]

I know nothing about AP classes, but I *do* know that mine would not have been able to take a community college class in 9th grade because their writing was not strong enough. As prep for community college classes, we worked on writing - not creative writing, but plain, well-organized expository writing. We also had to work on answering textbook questions. (This may not be a problem for yours, but just in case...) We worked on computer skills - knowing how to tell a reputable source from a non-reputable one, being familiar with some good sources, being able to type well and use a word processor comfortably, aquiring the habit of checking email several times a day, etc. And we worked on study skills, everything from keeping track of and scheduling the completion of assignments and test-taking skills to how one learns and taking notes. Again, your student might know these things already, but if not, I would work on them in 8th grade. About the human geography, I haven't prepared mine to take the AP class, but I have had to prepare mine to travel and be politically active, and part of the preparation for that has been to have them listen to the news for a few months beforehand so they know what is happening in the world. The car is a good place to do this. It helps to have some idea of what the issues are in various regions, like drug wars and corruption in Central America, or oil and water and religious tensions in the Middle East. If your daughter isn't familiar with recent history, you could have her read some 20th century history books. There are a number of middle school, picture oriented ones that are fast to read. I know for mine, reading several short ones would be better at this point than doing anything in depth because they need a certain amount of repetion before things sink in. But as I said, I am not preparing mine for AP, only for cc and various real-life situations that involve human geography. National geographic has nice articles summing up some of the global issues like water use. Their site has lots of resources, too.

 

Nan