Preparation for AP Human Geography

[kirstenhill]

We're looking at possibly preparing DD for a brick and mortar school starting in 9th that has AP human geography as a standard 9th grade class. To be honest, geography of any kind has been a weakness for us (she knows US states and capitals, and she is very knowledgable about history, but we've done very little other geography or map study).

 

What should we be doing in 7th and/or 8th grade to be prepared for AP human Geogrpahy? Should students be able to find most countries on a map before starting this class? I never had geography in high school - for us geography was a middle school subject, and a lot of what we spent the year doing was memorizing the countries, capitals and major landforms in order to label blank maps. It doesn't seem like Human Geo is about this at all, but I can't tell if this type of "map knowledge" is a prerequisite.

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Edited March 21, 2016 by kirstenhill

[Carrie12345]

I may not be the BEST person to answer, but that doesn't stop me from having an opinion, lol.

 

I'm planning out the AP study for dd as well as an adapted 1/2 credit co-op class (not AP-level, obviously, but the outlined concepts.)  I think map READING skills are a much more important prereq than memorization.  A basic understanding of what is generally where would help, too.  But my dd hasn't memorized much US geography, let alone world, and I think she'll do just fine with the Human Geography content.

[Luckymama]

Being able to identify major countries is important. Knowing which countries comprise the major regions (Southeast Asia, for example) is even more important. The student should have a basic knowledge of what the EU is.

 

It helps to know major landforms and major bodies of water, including rivers. Much of human geography deals with the interaction of people and the landscape----why and how separate communities develop, evolve, and interact today in terms of politics, religion, culture, and so on.

 

My dd scored a 5 on AP Human Geography last year as a ninth grader. In seventh grade we did a year of geography very, very loosely based on the high school level Trail Guide. She only did the mapping activities and answered the questions. We added Globe Trekker videos for all of the counties (we have a very good library system). The Globe Trekker videos more than anything sparked an interest in other countries and cultures.

[Luckymama]

Adding----dd was in a discussion group with 2 other students. Their school didn't offer APHG but they wanted to take it (one was my nephew). These kids did not have much geographic knowledge at all going into the coursework and found some topics to be difficult. Dd was able to use her knowledge to make connections------such as oh, of course they would be different because of a desert in between the communities; and well, they would have access to fresh water----that sort of thing.

[DebbS]

I created an AP recognized Human Geography course for my son. You really don't need to do anything to prepare for this course. It's one of the few AP courses that doesn't have prerequisites so it's a popular 1st AP test. Human Geography isn't about memorizing states and capitals and what is located where. It's about how humans interact with the physical environment, why cities are built how they are, why rural areas develop like they do. The mapping activities are more about using and creating maps to show various types of things from physical features to demographics, etc.  It's a very interesting course. I highly recommend it.

[MarkT]

We're looking at possibly preparing DD for a brick and mortar school starting in 9th that has AP human geography as a standard 9th grade class. To be honest, geography of any kind has been a weakness for us (she knows US states and capitals, and she is very knowledgable about history, but we've done very little other geography or map study).

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please edit your title to use "AP human geography"  there is no AP for regular "geography".

 

"

the study of the physical features of the earth and its atmosphere, and of human activity as it affects and is affected by these, including the distribution of populations and resources, land use, and industries.

"