Advanced Placement (AP) Geography
Proposed Course Outlines

AP Geography -- Proposed Course Outline

 

Textbook -- Introduction to Geography (6th edition), Getis, Getis, and Fellmann, WCB-McGraw-Hill

 

The following outline is designed for an 18 week semester using an 80 minute block class schedule.

 

Week Chapter Topics

 

1. Course Introduction Ch. 1 Course topics

Course expectations

Reading requirements

Skills checks

 

2. World Regional Review (Prerequisites) Themes of geography

Geographic skills

Pre-test

 

3. Maps Ch. 2 Map projections

Scale

Patterns and quantities on maps

Remote sensing

4. Physical Geography Ch. 3, 4 Landforms

Earth materials

Tectonic forces

Erosion

Weather and climate

5. Human Impact on the Environment Ch. 5 Ecosystems

Impact on water

Impact on plants and animals

Solid waste disposal

6. Population Ch. 6 Using population data

Population trends and projections

Population policies

Demographic transition models

 

7. Population Ch. 6 World population distribution

Population density

Overpopulation

Population controls

 

8. Culture Ch. 7 Subsystems of culture

Innovation

Diffusion

Acculturation

Cultural diversity

 

 

9. Culture Ch. 7 Language origins

Language spread and change

Universalizing and ethnic religions

Religious impact on the land

Religious conflicts

 

 

 

 

10. Spatial Geography Ch. 8 Barriers to migration

Migration patterns

Immigration and emigration

Spatial searches

 

11. Political Geography Ch. 9 Political systems

Boundaries

Geographic characteristics of states

Political cohesiveness

 

12. Economic Geography Ch. 10 Indicators of development

Regional development

Promoting development

Subsistence and commercial farming

Intensive and extensive agriculture

Agricultural models

 

13. Economic Geography Ch. 10 Origination and diffusion of industry

Locational considerations

Manufacturing regions of the world

Models of industrialization

 

14. Geography of Natural Resources Ch. 11 Energy resources

Mineral resources

Food resources

Forest resources

 

15. Urban Ch. 12 Why are settlements established

Rural vs. urban

Growth of settlements

Central place theory

 

16. Urban Ch. 12 Urban land use and planning

Systems of urban settlements

Suburbanization

World urban diversity

Inside the modern city

 

17. Research Projects

 

18. Course Review All previous material