*** THERE IS NO SUMMER ASSIGNMENT FOR THE 2021 – 2022 SCHOOL YEAR ***
Greetings! Welcome to AP Human Geography!
We recognize that no one enjoys summer work. We could ask you to find the best pizza in Richmond and to write a paper about it, and someone would complain. This assignment is meant to prepare you for success in a rigorous course, and its completion indicates that you are serious about the course and well-suited to the advanced level of work.
While the assignment isn’t due until after school begins, regardless of your grade level, completing it over the summer ensures that you can spend the time on it that it deserves and that you will be able to ask any questions that arise as you work.
If you don’t complete the assignment before school starts, you will have a significant amount of homework during the first days of school in addition to activities, assignments, and projects you will be assigned during this time. You will quite likely fail the first nine weeks if you do not complete the assignment before the due date.
Assignment #1: Getting Organized
Out of clutter, find simplicity. From discord, find harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. ~ Albert Einstein
AP Human Geography is a difficult class with a small avalanche of papers, handouts, maps, etc… It is important to get a head start on getting organized. the first thing to do: Get your binder and your notebook ready for our class. You will need a dedicated binder for our class, a small section in an already overcrowded binder will lead to misplaced papers, missing assignments, and general disorganization.
“The Binder”
What you’ll need to do
1. Binder: 2-3” used only for our class.
2. Purchase or make 15 Dividers
3.Create a cover sheet for your binder
4. Bring this to class everyday.
“The Notebook”
What you’ll need:
- 3-5 Subject notebook
You will be required to create and maintain an interactive notebook. Your notebook is a place to become creative, independent thinkers and writers. Interactive notebooks will be used as place for outline notes, keeping returned work as well as for other activities where you will be asked to express your own ideas and process the information presented in class.
Cover: Should be decorated with your name clearly written on the front cover, as well, as your class period. Decorate your notebook appropriately covering it with pictures of anything that represents you. Please keep it school appropriate!
1st Page: Mini Biography about yourself. (No longer than 1 page)
2nd page: Directly behind the mini bio, you should glue in your notebook guidelines! (I will pass this out on the first day of class)
3rd page: LEAVE BLANK (We will use this page for an activity on the first day of class!)
4th page: 1st Title Page for Unit 1. Be creative and design a full color Title page for Unit 1. You can draw or print pictures to decorate the page. The rest of the design is up to you!
Assignment #2: TED TALK ANALYSIS
Listen to, reflect on, and write about four different TED talks on www.ted.com related to topics in human geography. Click on “explore” on the site to see a list of subjects. Suggested topics include gender inequality; agriculture; migration or immigration; ethnicity; political geography; economy; and cities.
Your analysis should be handwritten or typed (updated for summer 2020 and virtual return to learning) using complete sentences and will include the following: the title of the talk, the speaker’s name, and an explanation as to why something specific the speaker said was thought-provoking (quote the speaker and explain your reaction or response); and a geographic analysis.
To analyse the TED Talk you will be choosing one of the 18 National Geographic Education Standards. Please Specify which National Geographic Standard, such as the physical and human characteristics of places, you are using to analyze the talk, and explain how you believe information in the talk relates to that standard. Read about each of the standards in detail by visiting the following URL: https://www.nationalgeographic.org/standards/national-geography-standards/
Conclude with a sentence or two explaining the significance of information in the talk. This could include, but is not limited to, predicting consequences or effects of the information in the talk on particular people or places; offering a contrasting viewpoint; speculating about cultural values that are revealed by the information; or making a personal connection to the event.
When you have finished, place the TED Talk analysis in a folder or in your binder. You will turn these writings in on the first day of class.
Assignment #3 – Chapter 1
In order to hit the ground running it is important that you complete the first chapter’s reading guide before school starts. A PDF version of Chapter 1: Geography – It’s Nature and Perspectives is attached below and comes directly from the Rubenstein’s The Cultural Landscape, 11th ed. This is the same textbook that we use in class.
To organize your reading and understanding of the material you should complete the three reading guides below. The guides do not necessarily follow the reading word for word. You will need to create connections to the material through reading while completing your assignment.
If you cannot find something in the reading, be creative, and do some research online for the answer. This is a good rule of thumb for our class: we must be willing to go beyond the textbook to find the answers to our questions as human geographers!
Guided Reading 1, Guided Reading 2, Guided Reading 3
I look forward to meeting and working with each of you as we study this fascinating world of ours! If you have any questions, please email me at: ChristopherJ_Tucker@ccpsnet.net, or tweet @CosbyAPHuGs #chsAPHUGsummer
Christopher Tucker, APHuGs teacher at Cosby High School.
Cosby AP Human Geography 