Social Science

AP Human Geography

The purpose of this college-level introductory course is to introduce students to the systematic study of patterns and processes that have shaped human understanding, use, and alteration of the Earth’s surface. Students learn to employ spatial concepts and landscape analysis to examine human socioeconomic organization and its environmental consequences. They also learn about the methods and tools geographers use in their research and applications. Upon successful completion of the course, students should have developed skills that enable them to interpret maps, analyze geospatial data, and understand and explain the implications of associations and networks among phenomena in places. Students should also be able to recognize and interpret the relationships among patterns and processes at different scales of analysis, define regions and evaluate the regionalization process, and characterize and analyze changing interconnections among places.