Awesomeness High School (123) 456-7890 Social Studies Mock@mnsu.edu Tommy. T. Mock Room #1 Course Description: Course Syllabus for Human Geography Human Geography is a semester long course (18 Weeks) that will provide you a deep understanding of the people that live in our world. During this course you will examine our world through people, places, and environments at the local, regional, national, and international level. This class will emphasize human characteristics that shape and change cultures, government practices, environmental quality, economic practices, and human population through interactive resources. You will use primary and secondary sources, maps, tables, and graphs. You will use these sources to develop analysis, writing, reading, decision making and problem solving skills to ask and develop questions in a geographic setting. Big Goal: As a student of Human Geography you will become a world citizen. A world citizen is a person who can understand, comprehend, and analyze different cultures and people's across the world. World citizens are fully caught up on current events across the world and can describe, synthesize and explain the impacts and reactions to current events. Learner outcomes: When taking Human Geography you will have the following outcomes You will analyze different cultures You will compare and contrast case studies that involve culture, economics, politics, and environmental issues. You will describe and explain a country of your choosing You will identify different countries, cultures, languages, ethnicities, governments, and physical landscapes. You will manipulate maps, graphs, charts, Google Earth, and primary/secondary sources. You will create a comprehensive portfolio/journal about a specific country of your choosing. Evaluation/grading scheme:
As you are taking this course you will be evaluated through the following ways: Tests, quizzes, group work, papers, homework, and projects. The course will be based off of total points and are divided as shown: Total points: 1,000 Tests: 200 points (40 each) Quizzes: 150 (10 each) Group Work: 100 Homework: 200 Papers: 175 Projects: 175 The grade you receive is based off of total points accumulated during the semester. They are as shown: A B C D F 90%-100% 80%-90% 70%-79% 60%-69% 59% or less Late Work: You may not hand in a paper or project any later than the day it is due. A homework assignment can be turned in late but each day that it is late will lose points as follows: 1 day: maximum grade of 70% 2 days: maximum grade of 50% 3 or more days: not accepted Outline of the course: There are five major themes that will be addressed in this course: Geographic skills, Population, Economic, Culture, and Environment. Each one of these will be a unit in our Human Geography course. You will also be expected to do extensive research on one particular country and are going to need to keep up with current events across the world. You will be asked to bring your knowledge of your country to class to share a different perspective. There will be 4 papers over the course of the semester that will require you to cite your country and knowledge of it.
Unit 1: Geographic skills, 2 weeks September 3 rd - September 13 th Week 1: Reading and creating tables, graphs, charts, diagrams and maps (benchmarks: 9.3.1.1.1) Activity: Create a map of "Your city" Pick your country to study this semester Week 2: Using technology (GIS, Google Earth, GPS) to understand and create geospatial skills (benchmarks: 9.3.1.1.2, 9.3.1.2.1, 9.3.1.2.2) Activity: Create and analyze a "City" Test 1: Unit 1 Unit 2: Population, 4 weeks September 13 th September 16 th - October 11 th Week 3: Culture (benchmarks: 9.3.3.7.1, 9.3.3.7.2) Introduction to paper 1 Case study: A look at the Yanomamo culture Week 4: Birth/Death rates (benchmarks: 9.3.3.5.2, 9.3.3.5.3, 9.3.3.4.3, 9.3.3.4.4) Activity: Creation of population pyramid Test 2: Unit 2 September 26 th Week 5: Migration (benchmarks: 9.3.3.5.1, 9.3.3.5.4, 9.3.3.5.5, 9.3.3.4.3, 9.3.3.4.4) Activity: Graphing migrations Paper 1 due October 4 th Week 6: Transportation and communication and the effects on urban/suburban settings (benchmarks: 9.3.3.5.6, 9.3.3.5.7, 9.3.3.5.8, 9.3.3.6.1, 9.3.3.4.3, 9.3.3.4.4) Case study: Urban sprawling Test 3: Unit 2 October 10 th
Unit 3: Government, 3 weeks October 14 th - November 1 st Week 7: History and impact of colonialism (benchmarks: 9.3.3.8.3) Introduction to paper 2 Case study: Reading Unbowed: a look at colonialism in Kenya Week 8: Political boundaries, sovereignty, and countries/states (benchmarks: 9.3.3.8.2) Research: Native Americans and sovereignty Week 9: Nationalism, supranationalism and globalization (benchmarks: 9.3.3.8.2) Activity: Globalization how does it affect you? Paper 2 due Test 4: Unit 3 Unit 4: Economics, 3 weeks November 2 nd November 1 st November 4 th - November 22 nd Week 10: Location and patterns of economic activities and land use (benchmarks: 9.3.2.4.1, 9.3.2.4.2) Introduction to paper 3 Research: Using Google Earth to explore land use Week 11: Agriculture (benchmarks: 9.3.2.4.3, 9.3.2.4.4) Case study: A look at Norman Bourlaug and the Agricultural Revolution Week 12: The influence of social, political, and economic processes on regions (benchmarks: 9.3.3.7.3) Research: A look at pollution and the way it is handled Test 5: Unit 4 Paper 3 due November 21 st November 22 nd
November 25 th - 29 th, THANKSGIVING BREAK Unit 5: Environment/resources, 3 weeks December 2 nd - December 20 th Week 14: The environment and humans (benchmarks: 9.3.4.9.1) Introduction to paper 4 Activity: How to help our environment Week 15: Resources (benchmarks: 9.3.4.9.2) Research: How are resources extracted and used Week 16: Resources, the environment and human trade (9.3.4.9.1, 9.3.4.9.2) Activity: Trading resources between countries Test 6: Unit 5 Paper 4 due December 19 th December 20 th Benchmarks addressed: December 21 st - January 6 th, WINTER BREAK I have put all my benchmarks next to the week by week outline. I have addressed every standard in my course but I have chosen to focus on the population, agriculture, environmental and government benchmarks the most. These include: 9.3.2.4.1-.4.4 9.3.3.5.1-.5.8 9.3.3.7.1-.7.3 9.3.3.8.1-.8.3 9.3.4.9.1 9.3.4.10.1.
I chose to focus on these benchmarks the most because they are very important in the understanding of Human Geography. Many of the standards overlap and will build upon prior knowledge along with develop students skills. It is also important for me to thoroughly address these benchmarks because they are essential to my "Big Goal". Each benchmark is given specifically to a week but crosses over the entire unit. For example the benchmarks used for my Unit 2 will be used throughout the entire course and are essential to comprehending further studies in other Units. I have chosen not to focus on specific benchmarks such as 9.3.3.6.1, and the geospatial skills component, 9.3.1.1.1-.1.2, 9.3.1.2.1-.2.3. I did not focus on the Geospatial skills because it is something I will continue to cover throughout the entire semester not just 2 weeks' worth. As for the specific benchmark I didn't include (9.3.3.6.1) in my syllabus is one that is very difficult to include in any of my themes/units. It is also a standard that doesn't provide students with the skills and tools to be a successful world citizen.