Human geography covers all of these and more!
As we study this year you will learn a little in each of the areas mentioned above, but most importantly, you will be able to customize your education and see how to use your passions, whatever they may be, to explore the world around you. The world is so much bigger, complex, and beautiful than we can even imagine. I cant give you the world in this class, but I can help open a window into it so you can place yourself in the bigger picture.
So what exactly is geography anyway? I bet you always thought it was just about being able to identify countries, mountain ranges, rivers, and bays on a map. That's what most people think. But as we have already mentioned, geography is so much more. Geography is the study of where things are found on or near the earth's surface, why they are there, and how they are changing. "Things" is a pretty vague term, I know, but as you can see here →
almost everything can be studied geographically, and almost everything connects to everything else spatially. This is why I love geography. My interests in all other areas changes, but they all meet right here.
So what will this class look like?
We will cover seven major units this year. Each multi-week unit will look at a theme in human geography (cartography, populations, religions etc.) and each unit will have a geographical region of study. I'll talk more about the themes in a minute, but first lets talk about our regional studies.
When studying a region you will need to memorize and be able to place every country and major land feature and landmark in that region on a blank outline map. You can memorize that information any way you like. I like to use a free online program called Seterra. It is a game like interface and is a great resource. You can use it online, or download the app to your apple or android devices https://online.seterra.com/en. Memorizing this information will take time, but you can do it in just a few minutes each day.
Now for the part that you customize! For each region you can pick ANYTHING you would like to focus on in that region for your unit project.
Do you like to cook? Try several recipes from one country or all of them.
Are you fascinated by military conflicts? Research past and present conflicts and prepare a power-point presentation to share with your family at the end of the unit.
Is medicine your thing? What are the most common medical issues in the region? How are they being addressed? What would be the most interesting way for you to share your findings?
Music? Learn to play some.
Literature? Read something by the country/region's most famous author or a modern fiction piece set in the culture.
Languages? Learn to speak a little.
You get the idea. Follow your passions and see how they fit geographically to individual countries, or to the whole region. You have a lot of free reign here.
Ok, so what about the themes? Over the course of the year we will study cartography, demographics, religion, language, ethnicity and race, culture, politics, and economics. Each unit will have a corresponding non-fiction book you will need to read during that unit. Chapters will be assigned each week. Discussion is a huge part of this class, so be sure you are talking to people about what you are learning. You will not have to read any type of text book All the key information that would be covered in one of those will be presented through slides and videos linked to the weekly blog posts. Take notes. There will be a midterm and final exam. The week before the exams you will have access to review pages that should be filled in and turned in to your parents before the tests.
Also note that there are pages with recommended literature and films. These are optional, but I highly recommend you use these resources to deepen your study and appreciation of the world.
I hope you have a great year!
Ms. Desmond
No comments:
Post a Comment