Welcome to the exciting geographic journey that awaits you in AP Human Geography! The purpose of the following summer reading requirements is to get you in the habit of thinking geographically. As you go about your summer activities, jobs, vacations, and/or travels, challenge yourself to think about the where and why of your summer experiences. Keep up with world current events. Occasionally pick up a copy of National Geographic, Time, Newsweek, or The Economist and read a few articles. Become more aware of the physical and human landscape that surrounds you.

I. The Geography of Current Events: Over the course of the summer, find and read ANY THREE articles of your own choosing from current newspapers, news magazines (I highly recommend The Economist, Newsweek, or Time magazines), or internet news sites such as CNN, BBC, etc., dealing with some current world or geography-related issue such as (but not limited to) current political and ethnic conflicts around the world, world food and health issues, natural disasters and the human response to disasters, fluctuating gas prices, the current political landscape in the U.S., human rights issues, the national and global economic crisis, trade issues, challenges to the environment in the United States or around the world…basically any topic/event/issue relating to human or physical geography. Do the following with these three articles:

• Clip the articles and/or download/print. Be sure to include date and source. READ the articles.
• Summarize the main idea(s) of each article. Include your summary in your paragraph on each article. 
• Choose/decide which one of the 18 geography standards, listed below, best corresponds with the main idea(s) of each of your three chosen current news articles.
• Write three paragraphs (one paragraph for each article) explaining your decision…i.e., how each of your articles illustrates the points made in the matching geography standard. Paragraphs need to be typed.
• Attach your paragraphs to your articles. Title your packet “The Geography of Current Events”—DUE First Day of Class.

II. Read the following non-fiction book:

• Ismael Beah. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 2007.

As you read, keep a vocabulary and place-name notebook or set of index cards: 

• define words that are new to you (vocabulary and/or geography-related terms) 
• identify the location of places (countries, cities, physical features, etc.) that you’re not already familiar with 
• indicate the page # in the book where that term was used or where the place was mentioned 
• I expect to see a total of 30 terms and/or place names (for each book) identified/explained either on index cards or in a notebook.

Please feel free to contact me over the summer if you have any questions: allison.c.ewing@gmail.com.  

18 Geography Standards

The World in Spatial Terms
1. How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information.
2. How to use mental maps to organize information about people, places, and environments.
3. How to analyze the spatial organization of people, places, and environments on Earth's surface.

Places and Regions
4. The physical and human characteristics of places.
5. That people create regions to interpret Earth's complexity.
6. How culture and experience influence people's perception of places and regions.

Physical Systems
7. The physical processes that shape the patterns of Earth's surface.
8. The characteristics and spatial distribution of ecosystems on Earth's surface.

Human Systems
9. The characteristics, distribution, and migration of human populations on Earth's surface.
10. The characteristics, distributions, and complexity of Earth's cultural mosaics.
11. The patterns and networks of economic interdependence on Earth's surface.
12. The process, patterns, and functions of human settlement.
13. How forces of cooperation and conflict among people influence the division and control of Earth's surface.

Environment and Society
14. How human actions modify the physical environment.
15. How physical systems affect human systems.
16. The changes that occur in the meaning, use, distribution, and importance of resources.

The Uses of Geography
17. How to apply geography to interpret the past.
18. To apply geography to interpret the present and plan for the future.