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The Pack contains associated resources for the learning experience, typically in the form of articles and videos. There is a teacher Pack (with only teacher information) and a student Pack (which contains only student information). As a teacher, you can toggle between both to see everything.
Here are the teacher pack items for Shifting Demographics:
Overview In this experience, students make observations about the “Nighttime Map” of U.S. population distribution in the year 2000. Then they describe the U.S. population density from 1790 to 2010 based on an animated map. Next they use an interactive demographic map to answer questions about the U.S. population in 2019. Then they use another interactive demographic map to explore a demographic topic of their own choosing. Finally they learn about the purpose of the U.S. census and create a poster encouraging people to respond to the census questionnaire. Estimated duration: 45-60 minutes, depending on how much time you allot for students to explore the interactive maps Vocabulary words: Objectives
Of all the countries in the world, the United States has the third largest population, after China and India. Of all the countries, the United States is ranked 145th in terms of population density, or how many people live on each square mile of land. That means that there are 144 countries that are more crowded than the United States. Of course, some areas of the United States are more crowded than others. In this lesson, you will examine different details of the United States population at the end of the twentieth century, and you will also learn to work with different types of population maps.
Objectives
Nighttime Map of the 2000 Population Distribution in the United States
Look at the “Nighttime Map” of the U.S. population distribution in the year 2000. Each dot of light represents 7,500 people. The upper inset is Alaska and the lower inset is Hawaii.
Make at least one observation about the map.
The U. S. Census Bureau produced a “2000 Population Distribution in the United States” map (also referred to as the “Nighttime Map”) as part of the Census 2000 map series. The map reflects population data from the 2000 Decennial Census. The U.S. population locations are shown as if lights were visible at night. Each white “dot” represents 7,500 people. In urban population concentrations the individual dots run together to form a larger patch of white.
