Assignment Five
Kate Vosburg
CI 405x
Project 5: Lesson Integrating Virginia Digital History Project Website
United States Census
By Kate Vosburg
Background:
The lesson is designed with a diverse fifth grade class in mind. The students have previous knowledge of reading tables and charts. The class has just started to learn about statistics and the various ways they can be used.
Objectives:
The students will be able to:
1. Develop an understanding of a census and the various ways the information (statistics) gathered can be applied.
2. Design a census form to be distributed to the population of their school.
Materials:
- Computers - ideally one per student, but at least one per group
- Access to the Internet and a web browser (Netscape or Internet Explorer)
- Websites:
- Handouts:
Example Census 2000 short form
50 Ways to Use Census 2000
Overview:
The students will explore various parts of the websites listed above. By comparing and examining sample forms and tables, the students will gain an understanding of what a census is and how the information from them can be used. The computer will be used as a tool to provide access to the information on these web pages and in constructing their own census form.
Anticipatory Set:
Ask students to count off out loud and state if you have a pet. I just took an official count of a population…the population being our class. I also learned something about that population at the same time I was counting. Can anyone tell me what an official count like that is called? (Hint: we just had one.) That's right, a census and that's what we're going to talk about today.
Procedure:
A census can provide lots of information about a population and give you an idea about their lives and society. We're going to look at some census information from 1860 and see if we can get an idea about what life was like back then, how things were different, what kinds of things were important.
Please go to the website written on the board
(http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/vcdh/vahistory/reconfinguring/images/census.jpg).
This is a picture of a page printed in Harper's Weekly in April of 1861 with information from the census of 1860. The top part has information about populations by state and at the bottom you'll see a chart that shows states' population growth from 1790 to 1860. Does anyone know why they chose 1790? That was the very first year the census was taken in the United States.
Now I would like you to open another screen (leave this one up, you'll need it in a minute) and go to the next website written on the board
(http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/census/ ).
Along the left side of your screen you should see a list of years; scroll down and click on 1860. If you scroll down a bit you will see that there are about nine different categories and lots of subcategories that the information has been sorted into. This is all information gathered from the 1860 census. You can click on up to 15 subcategories and then at the very bottom hit the button that says "Browse 1860 Data".
Now, you can work in groups of 2 or 3 if you'd like, but I want you to take a few minutes and look at the information on this page and the other page we looked at first. See what kinds of things you can find out and we'll share as a class in a few minutes about what this information tells us life was like back then.
Have each group share answers with the class and discuss briefly.
As you may or may not know, the United States Census is taken every 10 years, and Census 2000 day just passed not too long ago...April 1, 2000. There are two different forms that are used. They are usually referred to as the short and long form. The short form asks about seven subjects: name, sex, age, relationship, Hispanic origin, race, and housing tenure (whether home is owned or rented). The longer form asks about the same 7 plus 27 more subjects including: education, ancestry, employment, disability and house heating fuel. We have been discussing statistics and how we can use them, so now I would like you to work in your groups and think about all the different statistics that will be gathered from Census 2000. Brainstorm as many ideas as you can of how those numbers will be used. I'll give you about five minutes.
Now we're going to compare to a list provided by the census web site and see how many from their list that you came up with too. Keep in mind it's quite possible that you have some good answers that aren't on their list, but this gives us a general reference.
Have students access 50 Ways to Use Census 2000
(http://www.census.gov/dmd/www/fctsheet.htm) or pass out a paper copy.
Have students count how many they had on their list that matched. Recognize the group with the most matches.
Can someone tell me again how did we define census? It's an official count of a population. Now we most often think of the United States Census, but there can be all different kinds of census' depending on how you define the population. We're going to work together to create a census form for your school population.
In your groups I want you to make a list of the kinds of questions you would include on the census form, then we'll discuss them as a class and combine your lists. Each group must have at least three questions they would like to see on the form and you must support your reason for including those questions.
Pass out example of Census 2000 short form.
Here is an example of the short form from Census 2000 to use as a reference. Some things you'll want to be thinking about are your population…what kinds of things affect the students and faculty of your school? What are you going to use this information for? Are you going to have just one form for everyone or will you have a long and a short? If so, how will you decide how many of each one will be distributed?
After students have had time to work, discuss what kinds of questions to include and combine them to create census form.
Evaluation:
Each group must present at least three questions they would include on the school census form (not including name, age, or gender). They must support their reason for including those questions. Students will be evaluated on the questions and supportive reasoning based on what they have learned about census information.
Extensions:
Have the students actually conduct a census of their school using the form(s) they created. Then have students organize the data (statistics) in various ways such as spreadsheets and graphs.
Last updated: April 25, 2000