Incorporating the U.S. Census Into Classroom Instruction

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This article was written originally for MultiBriefs Education.

The decennial tradition, a time when our country takes an official “count” of its population, has arrived! The census is used for apportionment (a process to determine the number of seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives). It is also used to distribute billions in federal funds to local communities. The census has been conducted every 10 years since the first one in 1790. Back then, a simple six-question survey was used to count approximately 3.9 million Americans living in our young country. Fast forward to current day, and the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that the 2020 count will gather statistics for our country’s growing population of around 330 million people in more than 140 million housing units. The statistics collected will influence a wide variety of decisions for years to come.

Like most school principals around the country, earlier this year I received a package in the mail from the U.S. Census. The package contained a toolkit for educators, complete with colorful maps and activity books, designed to help teachers incorporate the U.S. Census into their classroom instruction. I quickly distributed those kits to my government and civics teachers in hopes that they would do just that. If your school did not receive your toolkits, you can download them from the U.S. Census Bureau’s education website, Statistics in Schools. There are specific areas for K-12 activities, PreK materials, ELL/Adult ESL resources, maps, videos, and tools that are specific to Puerto Rico and the islands.

In this recent article, the NEA reports out on how teachers can unlock the lessons of the U.S. Census. The article highlights Washington State middle school language arts and social studies teacher Kyla Thompson, who has been developing lessons based on census data since she started her career in 2006. According to the article, educators like Thompson “have found ways to teach through the census. Students learn about our system of government and the array of critical decisions that are based on census data. They also learn to use statistical information from the census to draw their own conclusions.” Many educators were tapped to provide support the development of the Statistics in Schools toolkit.

Here are just a few highlights from the toolkit that I discovered as I browsed the website:

●       Grades K-2: In the Creating and Taking a Survey activity, students are introduced to the concept of a survey and learn how surveys work, why they are useful, and how to create and conduct their own.
●       Grades 3-4: In the Apportionment activity, according to the website, “students learn how changes in population across cities and states affect how their community is represented in the U.S. House of Representatives and why an accurate count of the population is essential every 10 years.”
●       Grades 5-6: In the City Planning With Census Data activity, students use a variety of math skills to make predictions about resources needed for an assigned community based on population and present their findings.
●       Grades 7-8: In the Diversity: Census Questions Over Time activity, students will analyze historical data on race and ethnicity in the United States over time, noting trends and why this data is important.
●       Grads 9-12: In the The Opportunity Atlas activity, students will explore how your ZIP code affects social mobility. To do this, students will conduct a demographic analysis of factors that affect social mobility, including race, median income, and sex, and then use The Opportunity Atlas to explore a data set of important statistics.

According to the census website, the toolkit has obvious benefits for both teachers and students. For teachers, all activities were developed by teachers for teachers. The program offers a wide choice of resources and tools. Lastly, the classroom activities supplement the teacher's curriculum. They promote both a project and inquiry-based program that leads students to deeper learning. For students, the benefits include the fact that the activities help prepare students for college and careers. Students learn more about nearly every subject. Lastly, the use of real-life data helps keep students engaged in school.

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