GIWIS

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Teacher instructions
GIS Lesson (the same as below, in a Word document)

The purpose of the following lesson is to introduce the students to the U.S. Census website. The worksheet will help them navigate through the site and help them to find specific information in regards to population and economics. They will be able to draw some conclusions by the end of the lesson using the information they find. Later this information will be used in their final project, a GIS map with layers that they will create using a variety of websites and GPS wave points.

OBJECTIVES:

To familiarize students to U.S. Census data and the website.
To help students get a “real world” picture of the difference between rural and urban areas.
To help students get a “real world” picture of the communities in which they live.

COLORADO STATE STANDARDS ADDRESSED:

GEOGRAPHY STANDARDS

Students know how to use and construct maps, globes, and other geographic tools to locate and derive information about people, places, and environments.
Students know the physical and human characteristics of places, and use this knowledge to define and study regions and their patterns of change.

Students understand how economic, political, cultural, and social processes interact to shape patterns of human populations, interdependence, cooperation, and conflict.
Students understand the effects of interactions between human and physical systems and the changes in meaning, use, distribution, and importance of resources.
Students apply knowledge of people, places, and environments to understand the past and present and to plan for the future.

READING/ WRITING STANDARDS

1. Students read and understand a variety of materials.

4. Students apply thinking skills to their reading, writing, speaking, listening, and viewing.

Students read to locate, select, and make use of relevant information from a variety of media, reference, and technological sources.

You will need the following worksheets, a computer lab with internet access and you may want an LCD Projector to help students if they have trouble finding what the worksheet asks.

NAME_________________________________

PERIOD________________________________

DATE__________________________________

GIS LESSON

CENSUS—I WORKSHEET

Directions: Please read the directions throughout the worksheet to make it easier for you to navigate your way through the website. You will be asked to get specific information from the site and write your answers in the spaces provided. At the end of the worksheet there are a series of “Analysis” questions, these questions will ask you to look over the information you have found and to think about what it means. You will need to take some time to think about your answers. Do your best! Good Luck!

Please get on the internet and go to the following address: www.census.gov

Choose GEOGRAPHY/ MAPS.

Choose MAPS AND MAPPING RESOURCES.

Choose ON-LINE MAPPING.

Choose AMERICAN FACT FINDER.

On the left side of the screen, you will see a menu, choose MAPS.

You are now in the THEMATIC MAPS screen. There are several choices to choose. Begin with TOTAL PERSONS.

What year was this data gathered? _____________

According to the legend, what is the total population for your state?

______________________________________________

(Make sure your commas are in the right places!)

If you choose your state, what is the population?

____________________________

What is the total population of the United States?

_______________________________

Choose to ZOOM IN by STATE.

What do the red lines stand for? ______________

What do the blue lines stand for? ______________

ZOOM IN by COUNTY.

The “Data Classes” in the Legend should have changed. Why would they be different?

Choose a county on your map with the highest population, what county did you

choose? _______________________ What is the population of this county?

____________________________

Choose a county on your map with the smallest population, what county did you

choose? _________________________ What is the population of this county?

_________________________

Why would more people choose to live in the county from question 8 than the county in question 9?

On the left side of the screen, there is a menu, choose A STREET ADDRESS OR ZIP CODE. In the box that pops up, enter either your address OR your zip code, NOT BOTH!

How many total persons in your community/ neighborhood?

________________________________

Go to the main navigation bar on the web page, it should be on the same line, at the top, where it says “American Fact Finder”. Choose MAIN. This will take you back to the main page for the American Fact Finder. On the left side, there is a menu, choose PEOPLE. Then INCOME. Choose MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME IN 1999, MAP BY STATE.

Choose the same county from question 8.

What is the median household income for this county?

___________________________

Choose the county from question 9.

What is the median household income for this county?

__________________________

Which had the higher income, the most populated or the least populated? What are some reasons for this, in your opinion?

On the left side of the screen, go to the menu and choose A STREET ADDRESS OR ZIP CODE. In the box that pops up enter either your address OR your zip code, NOT BOTH!

What is the median household income for your community/ neighborhood?

____________________________

At the top of your screen, click on MAIN. This brings you back to the main screen we are working in. Choose PEOPLE again on the left side menu. Choose EDUCATION. Choose 2004. Choose POPULATION WHO ARE HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES OR HIGHER, MAP BY STATE. Choose your state.

According to the information in the pop-up, what is your state’s estimate?

__________________________

Is this higher or lower than the U.S. average? By how much?

_______________________________________________

At the top of the screen, again return to MAIN. Select FACT SHEET from the left side menu. Choose FACT SHEET again. Choose 2004. You should see on the right side of the screen a box that asks for CITY/ TOWN, COUNTY, OR ZIP. Put in the county name you used for question 8. Put in the STATE and then click GO. A “Fact Sheet” for the county you chose should come up. Find the below data. You will need to repeat this process for the county you chose in question 9.

18. County A __________________ County B ___________________

Average family size

Owner-occupied housing units

Renter-occupied housing units

High school graduate or higher

Bachelor's degree or higher

Families below poverty level

19. Do the same exercise putting your zip code into the box. Look at your “Fact Sheet”, find the same data for the county you live in. Fill in the information below.

Average family size

Owner-occupied housing units

Renter-occupied housing units

High school graduate or higher

Bachelor's degree or higher

Families below poverty level

Using the data you have collected from the maps and tables, from question 8 to question 18 on County A and County B, create a Venn Diagram in the space below to compare and contrast your findings.

Based on your Venn Diagram, what can you determine about rural areas? What would make people choose to live there?

Using your Venn Diagram what can you determine about urban areas? What would make people choose to live there?

Based on what you have learned, define urban:

Based on what you have learned, define rural:

Is your home located in a rural or urban community? How do you know this?

If you have completed the assigned worksheet, you have one more task, go to the website. Let’s see how good you are at reading data and finding answers! On the American Factfinder Main Page, click on SITE MAP. Find SPECIAL INTEREST, choose KID’S CORNER. When you have the Kid’s Corner Page up, click on QUIZ. Record which quiz you took and then your answers below. . .did you get the prize???? J

Quiz ________________________

Answers: