US Department of Commerce
Constitution Day
Give your Constitution Day celebration a timely slant by discussing the census! An activity that includes analysis of the Constitutional call for a census, along with scaffolded worksheets, help pupils understand the connection between...
US Department of Commerce
Community Change
America is a country on the move. Analyzing data from the Census Bureau, class members gauge the people moving in and out of their areas. An interactive web feature allows pupils to see who is moving out and moving in, while discussion...
US Department of Commerce
Featured Activity: How the Census Impacts My Community
Individuals have $50,000 to spend on a program at their schools—what will they do with the money? After looking at the Constitutional mandate, learners use a census simulation activity to consider the question. After conducting their own...
US Department of Commerce
Diversity: Minority Entrepreneurship and the Economy
Using data from the Census Bureau, learners discover the growth in minority-owned businesses over time. After crunching numbers, analytical questions probe the reasons behind the shift.
US Department of Commerce
Where to Next?
Salary, education, census statistics ... how do people choose their careers? Scholars complete worksheets and rely on census data to determine their career aspirations. Then, pupils conduct Internet research about places they would...
US Department of Commerce
How Are Single-Parent Households Distributed Across the United States?
There sure are a lot of single-parent households in the country. After selecting one of four US regions to investigate, pupils create dot plots and box plots on the percentage of single-parent households with male parents and female...
US Department of Commerce
Learning About College Degrees and Lifetime Earnings
It's never too early to start thinking about college majors. Using census data, scholars research the lifetime earnings for two selected careers. They then write and solve word problems to compare the amounts. To add a visual component,...
US Department of Commerce
Diversity: Census Questions Over Time
The story of race in the United States continues to evolve, and the numbers show it. Using data from the last two census counts, learners consider recent demographic shifts. They then analyze the information to hypothesize: What could...
US Department of Commerce
Diversity: Languages Spoken in the United States
High schoolers begin a discussion on diversity and determine the percent of the population that speak another language at home in the US. Classmates make a prediction of the percentage of people that speak another language at home in...
University of Waikato
Water Runoff
Teachers demonstrate water runoff on a hill and its effect on soil erosion. Pupils observe as the instructor changes the steepness of the hill and see whether vegetation covers the soil. Learners then use their observations to make...
University of Waikato
Buoyancy in Water
Change where an object floats in water. Pupils experiment with a Cartesian diver by squeezing on the side of a plastic bottle. Learners pay attention to the bulb of the pipette as the bottle is squeezed to determine what is happening...
University of Waikato
Investigating Sea Level Rise
Find an explanation for the sea level rise. Pupils investigate the difference that melting land ice and sea ice have on the sea level. Groups create two models—one with ice on land and one with ice in the water. As the ice melts, teams...
University of Waikato
Farming and Environmental Issues
Forming ethical arguments is sometimes a complicated task. Guide classes through a process for forming and presenting ethical opinions. Learners consider the views of all stakeholders on the impact of farming on the environment and the...
US Department of Commerce
Diversity: Differences in Communities
Using census data, the class finds the percentages of three diversity categories for four states and compare them. With the assistance of a 10 X 10 grid, pupils create visual representations of a comparison between two states on one...
US Department of Commerce
Does the Percentage of People Who Walk to Work in Cities Vary with Population Size?
To walk or not to walk? Pupils create box plots comparing the percentage of residents who walk to work in large, medium, and small cities. Using the box plots, class members compare the data that reflects available statistics. Scholars...
US Department of Commerce
Commuting to Work: Box Plots, Central Tendency, Outliers
Biking may be an outlier. Using data from 10 states on the number of people reporting they bike to work, pupils calculate the measures of center. Scholars determine the range and interquartile range and find which provides a better...
US Department of Commerce
Census in Counties - Describing and Comparing Histograms to Understand American Life
Use graphs to interpret life in 136 counties. Pupils analyze histograms and describe the shapes of the distributions of data collected from several counties on different aspects of life. Scholars make predictions on the difference in...
US Department of Commerce
Featured Activity: Population Change Over Time
Keep track of a state's population. After a brief discussion on how population data is used for funding, individuals look at population changes over time. Pupils find the population of two states using three different censuses. They then...
University of Waikato
Growing Soil Microbes
View how microbes grow in soil. Class members first create a Winogradsky column to grow bacteria. They then set up the column of mud in a plastic bottle and include a food source for the microbes and observe the column of mud over the...
University of Waikato
Water Issues
Water may be everywhere but it is not always drinkable. Pupils research water issues, first in a local setting and then with Papua New Guinea and Australia to get a larger world perspective. Teams use the Internet and other resources to...
University of Waikato
Investigating Soil Moisture Content
Class members analyze the water content in soil samples by drying out the samples and taking measurements every minute until all the moisture is gone. Scholars compare the initial weight to the dried weight to calculate the percentage of...
University of Waikato
Make and Use a Hydrophone
Using a home-built hydrophone, pupils investigate how things sound in water. Learners listen to sounds created in air and then compare that to the same sound picked up by the hydrophone. Individuals compare the loudness and the pitch of...
University of Waikato
Density
Will the block float? Pupils take measurements to calculate the volume of various blocks of different materials. Using a scale, they determine the mass of each block and then calculate their densities. Scholars finish by ranking the...
University of Waikato
Water Temperature
Water temperatures connect to the movement of the ocean. Pupils read two articles about the temperature and the motion of the oceans before small groups investigate the interaction of hot and cold water. Team members add cold and hot...