Today’s Activities
Read It! Write it!
Watch this video to learn more about the census.
Why is the census important? Write down as many reasons as you can think of why it might be important to know how many people live in the United States. Read your list to someone and ask if they can come up with any more reasons. Then, watch this video and see if you can add it to your list.
Leveled learning extension 2: Use this worksheet to take a “census count” of the people who live in your house. Here is a super fun activity book about the census! Finally, there is a song to sing called “Everybody counts!”
Math
What are the numbers? When we count something, this is a type of data or information. The census gives us data about the population of each state. You can download the student worksheets here.
#1: This map is a “heat map”; the darker the color, the more the population, or the number of people who live there, grew between the years 1890 to 1950. What do you notice? What do you wonder? By the way, Alaska and Hawaii didn’t become states until 1959! Can you find out when California became a state?
#2: Use these tables of state population to compare California to another state. What was California’s population in 1890, in 1950, and in 2010? Did it grow a little or a lot? Why do you think that is?
Choose another state and compare its population for each of the dates. Was California’s population bigger or smaller than the other state’s in each of those census years? Why do you think that is? Do you think California’s population will increase or decrease (get smaller) in the 2020 census? Why?
#3: Challenge! Here is a bar graph showing the population of five countries for 3 different years. The numbers on the left are labeled “Population (in Millions)”. About how many million people lived in France in 1980? In 1990? In 2010? How do you know?
Create a Poster!
Now Advertise! Spread the word that the census is important by creating a clear, colorful poster with the theme “Be Seen, Be Heard, Be Counted”. The poster should encourage households to complete the 2020 Census.
You can take a picture of your poster and upload it here by Wednesday, April 22.
In order to upload your poster, you will need to be logged in using your school’s student google account.
Selected posters will be posted on the ELO Website.
For each person that lives in your home, write a short poem or song about them and perform it for them, if you can!
Draw a picture of your family, everyone that lives in your family. Talk about each of those people.
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Teaching Tips
Accessibility Feature
Turning on transcripts for YouTube Videos [PDF]
Speech & Language
Focus on figurative language: An idiom is a phrase or expression that has a different meaning from the literal meaning. What does raining cats and dogs mean? Discuss the meaning and use it in a sentence with someone in your home.
Additional lessons are available for this grade level by pressing “More Lessons” above, or selecting a lesson below:
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