WHAT ROLE DOES GEOGRAPHY PLAY IN THE CENSUS?

TEACHER VERSION

Subject: High School Geography (adapted here for younger readers)
Grade Level: 8–9
Time Needed: 45–60 minutes

What Students Will Learn:

• Students will learn about different kinds of map areas used by the census (these are called "geographic entities"). A census is a count of all the people who live in a place.
• Students will think about how information from these areas can be useful.

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About This Activity

Students will learn important words about geography and the census. They will find out how the U.S. Census Bureau (the government group that counts people) divides up land into different areas. They will also learn why the Census Bureau does this.

Grade Level: 8
Time Needed: 45–60 minutes

What Students Will Learn:

• Students will learn to name and study different types of map areas the census uses. They will think about how the information from each area can help people.

Topics:

• Borders (called "boundaries")
• Map areas (called "geographic entities")
• Thinking about space and maps

Skills Students Will Practice:

• Looking closely at information
• Figuring things out

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What You Need

• The student pages for this activity (8 pages)
• A printed copy of the word list from this teacher guide

Activity Items

These items are part of the activity:

• Item 1: A short reading about census geography
• Item 2: A chart showing how census areas fit together, from biggest to smallest
• Item 3: Pictures showing examples of census tracts, block groups, and blocks (three kinds of small areas)

For more help teaching about the Census Bureau, read "Census Bureau 101 for Students." You can print this and give it to your class.

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Standards This Activity Meets

National Geography Standards

Standard	Grade	What Students Should Know
Using maps and thinking about space	8	The good and bad points of different ways to show geography — like maps, globes, graphs, pictures, and photos taken from above
Studying how people and places are arranged on Earth	8	Words about space, like how easy it is to reach a place, how spread out things are, how crowded a place is, and how places depend on each other

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Thinking Skills Used

Students will compare different kinds of census map areas and think carefully about how they are different. This uses higher-level thinking skills like analyzing — looking closely at parts of something to understand it better.

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Notes for Teachers

Before the Activity

Go over these words and their meanings with your students. Here are some extra links with more information if you want them.

Word List:

Spatial — Having to do with space on Earth's surface.

American Community Survey — A survey the Census Bureau does every month. It asks some people questions to learn how communities are changing. It gathers facts about more than 35 topics, like school, money, homes, and jobs.

Decennial Census — A count that happens every 10 years. It counts every person living in the U.S., based on where they lived on April 1 of that year.

Boundary — The edge or border of an area, like a census block, tract, county, or town. It might follow something you can see, like a river or street — or it might not.

Geographic Hierarchy — A system where areas fit inside bigger areas, like puzzle pieces. For example, states are split into counties, and counties are split into smaller parts.

Geographic Entity — Any kind of area on a map, like a state, county, town, census tract, or census block.

Administrative Entity — An area with official borders, made to help run elections or other government jobs. This includes school districts and voting districts.

Legal Entity — An area whose name and borders come from laws or agreements. Examples: the United States, Puerto Rico, counties, cities, towns, and school districts. The Census Bureau uses whatever borders exist on January 1 each year.

Statistical Entity — An area used just for collecting information. It doesn't have official borders or its own government.

Small-Area Data — Census facts collected for very small areas — census blocks, block groups, and tracts.

Census Tract — A fairly small, long-lasting area inside a county. People who work with census data decide where its borders go. It usually has about 4,000 people and 1,600 homes. Its borders often follow things you can see, like roads.

Census Block — The smallest area the Census Bureau uses. Its edges are things like streets, streams, and railroad tracks — or lines you can't see, like property lines or school district borders.

Census Block Group — A middle-sized area with about 600 to 3,000 people, used to share information.

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Introduce the Census Bureau to your class using the information sheet mentioned above.

During the Activity

1. Have students read Item 1. You can have them take turns reading aloud, read in small groups, or read it to them while they follow along. Afterward, ask what they learned.

1. Give each student (or small group) one word or one definition on a slip of paper. Have them walk around the room to find their match. When they think they've found the right match, have them raise their hands or stand together.

1. Have students tape their matched word and definition on the board. If any matches are wrong, let students work together to fix them. Help if needed.

1. Review all the words and meanings with the class. Use Item 2 to show how the areas fit together, from biggest to smallest.

1. Review Item 3 with the class. Then let students work alone to answer questions 1 and 2.

After the Activity

Have students share their answers to question 2 with a partner. If there's time, ask pairs to find something their answers have in common and write one sentence answering: "What role does geography play in the census?" Then ask some pairs to share their answers (or sentences) with the whole class.

More Ideas to Try

• Have students read a Census Bureau blog post about census blocks.
• Show students the "Geography Data Gems" pages for more details about census geography.
• Let students explore the 2020 Census Demographic Data Map Viewer, an online map with 2020 Census facts about states, counties, and census tracts. It includes information about population, race, family, housing, and more.

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Student Activity

Click here to download the student pages.

Activity Items

• Item 1: A short reading about census geography
• Item 2: A chart showing how census areas fit together
• Item 3: Pictures of census tracts, block groups, and blocks

What You Will Learn

• I will work with classmates to define different kinds of census map areas.
• I will look closely at three kinds of census map areas.
• I will figure out how information from each kind of area could be useful.

Your teacher will help you start this activity. First, you'll read Item 1. Then you'll play a matching game with geography words. After that, you'll look at Item 2.

Next, you'll look at Item 3 and answer these questions:

1. How do these three kinds of census areas compare in size? Which is biggest? Which is smallest?

Answer: Census tracts are the biggest. Census blocks are the smallest. Census block groups are in the middle.

Note for teachers: This question can be tricky. On the picture, the smallest area might look bigger than it really is because of the zoomed-in scale. Remind students to check the scale key carefully.

2. Based on what you read in Item 1, how might people use information from these areas? Who might use it? Why does it help to divide land into these different areas?