Brief Description

Students have been studying civil rights and the groups of people that were affected by the lack of basic rights. They have discussed people and topics like; Harriet Tubman, slavery, the Underground Railroad, women's rights, George Washington Carver, Nat Turner, Sourjourner Truth and Martin Luther King, Jr.  This lesson will allow the students to use U.S. census data, graph it, then analyze the data for a particular issue to study further.  Some examples of variables the students could graph and analyze are; 1850: number of free blacks in the  population, 1870: number of native peole who can't write, 1930: number of persons 7-13 years old who are attending school, 1950: number of civilian women in the workforce, 1960:  number of married couples with their own household. This lesson should be taught in a 4-5 day time period in order to allow students enough time to collect and prepare data as well as prepare for an oral presentation for the class.

Standards and Frameworks

Technology Standards

• 1T-F2. Demonstrate functional operation of technology components
• 4T-F2. Use technology tools for individual and collaborative communication activities to share products with audiences inside and outside the classroom
• 5T-F1. Recognize electronic information sources
• 6T-F1. Use technology resources for problem solving, self-directed learning and extended learning activities

• 2M-F1. Collect and analyze data using the concepts of largest, smallest, most often, least often and middle
• LS-FS5. Share ideas, information, opinions (preferences/interests) and questions. (oral presentation)

Academic

• Students will be able to look at a graph from the Census Bureau from a certain time period, analyze it, be able to make accurate assumptions about how people lived in that time period, and effectively share that information with the whole class.

• Given a web address the students will be able to navigate a particular website, highlight research variables, and retrieve information necessary for further analysis.

• Students need to know the basic function of the computer
• How to use the mouse and the keyboard
• How to access the internet and go to a particular website

• Overhead transparencies- one for each cooperative group, one for guided practice and any you might need for the accommodation of gifted students
• Pencils and paper
• Chart paper and markers
• Computer lab

SEI and learning disabilities: These students will need to be paired up with a fluent English speaker. You may also want to put these kids at a separate table for extra help while fluent English speakers are working independently. Allow them to illustrate their findings and write simple sentences about their illustrations.

ADHD/ADD: Provide these students with smaller chunks and a longer time period to complete their research and analysis.

Gifted and Talented: Allow the students to research a variable on a topic of their choice, then compile their analysis and put the information on an overhead to present to the class.

Procedures

Before the computer lab

1. Reiterate to the students that we’ve been studying groups of people like; slaves, free blacks, women, public speakers, public organizers and activists. We have also been looking at what the conditions were like for them, during the era they lived in.
2. Offer a sample topic like; how many blacks attended school in 1880. Predict and then record the predictions on chart paper.
3. Have a sample graph from the website printed on an overhead. Or use your computer that is hooked up to a projector or television converter and guide the students through the steps they will take in their cooperative groups

Sample steps for guided practice for use on the computer projector or television converter are:

• Access the Web site http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/census
• Preview the site and get used to the navigation
• Click on the bar buttons are found on the left of the computer page and are listed under the bar called “historical information.” Choose the census year you plan to retrieve information from.
• Choose year.  E.g. 1820
• Go to box listed as “VARIABLES FOR THE 1820 CENSUS” (categories)
• Highlight research variable. In this case highlight “number of male slaves under 14 years of age”
• Click on grey bar “browse 1820 data”
• Find data box labeled “graph a variable” and click grey bar “graph states”
• Graph will be displayed


4. Then discuss and analyze the data using the concepts of largest, smallest, more than, and less than. On chart paper make a bulleted list of your analysis.
5. Get students into groups of 3-4 for cooperative learning.
6. Assign topics for the kids to research at http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/census
 

Year: 1830
• Category: variables for the 1830 census,
• Variable: number of free colored males 24-35 years of age
Year: 1850
• Category: free colored population
• Variable:  number of free colored females 20-29 years of age
Year: 1870
• Category: Education and literacy
• Variable: number of native people who can’t write
Year: 1950
• Category: Employment
• Variable: number of civilian women in the workforce
Year: 1960
• Category: Population characteristics
• Variable: number young married couples with their own household


4.   Have students predict and record what they think the conditions were like for the people they are researching. After the groups have recorded their predictions and indicated why they think this, they are ready to go to the computer lab.

Also:

• Verify that all your students have permission to access the Internet based on your school district’s guidelines.
• Instruct your students on Internet safety.

1. Access the Web site http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/census
2. Preview the site and get used to the navigation
3. Click on the bar buttons that are found on the left of the computer page and are listed under the bar called “historical information.”
4.  Choose the census year you plan to retrieve information from and click on the bar
• Go to category and click on topic
• It will take you to a box that has listed variables
• Highlight research variable.
• Scroll to the bottom of the page
• Click on grey bar “ browse (year) data”
• Find data box labeled “graph a variable” and click grey bar “graph states”
• Graph will be displayed
 
5.  Print out the graph representing the research data.

Note: The variables represent all of the questions from the census recorded by the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR).  The variables have been grouped into categories for convenience. The categories are not part of the original data.

1. Give students time to collaborate with their teams and analyze the data using the concepts of largest, smallest, more than, and less than.
2. On chart paper have teams include their predictions at the top of the page then make a bulleted list of their analysis.
3. Give students time to prepare for their oral presentation.
• In their oral presentation the kids need to verbalize their group prediction, talk about the elements of the largest, smallest, more than, and less than using their bulleted list. In addition to showing how they got their information from the graph they researched on the website.

I will use a rubric to evaluate the lesson objectives. Were the cooperative groups able to access the information from the website? Did they analyze the information and organize it, so that other students could easily understand their findings? Did everyone in the group participate in the presentation?