Census 2000 Teaching Materials Available

It's time to stand up and be counted.  In the year 2000, it will be time to conduct another enumeration--also known as a census--of the people in the United States and its island areas, including Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

For Census 2000, the Census Bureau has teamed with Scholastic, Inc., to provide teachers with a series of grade-appropriate learning activities to: help students understand the historical context and democratic purpose of the Census
develop math, geography, computer, research and communication skills to explore the many real-world applications of census data and
apply math, geography, computer, research, and communication skills to collect and analyze data.

The teaching materials, "Making Sense of Census 2000," are available for grades K-4, 5-8, and 9-12.  Each teaching package contains a 24-page teaching guide, a letter to the teacher, and a 4-by-6-foot census map.  Each teaching guide contains six lessons that address three strands: map literacy, community involvement, and information management.  the lessons are designed to be replacement lessons that fulfill regular curriculum requirements, teaching skills that correlate with national and state standards, and help students navigate the Census Bureau's web site.

Educators can find information about the Census in Schools project and download teaching materials (PDF Format) on the Census Bureau Web Site at http://www.census.gov/dmd/www/schindex.htm.