West Virginia Department of Education



What is the U.S. Census and why is it important?West Virginia has one of the country's lowest participation rates in the 2020 census. Data compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau shows only about a third of West Virginia households have responded to the head count as of April 10, putting the state as third worst behind only Alaska and Puerto Rico. This statistic tells us West Virginia will lose out on millions of dollars in funding for important infrastructure and programs for our children and the elderly population. We are also in jeopardy of losing representation in Congress. This has huge repercussions for our state!To get an idea of how the census affects communities complete the following activity. Activity The table below includes the population data for 4 cities in West Virginia. In the third column, divide the total population of each capital city by 1,000. Round your answer to the nearest whole number. Then multiply your answer by 2 to find the number of tokens each city will get. Huntington, WV was done for you as an example. (Each city will get 2 tokens for each 1000 people. You will use the tokens in another activity). State Capital Population Population divided by 1000 Tokens Huntington, Wv 54,096 54 108 Charleston, WV 47,215 _______ _______ Wheeling, WV 26,771 ________ ________ Weirton, WV 18,450 ________ ________ Activity Now that you have found the number of tokens for each city, pretend you are a city planner. You are going to use the chart below to plan the city of Weirton and Huntington. Use each the number of tokens you calculated for each city to plan each city. Remember to include essential services that each community needs to function. Write down the city and then the service and #of tokens you used for that service. Add the total for each city to be sure you did not use more tokens than allowed. See my example: Wheeling: (I have 54 tokens to use) School - 10 tokens / Hospital – 10 tokens / Police Station – 10 tokens / Fire Station – 10 tokens / Grocery Store - 8 tokens / Gas Station – 4 tokens I have used 52 tokens. I must stop because there is nothing that has 2 tokens. (I chose services that I felt were important for a community). Community Services List * Tokens available based on census: 2 tokens per 1,000 people Cost of community services: Police Station = 10 tokens ? Fire Station = 10 tokens ? Hospital = 10 tokens ? School = 10 tokens City Hall = 5 tokens ? Library = 5 tokens ? Dentist Office = 5 tokens ? Zoo = 8 tokens Grocery Store = 8 tokens ? Gas Station = 4 tokens ? Pet Store = 3 tokens ? Amusement Park = 8 tokens Toy Store = 3 tokens ? Candy Store = 3 tokens ? Ice Cream Store = 3 tokens ? Fast Food Restaurant = 3 tokens Park/Sports Court/Field (soccer, basketball, etc.) = 8 tokens 1. Now that you have used all your tokens for each city, what can you determine about cities that report a higher population? Do they get more or less community services and funding? 2. After doing this activity, what can you determine about why it is important that each household be counted and complete the U.S Census Survey? 3. Were you able to get all the community services you thought were important for our city of Weirton? If not, what were you not able to get?4. Go back and recalculate what the outcome would be if only half of the citizens complete the census. What is your conclusion?Extension activities can be done investigating the loss of representation in Congress and the loss of programs for various populations in our state. ................
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