People Come and People Go

Transcription

1 The Northeast: America s Gateway to the World People Come and People Go a lesson on Population INTRODUCTION: In this lesson we are going to investigate population growth in the northeastern part of the United States. As you probably know, population around the world is growing, but not at an equal rate. In Africa and in the southwestern part of the United States population is booming. In the Northeast it is growing, but at a much slower rate. Let s analyze this situation, using data from the Census Bureau. PART ONE: What causes growth or decline of population? First, we look at natural causes. Population is gained by and decreased by. Human causes of population growth have to do with movement or migration. The population of a place (city or state or country) will increase if On the census data chart there are two columns for migration: domestic and international. What is the difference between the two? You will now be assigned a state in the Northeast. You will be given a data chart with population statistics from April 1990 to July Your task is to compute the net increase (or decrease) of population for your state. On the FLOW CHART below, fill in the blanks with the correct data and complete the calculations: POPULATION BIRTHS DEATHS APRIL 1990 NET NET INTERNATIONAL NET DOMESTIC POPULATION MIGRATION MIGRATION INCREASE This means the population of in July 1999 was.

2 -2- Percent of population increase is found by using this formula: Substitute the data for your state into this formula and determine the percent of increase: During this same time period, the population of the entire United States increased from about 248,791,000 in April 1990 to 272,691,000 in July Determine the percent of increase of our nation s population: Students should now report their calculations to the rest of the class. How did the population increase in the Northeast compare the entire country? How can you account for this difference? Did births outnumber deaths in the Northeast? Was international migration a positive or negative number? The largest negative population growth factor was. PART TWO: Population Growth in New York State As a whole, the state of New York grew in population during the 1990 s. But is it correct to say that every region of the state saw an increase? Your second data table has information about population growth or decline in eleven regions of the state. First, you will determine the percent of increase for each region, completing the chart. Then, on a county map of New York, you will construct a choropleth map showing population growth patterns. The map will be shaded from yellow to dark red. The darker the color the greater the percent of population increase. CONCLUSIONS: What pattern do you see about population growth and decline? What explanation can you give for this pattern?

3 -3- PART THREE: Historic population growth We have shown that the Northeast has not grown much in recent times, and some areas have actually lost population. This was not always the case, especially in the 1800 s. The city of Rochester, New York is a good example. You will be shown a line graph of Rochester s population from 1820 to You need to locate sections of the graph that show rapid population growth: slow population growth: decline in population: What might have caused some of the population booms in the past? What are the main causes of decline? Note that Greater Rochester is growing in population today, but not the City of Rochester itself. How can you account for this difference? WRAP-UP PROBLEM: The Census Bureau estimates that the population of the United States will increase by 8% between 1999 to Determined the predicted population of the entire country in Show your work.

4 CENSUS DATA TABLES NORTHEASTERN STATES STATE POP. 4 / 90 BIRTHS DEATHS NET INTER. MIGRATION NET DOMESTIC MIGRATION Maine 1,227, , , New Hampshire 1,109, ,027 83, ,607 Vermont 562,758 67,101 44, Massachusetts 6,016, , , ,834 55,060 Connecticut 3,287, , ,782 73, ,370 Rhode Island 1,003, ,103 89,187 16, ,958 New Jersey 7,747,750 1,079, , , ,495 Pennsylvania 11,882,842 1,438,566 1,163, , ,958 New York 17,990,778 2,539,280 1,519,562 1,107,814 1,888,936

5 NEW YORK STATE POPULATION DATA BY REGION REGION 1990 POP POP. POP INCREASE (DECREASE) PERCENT GROWTH Adirondacks 440, ,000 Capital District 915, ,000 Catskills 161, ,000 Central NY 1,250,000 1,172,000 Finger Lakes 304, ,000 Hudson Valley 2,019,000 2,168,000 Long Island 2,608,000 2,753,000 New York City 7,323,000 8,008,000 Greater Roch. 960, ,000 Southern Tier 456, ,000 Western NY 1,560,000 1,550,000