5.3+Finding+Population+Densities+0910

December 14, 2009 S.C **Big Idea:** Many important practical and mathematical applications involve comparing quantities of one kind or another; it is important to know which method to use and how we should use them.

//What methods are there for comparing things?// · Numerators and denominators must have the same labels · The more samples you have the more accurate your result will be 1. Mountain 2. West North Central 3. Pacific 4. West South Central 5. East South Central 6. South Atlantic 7. East North Central 8. New England 9. Middle Atlantic
 * Essential Question: **
 * Notes: **
 * Problem 5.3 **
 * The “crowdedness” of a region is commonly reported by giving the number of people (or animals and plants) per unit of area. This rate is called the population density of the region. **
 * A. **** What is the population density of the census region in which your school is located? **
 * Answer: ** The population density in New England is 211 people/square mile (13,270,000 people/62,811 square miles = 211 people/square mile). The population density in the Pacific is 47 people/square mile (41,645,000 people/895,353 square miles).
 * B. **** Divide the remaining eight census regions among the groups in your class. Find the population density of the region you are assigned. Share your group’s results with the rest of the class, so that every group has data for all nine regions. **
 * Answer: **
 * ** Region ** || ** Population Density ** ||
 * New England - || 211 people/square mile ||
 * Middle Atlantic - || 383 people/square mile ||
 * South Atlantic - || 174 people/square mile ||
 * East North Central - || 177 people/square mile ||
 * East South Central - || 89 people/square mile ||
 * West North Central - || 36 people/square mile ||
 * West South Central - || 67 people/square mile ||
 * Mountain - || 18 people/square mile ||
 * Pacific - || 47 people/square mile ||
 * C. **** Order the regions from least crowded to most crowded. **
 * Answer: **
 * D. **** Compare the population density of the region in which you live to the population density of each neighboring region. Write complete sentences explaining which regions you are comparing and describing how their population densities compare. **
 * Answer: ** The regions I “live” in are New England and the Pacific. The population density in the Middle Atlantic is highly greater than the population density in New England/square mile. The population density in the Middle Atlantic is greater by 172 people/square mile. The population density in the Pacific is greater than the population density in the Mountain Region. It is greater by 29 people/square mile. Besides this, the region with the greatest population density/square mile is the Middle Atlantic and the region with the lowest population density/square mile is the Mountain Region.
 * Problem 5.3 Follow-Up **
 * What do you think accounts for the differences in population densities among the regions? In other words, why do you think some areas are densely populated and others are more sparsely populated? **
 * Answer: ** Some factors are area, extreme weather conditions or job availability options. People like to live in places where there is a lot of area, the weather is nice and jobs are open to them. This is why some regions are more densely populated then others.