Problem
Local or Regional Human Population Trends
We learned about human population growth on a global scale and some of its environmental implications. How much do you know about local population trends in your town, city, or county? In this case study, we will examine human population trends at local or regional levels using U.S. Census Bureau data.
Choose a place that you wish to study. It may be the town, city, or county where you currently live or the place where you were born. If you are not from the United States, pick a U.S. locale that you wish to study, or contact your instructor about using an alternate locale near you.
Once you have chosen a place to study, visit the U.S. Census Bureau website.
In the search box of the landing page, type in the zip code or name of the place you have chosen to study. A wide range of population information will appear for the place you entered, such as population size and age, fertility, income and poverty, and many other population attributes. Scroll through the data summaries and maps provided to explore the demographics of the human population of your chosen place. For each category of data, such as "Populations and People," you can click the link under "Table" on the left side of the page for a detailed listing of data. For a good overview of how to navigate the basic and advanced data access features of the Explore Census Data landing page, please view the Improved Navigation on Data.census.gov video. A transcript and closed-captioning are available once you access the video.
Include the following information in your case study.
1) Provide an overview of the locale studied, including geographic location, size, median age of the human population, and any other information that helps describe the locale. What is your association with this locale, if any?
2) Discuss human population trends for your locale. Is the population decreasing, increasing, or stable? Compare this trend with the larger region such as the county or state in which your locale occurs. How does it differ, and why? What might be the long-term trends for the human population in your chosen locale? Give detailed evidence for each question in your conclusions.
3) What are some of the environmental implications of population growth in your chosen locale? Draw on content from the Unit II Lesson and Required Unit Resources for your assessment. Please feel free to conduct additional research as needed.