2016 Census Teacher's Kit – Activity 2: Our class, our community

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• Overview
• Subject-specific learning objectives
• Part 1: Getting started
• Part 2: Activity
• Part 3: Consolidation of learning
• (Optional) Take home activity: Our Canadian class

Overview

Junior-level students will think about the class as a community, and how they are similar to other small groups of people who live in Canada. They will learn how data can be used to make sure people in communities have services to support their needs. They will make decisions for their class community, using survey data to inform those decisions.

Estimated completion time: up to 105 minutes

Suggested grade level: grades 5 and 6

Objectives

• Make connections between the kind of information gathered in a survey and how that information can be used to make decisions for the benefit of a community.
• Make decisions about allocation of resources using survey data to inform decisions.

Subject-specific learning objectives

Mathematics

• Collect data by conducting a survey about themselves or their community.
• Demonstrate an understanding of how sets of data can be samples of larger populations.
• Read, interpret and draw conclusions from primary data.

Social studies

• Gain a basic understanding of the roles and responsibilities of local governments.
• Begin to discuss how needs are met in communities.

Materials

Supplies

• poster paper
• markers

Handouts

• Classroom community questions
• (Optional) Take home activity: Our Canadian class

Vocabulary

Census:

a collection of information from every household in a country, on topics that are important to that country, used to help different levels of government make decisions.

Census reference day:

the day on which the information is provided for the census.

Community:

several groups of people that live close enough together to interact with each other.

Data:

facts that can be studied and considered to form ideas or make decisions.

Population:

the total number of people living in a given area.

Statistics:

numerical facts.

Survey:

a set of the same questions asked to a small group within a population whose results are used to draw conclusions about the larger group.

Part 1: Getting started (15 to 30 minutes)

1. To begin this activity, write the definition for 'community' on the board or on a large piece of poster paper.
   Community: several groups of people that live close enough together to interact with each other.
2. As a class, briefly discuss the definition.
   If time allows, encourage students to add words or phrases to the definition. You may also provide students with 'sticky notes' (Post-it) on which they can write and add their own words, phrases or definitions of community.
   Guiding questions
   • Do you think our definition and the definition here are similar or different? How?
   • What kinds of things bring people together into a community? Is community just about where you live, or do community members share other things?
   • Who is part of your community? How far does it extend?
   • Is our class a community? Is it also part of another community?

Part 2: Activity (30 to 45 minutes)

1. Tell students that the Government of Canada conducts a Census of Population every five years. The census asks the same set of questions of every person who lives in every community in Canada. This is done in order to get an overall picture of who lives in Canada at one very specific point in time. This information is used to make decisions about the type of services and support communities need.
   

   Topics in the questions about all people living in Canada on one day (census reference day) may include:

   • age and sex
   • marital status and relationships of people living in a household
   • number of people living in a household
   • languages spoken
   • should this information be shared with the public in 92 years?
2. Ask students to work with a neighbour to think about some of the services that they have heard of or used that are provided by the Canadian government.
   

   Services may include:

   • schools and daycares
   • emergency services, such as fire, police, or medical services
   • roads and public transit
   • community services, such as health care, education, or employment.
3. Ask students to think about their class as a small community within the larger community of their school. Tell students that they are going to answer a few questions inspired by the census. This will allow them to gather some information (statistics) about their class and class resources, so that they can make some decisions about some services or resources that their class needs.
4. Distribute the Classroom community questions handout and read all of the questions aloud with the class before answering them. Ensure that students know that they should select one answer for each question.
   Alternatively, if time and classroom resources allow, teachers or students can input the questions from the Classroom community questions handout into a free online survey tool, so that the survey can be completed online or on a mobile device. See Next steps for an extension activity if this method of data collection is being used.
5. Read each question aloud and ask students to raise their hands when the answer applies to them. Count the number of raised hands, tally the student responses on the board and ask students to record the numbers on their handouts.
   Alternatively, if time allows, divide students into groups to complete smaller tallies and add the results together. Create class statistics or investigate small group survey results with the class as a whole.

Part 3: Consolidation of learning (15 to 30 minutes)

1. When the information has been collected and recorded, have students work in pairs or small groups to discuss and propose one service that their class needs.
   Allow students to choose their own type of service, or provide groups with an assigned category of service that might be proposed. (See above for suggestions of service categories.)
   Possible categories and proposed services
   • Health
     • "Most students take a bus or are driven to school in a car. We should have a longer recess, more gym time, or do yoga in class so we can get more exercise."
   • Education
     • "Seven out of 30 students in the class speak a language other than English or French. We need to add some books written in those languages to the library."

Modifications

If students require additional support:

• Reduce the number of topics or questions in the survey, or focus on a different topic every day for several days.

If students require an additional challenge:

• Encourage students to represent the data in different ways by calculating percentages, or by creating graphs, diagrams, or infographics using online illustration tools.
• Ask students to consider how these data might change if the same students were asked the same questions in five years. Which information would stay the same (e.g., birthdays) and which information would be likely to change (e.g., fewer people preferring to use a pen as technology advances)?
• Encourage students to generate their own questions to learn more about their class and include these questions in the discussion.

Next steps

To continue this activity, have students:

• Ask another class (or several classes) in the school to complete the same activity and compare the data.
• If an online survey tool has been used to collect data, export the data into a spreadsheet software to create different kinds of graphs and practise information technology and math skills by manipulating the data.
• Read a book such as If the World Were a Village by David J. Smith and Shelagh Armstrong (ISBN-10: 1554535956, ISBN-13: 978-1554535958) or visit websites with a similar theme to further investigate how the characteristics and composition of a community (including a global one) may be represented numerically.
• Work as a class to select the top three proposals for services for the class. Establish criteria with which to evaluate them, such as interest level in the class, long-term benefit, feasibility and cost to implement. When a single service has been selected, have students write a letter to the principal, school council or parent groups asking them to provide support in implementing the service.

(Optional) Take home activity: Our Canadian class

Use the information students have gathered about the class to create a visual 'snapshot' of their class as a Canadian classroom. Encourage students to represent details about their classroom and the students within it in a variety of ways. This might include illustrations, written facts, graphs or charts, or infographics contained in the maple leaf outline. These can be cut out and posted in the school community or scanned and shared on a class website.

• (Optional) Take home activity: Our Canadian class