Demographic+Changes+in+the+US

=GUIDING QUESTIONS/FUTURE ESSAY(S)?= = = =**POPULATION SHIFTS TO THE SOUTH/WEST, 1950-PRESENT**= Look at the map below to see the geographic population center of the U.S. (What this means--each star considers people to the North, South, East, and West and finds where the average center would be. In ROK, the center would be in the NW part of the country due to Seoul. As a greater percentage of the population moves to the Seoul area, the geographical center would keep moving NW.)
 * What have been some major population trends in the U.S. since 1950? Why have those changes occurred?
 * What is the ethnic makeup of the United States? How has that changed and how will it change in the future?



[|Major League Baseball (MLB) franchises] Use the links above the map to compare the locations of franchises in "America's pastime," baseball. How does 1900-1950 compare to the 1950s? 1960s? 1990s? What could have accounted for that change?

[|Electoral Maps, 1789-present] Use the electoral maps (scroll down some) to see certain trends in population and voting patterns. Since 1964, there have been 538 electors in each presidential election. The number of electors for each state is primarily based on population (the proportion of US citizens each state has).
 * Population: Compare the total number of votes in (1) 1964, (2) 1988, and (3) 2008 each of these states had: California, Texas, New York, Pennsylvania, and Florida. Why have certain states gained while others have lost?
 * Voting Patterns I: How did most of the South vote from 1876 to 1964? Why might the South have changed in 1964? With one major exception (1976), how has the South voted since 1964?
 * Voting Patterns II: Today, states such as the Pacific Coast states (California, Oregon, and Washington) and the Northeastern states (New York, Massachusetts, etc) are almost guaranteed to vote for the Democratic party in presidential elections. When did each region make a transition away from the Republican party? What factors may have led to that change?

Despite all the migration to the South and West, where is the mostly densely populated area of the United States? Why? = =

=**US. "BELTS"**=

Belt #1: "Rust"
[|Rust Belt Brief Background] Where? When coined? __Why__ coined? What 3 areas have replaced the Rust Belt as manufacturing centers? Why? The nation as a whole shifted more from a manufacturing to a service economy. How did ROK and other places help the US make that transition? (One helpful link: [|4 Asian Tigers]) What is one example of a Rust Belt city reinventing itself?





[|Billy Joel's "Allentown" (1982)] Song/video about life in the Rust Belt post WWII Pennsylvania 'Steel Country' - "and it's getting very hard to stay..."
[|Allentown Lyrics]

Belt #2: "Sun"
[|Sun Belt Brief Background] Where? How much growth/When? What are 3 major factors for each of those? Why did the last 2 occur (answer not mentioned in the article)? What are 3 reasons the large in-migration to the Sun Belt occurred? In addition to regular workers, who else did this area attract?





Compare the U.S. electoral votes between the Sun Belt and Snow Belt in 1970, 2000, and 2030.



=ETHNICITIES= [|U.S. Census Maps] Click on the maps titled "percent of persons..." After looking at several, what surprises you? What matched your expectations? Why?

=**WHAT WILL THE FUTURE BRING?**= [|Immigration to Play Lead Role in Future U.S. Growth] Compare the population growth due to U.S.-born children vs. immigrants. [|Demographic Changes in the Future] By 2042, __ will be the **majority** in the U.S.



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