Activity: Mapping Census (ACS) Data

This activity looks at the impact of intersectionality and intersecting identities when mapping demographic data. The example are maps of Mississippi counties using American Community Survey (ACS) data to map the percentage of people per county with income below poverty. The first set of maps compares men and women where no stark differences are seen but when race and gender are both taken into account, in the 4 maps of the second set, the dual impact of race and gender is illustrated.

Download Mapping Census Activity Files

Running the activity as a whole class

Go through the slides as a class and use the questions as discussion prompts in the slides.

Running as a small group activity

• Split class into groups of 5-6 people
• Each group receives the same 2 maps showing Income Below Poverty by County in Mississippi.
• Each group is given one of the following questions (only one question per group):
  • What conclusions would you draw about any effect of gender on poverty levels in Mississippi?
  • Are there any misleading components of the maps?
  • Is there any information that is missing that would be necessary for interpreting these maps?
• Share each group’s question and their response and discuss all together then show the remaining slides and discuss the questions for those slides