a. In your Word document, write a short paragraph listing the two states your group thinks grew the most and which two states your group thinks grew the least or declined the most. In your paragraph briefly indicate the factors you believe are driving the growth or decline.
b. Open the file StatePopulation2000.xls, which contains official decennial census population figures for all states from 1970 to 2000, by either clicking on the file link or by finding it in the Excel Files collection of files on the left. Fill column F with the difference between the 2000 and 1990 populations for each state. This quantity is called the absolute change. Frequently, we call this simply the change in population. (Hints. In F6 type a label "Absolute Change". Then in cell F8 type =E8-D8. Then fill the rest of the column. To fill, you can double click on the small box in the bottom right hand corner of cell F8; alternately, you can left click on this small box, then holding the mouse button down, move the mouse down to the end of the column.)
c. Using Excel's column sorting tools, determine the three states that had the largest increase (positive change) in population from 1990 to 2000. In your Word document, write a short paragraph listing the names and population increases of these states. (Be careful! Note that the population figures in the table are in thousands.)
d. Fill column G with the percentage change in population from 1990 to 2000 for each state. Remember to label your column, and recall that the percentage change in a quantity is defined to be the absolute change divided by the value at the start:
Percentage change is always expressed as a percentage; for example 0.342
is expressed as 34.2%. To express your values in percent click on the percentage
button
in the toolbars near
the top of screen. You may express more decimals in your values by clicking a number of
times on the "Increase Decimal" button
; to express fewer decimals click on the
"Decrease Decimal" button
.
e. Using Excel's sorting tools, determine the three states that had the largest percentage increase in population from 1990 to 2000. In your Word document, write a short paragraph listing the names and population increases of these states.
f. In a short well-written paragraph explain why the first list, created by sorting by absolute increase, differs so much from the second, sorted by percentage increase.
g. Now, using the Thematic Mapping Tool make a shaded map of the percentage increase data. Then paste it into your Word document.
h. In a short well-written paragraph, describe the geographic patterns of growth in the US from 1990 to 2000. What regions are experiencing population growth? Which are experiencing little or no growth? Are there some outliers? (An outlier is an unusual data point that goes against the general trend.)