By The American Bar Association’s Division for Public Education

This lesson explores who is counted by the U.S. Census, and why an accurate count is important for ensuring representation in government. A background reading on census-taking in U.S. history, along with discussion questions, may be found here ^[1].

Objectives

■ allow students to study and analyze
the census form;
■ identify for students individuals and
communities that are not accurately
represented by the census;
■ consider different ways that individuals
and communities might be undercounted
or excluded by the census;
■ engage students in reading news
articles and conducting independent
research;
■ ask students to summarize research
findings in presentations; and
■ explore the effects of not having a
fully accurate census count in the
United States.

Who Doesn’t Count?