Make a bar chart, line chart, and scatter plot of this data. Let year be the independent variable (x) and population be the dependent variable (y). Which helps you best estimate the average rate of change in population for each decade? Why?
 

Using the line chart, answer the following questions:

b) During which decade(s) did the population decrease?

In your spreadsheet or data file, enter the Number Change from Preceding Census. This is the number of people that the population grew by in each decade. You can either calculate this information from the data you have entered already or you can find it at Population, Housing Units, Area Measurements, and Density: 1790-1990. For example, between 1790 and 1800, the population grew by 1,379,269 people. 

Calculate the Average Annual Rate of Change in population for each decade. This number represents the average number of people the population increased or decreased by per year for a particular decade. What is another term for this rate of change?
 

According to your calculations, which decade shows the smallest change in population? Which decade shows the greatest change in population? How do these results compare to what you found on the line chart?  

Were there any sudden increases or decreases in the average annual rate of change in population? In which decades did these occur? Can you think of any reasons that may have caused this?