First, make sure you have read the articles from the week and explored the interactive maps from the first two e-resources. Follow the steps in I and II below and then answer the Discussion Questions. Remember to post your initial responses to the questions in a "New Thread" by SATURDAY night at midnight (EST) and post two follow replies to two colleagues by TUESDAY night at midnight (EST, both during Course Week*/UNIT 2).  *Reminder: The "course week" schedule runs from Wednesdays to Tuesdays (instead of Mondays to Sundays as you may have experienced in the past!) I. Access the U.S. Census Bureau's data base, and follow these steps to explore the median income of your city or county. 1. Once you launch https://data.census.gov/cedsci/ note that you can explore many different topics by entering search terms in the bar such as poverty or inequality or even "health insurance" to look up the breakdown of number of people with various kinds of health insurance in the U.S. For this week, we are interested in facts about income. Type in "Median Income" in the search bar, and click Search. Note the first result shows the median income for a household in the U.S. ($61,937 in 2018). 2. Next, look near the top of the page, and click on "Maps" (third link in from the left). You should see a map of the U.S. with the borders for each state. Find your own state, and use the little hand to click on the state. When you do so, a little window will pop up with a "profile" for that state. For example, I live in California, and if I click on "California" it brings up facts about the population, Median household income, poverty rate and unemployment rate. Click on the profile for your state and note the relevant figures. 3. Now, find your county. Click the back arrow to navigate back to the full map of the U.S. Note that there is a dropdown menu that allows you to select other regions. You can get down to fine grained analysis, but to keep it simple, select "County". Note that the map now shows all the counties in the U.S. Find the county you live in. If the map is too large or too small, use the + or - arrows to help you narrow in or zoom out. Using the + will eventually make the names of the counties appear. Once you have found your county, click on it with the little hand, and then select the "Profile" for your county. Note the population, median household income, and poverty rate. Save this information to report it when answer the first discussion question below.  II. Explore the Urban Institute's Map - "City, Community and Regional Changes" in the U.S. Move your cursor to your city/town on the map. Use the U.S. city or town you consider to be "home" if currently living outside the U.S. Click on that spot on the map. A set of graphs will come up showing estimated changes in population size by race/ethnicity and age. Below that, you will see “Age and Race Detail” with graphs of “age pyramids” and race/ethnicity as well as "age pyramids" that indicate whether the overall population and subgroups are aging. See what happens to the charts as you click through the years 2000-2030. Economically speaking, the more lopsided the pyramid, the more difficult it will become for a younger generation to support the older generations; however, some also argue that a declining younger population might have environmental benefits, so there is a tension between these values (on the one hand, economic growth and tax revenue needed to support an older generation, but on the other hand, declining birth rates equates to less consumption and use of finite resources overall). You can cross-check cross some of these facts about your home county by going to: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/HSD410217 Discussion Questions: 1. The sociological theory of Relative Deprivation holds that an individual's perception of reality is based on the human tendency to compare his or her socio-economic situation to that of others. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median income in the U.S. in 2018 was $61,937 [By the way, the population was ~327,000,000, poverty rate 13.1%, and employment rate was 59.8% (this last figure does not include retired folks). Report the figures for your county (don't forget to tell us the county and state). How might the median income or poverty rate  in your county shape a resident of your chosen county's perception when compared to the median income of the country at large? Keep in mind that there is a relationship between median income and cost of living. Higher median incomes tend to be associated with higher cost of living in that area while lower median incomes indicate lower cost of living (on average).  2. Based on your use of the Urban Institute’s Map, name one demographic change in your community or closest city that will be important in the future.  Explain why you think it will be important (for example, economically, politically, environmentally, etc). 3.  Name one difference between Generation Z and an older generation (other than Millennials) that you found to be interesting and/or surprising. What is interesting or surprising about it, and what do you think accounts for the difference? 4. What are the major differences between cohabiting and solo parents? Can we deem these differences uniformly “good” or “bad”? Why or why not, in your view? https://apps.urban.org/features/mapping-americas-futures/ https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2019/01/17/generation-z-looks-a-lot-like-millennials-on-key-social-and-political-issues/ https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2018/04/25/the-changing-profile-of-unmarried-parents/