U.S. POPULATION GROWTH   			Question of the Day

Part 1
According to Census Bureau figures, the population of the United States grew at a rate of approximately 13.15% during the decade from 1990 to 2000.  

Based on this ten-year growth rate, please make a conjecture on whether the annual growth rate is equal to 1.315%, i.e., whether you think that it is logical to infer that the annual growth rate is equal to one-tenth of the ten-year growth rate?

CIRCLE ONE: 	A.  YES	B.  NO		

Part 2
Visit the CensusScope website at http://www.censusscope.org/us/chart_popl.html and observe the graph of the U.S. population growth from 1960 to 2000.  Based on your newly gained knowledge of functions and their graphs, which type of growth do you think that the graph depicts?

CIRCLE ONE: 	A.  LINEAR GROWTH	B.  EXPONENTIAL GROWTH 

Part 3
Visit the Census Charts website at http://www.census-charts.com/Population/pop-us-1790-2000.html and observe the graph of the U.S. population growth from 1790 to 2000.  Based on your newly gained knowledge of functions and their graphs, which type of growth do you think that the graph depicts?

CIRCLE ONE: 	A.  LINEAR GROWTH	B.  EXPONENTIAL GROWTH

Part 4
After making your decisions, please discuss your conjectures with your nearest neighbor and explain to each other your underlying reasonings.  You don’t necessarily have to agree with each other’s assessments, but do have a candid discussion; you are free to change your initial reasonings in light of your neighbor’s explanations

Afterwards, please record your conjectures and reasonings in written form; a single paragraph will be sufficient.