Last year I shared a handful of resources related to the US Census. My favorite of those were this interactive map from The New York Times and this CBS Fast Draw video about the history and purpose of the US census. Yesterday, CBS Sunday Morning offered a short video that gives us a little more insight into the habits of the “typical” American. Americans by the Numbers is a short overview of how the typical American spends his or her money.

Click here if you can’t see the video.

Applications for Education
This video could be the start of small local research project for your students. After watching the video, have your students interview their parents, grandparents, or other adults in their lives to see how they compare to the “typical” American. Then have the students combine their research work to compare their community to the typical American community.