2. Want to know which activities are the most popular among American kids
Want to know which activities are the most popular among American kids? The most widely practiced religions? The states where it’s easiest to find a pizza?
Read on to find out.

3. • This graph shows the most popular sports and recrea-tional activities for young people ages in 2009.
• Which activity was the most popular? Does this surprise you? Why or why not?
• Did more kids participate in fishing or in golf? Why do you think this is so?

4. • Yes, Americans are crazy about pizza
• Yes, Americans are crazy about pizza. In 2009, we spent more than $36 billion on pies and slices.
• How does this chart measure the popularity of pizza in various states? What other methods can you think of to rate pizza’s popularity?
• Why might pizzerias be more common in some areas of the country than in others?

5. • According to this graph, which two metropolitan areas in Texas gained the most residents in the past decade?
• Why do you think Detroit’s population fell so much from 2000 to 2009? What catastrophic event caused New Orleans to lose many residents?
• The Census Bureau estimates that 12 percent of Americans moved between 2008 and 2009.

6. • Nearly 11 million illegal immigrants live in the U. S. today
• Nearly 11 million illegal immigrants live in the U.S. today. This chart shows estimates of where they came from.
• What percent of illegal immigrants came from Asia? Aside from Mexico, which region or country do most of the immigrants come from?
• Why is immigration such a controversial issue in the U.S. today? See the debate in our U.S. Affairs Annual 2011 for two common points of view.

7. • Religious belief in the U. S
• Religious belief in the U.S. is very diverse—and fluid: 44 percent of adults have left the faith or the church they grew up in, according to the Pew Forum on Religious Life.
• What kinds of churches are included here in the Protestant Christian category? How many different Protestant churches can you think of?
• What values do religious communities typically emphasize? Why might such values be important to people in the modern world?

8. • The number of kids in the U. S. growing up in poverty is on the rise
• The number of kids in the U.S. growing up in poverty is on the rise. This graph defines poverty as an annual income of less than $21,756 for a family of four.
• How does the graph define “kids”? What percent of kids in Kentucky lived below the poverty line in 2008?
• What special problems do you think children living in poverty face in an affluent country like the U.S.?

9. • What two age groups were surveyed for this study
• What two age groups were surveyed for this study? Generally, which of the two age groups seems to worry more?
• Why might older kids worry about money or their looks more than younger ones?
• What other worries do you think should be in the top five?

10. • No so long ago, it was hard or impossible for women to work in many professions. In recent years, the situation has changed in some jobs—but not all.
• In which profession shown is the percent of women and men closest?
• Why do you suppose some professions were once thought of as either men’s work or women’s work?

11. 1. What did the information on the graphs tell you about life in the U
1. What did the information on the graphs tell you about life in the U.S. today?
2. Which kids’ worries do you think have been affected by today’s struggling economy and high unemployment rate? Which worries do you think are always part of kids’ lives?
3. Which, if any, of the graphs, altered your perception of the U.S.? What would you change about the country if you could?