• What surprised you most about this information?  What seemed quite obvious about explaining this data set?

• Looking at the overall trend and incorporating what you know about the US presently, predict and defend the immigration trend for the next two decades.

• Describe how you made a decision on how to visually represent the information.

• What parts of group work were challenging?

• What would you do differently if you had this project to do over?

• ​The fact that there were so many non-European immigrants at this time surprised me. This is because I expected the only non-European "immigrants" to be slaves. However, I was not surprised that the number of immigrants decreased when there was a depression. I wouldn't expect people of foreign lands to travel to America during such a sad time.
• For the next two decades, I expect that the immigration trend will plummet once more. This is because America is currently going through a rough time. This results in the condition of America being less that ideal for an immigrant.
• I decided that something out of the ordinary would be the best way to present the information. I originally wanted to make a map of a theme park with checkpoints along the way. However, as time progressed and errors occurred, this became more extensive than I had originally envisioned.
• I had trouble with collaborating with my group simply because my laptop is in the shop getting fixed. So, this made it necessary for me to share a computer with a group member in class, making the amount of individual working time in class to complete the project increase.
• If I had to do this project over, I would have done more work on the project at home. This would have allowed the amount of time that I needed to use another group member's computer to minimize.
  

Cyndi Lynn Sheridan

Y – American History

September 23, 2011

Here is the link to our project:

https://www.lucidchart.com/documents/view#4db779d6-99e8-408f-b0d9-39290a56d331?branch=4868c155-9292-4f7f-8e9e-ec083d579280

Immigration Visualization Reflection:

After doing some research, it was interesting realizing how much of a struggle immigration seemed to be within society. Each decade consisted of different reasons to why there was either an increase or decrease in the amount of immigrants traveling over to America. I already knew that the United States was involved with several wars, so this crisis would have a significant impact on immigration. Today, the United States is facing a huge economic crisis leaving a large percentage of citizens unemployed, so if the graph would continue for the next two decades the quantity of immigration would slightly decrease. I say this because although there are some problems occurring, our country has a lot to offer regarding education and domestic necessities. We usually are able to rebuild the society as a whole, making the life style of citizens peaceful.

My group and I decided that it’s imperative to incorporate pictures for each decade. This would make it easier to portray the events going on during that specific period of time. Also, we created graphs to help analyze the amount of immigrants towards the total population. We thought all of these things would be best effective for describing the relationship between immigration and population. I feel as though the part that was challenging for my group was figuring out what presentation tool we were going to use, as well as making a graph for each individual decade. In addition, it was difficult putting each piece of the project together making an organized and efficient presentation. If I had to do this project all over again, I would do a few things differently. These include: making the Lucid chart bigger so it’s clearer to see the pictures and graphs, and manage our time better. It took a long amount of time coming to the conclusion on what application to use, having a decrease in the amount of time to actually work and research the information.

To view chart in full view, click here. https://www.lucidchart.com/documents/view#4e73634a-e110-46dc-be67-14c60a7f13a0?branch=39ec39e3-743f-45d9-aa53-e10b25501552

• 
  What surprised you most about this information?  What seemed quite obvious about explaining this data set?
  Many things that I was surprised about was the act that were established through the few decades I researched. I was surprised to see that someone were very discriminating. Some small things seemed to have quite an affect on America in that time. I also found a few things that I wasn't very surprised to see such as the Spanish, American War, Immigration Act of 1917 and 1918, and The Great Depression. 
• Looking at the overall trend and incorporating what you know about the US presently, predict and defend the immigration trend for the next two decades.
  I think that it will rise. America isn't the only country that is facing economic issues but on the other hand I think that it could possibly decrease eventually. Within the next two decades I believe immigration into America will continue to increase. 
• Describe how you made a decision on how to visually represent the information.
  Within my group we decided that the most straightforward place to represent our information would be a lucid chart. We thought that this would help us organize our thoughts and create a clean visualization. Originally we were going to show the volume of immigration by changing the sizes of the boxes. Then we agreed to use color instead. We thought it would be softer on the eyes and not so harsh. 
• What parts of group work were challenging?
  The most changeling part was organizing all our thoughts and finding a way to represent those thoughts and research. We wanted to create something that would be interesting and people would want to look at while also incorporating all the details. 
• What would you do differently if you had this project to do over?
  I would definitely find a different way to represent the information because this was something that I have only done a few times before so I would like to see how else I would be able to interpet this information. Also, I'd like to see what other tools are available for these kinds assignments. 

• What surprised you most about this information?  What seemed quite obvious about explaining this data set? 
   
  
  
• Looking at the overall trend and incorporating what you know about the US presently, predict and defend the immigration trend for the next two decades.
  2001-2010 it wouldnt go up alot because of the immigration problem bush was having and then 2011-2020 wouldnt go up as much because of the money issues we were having 
  
  
• Describe how you made a decision on how to visually represent the information.
  well we made our frist decision after much discussion. alot of things had to be compromised since then due to technical difficulty.  
  
  
• What parts of group work were challenging?
  communication which im horrible it was hard to get things done because i didn't communicate what i needed to the rest of the group. i need to ask better questions to the group and be a better team member
  
  
• What would you do differently if you had this project to do over?
  i would do more i would try harder to learn how to properly use the technology available to me and spend more time at home on this then i did or comunicate want i needed done so my group could help me  

Before the project started, I knew a lot of people immigrated to the US but when I actually saw the numbers, I was very surprised. I never realized exactly how many people came to the US and all the different places they came from. Another thing I was unaware of is how Congress used to restrict the number of immigrants from certain places and how they forced different  laws upon them once they arrived, depending on their origin. Other bits of information didn't strike me quite as much like what had caused some of the low points in immigration. It makes a lot of sense that no one would want to come to the US during the Great Depression. 

Looking at the overall trend and incorporating what you know about the US presently, predict and defend the immigration trend for the next two decades.

There are many different ways to predict the rise or fall of immigration through the next twenty years. If history were to repeat itself then one could assume that the rates would continue to rise, but some things are going on in our country that may negatively affect the amount of immigration. Right now, the United States is in a recession and if it were to worsen then I would predict a significant drop in immigration rates. On the same spectrum, many countries in Europe are in a similar situation and if we held our ground, that might encourage immigration. There are many different ways that immigration could go and it is certainly difficult to predict how it will go. 

Describe how you made a decision on how to visually represent the information.

We chose to do a color coded timeline because we felt it was a good balance between information and vibrance. It is very organized and easily understood. 

What parts of group work were challenging?

Overall, the group worked well together though one thing that could have been improved was the division of work. Though we all provided and filled in our own information, when it came to color coding it was difficult to separate it equally. We tried to divide it but it just became complicated. 

What would you do differently if you had this project to do over?

Honestly, I am very pleased with the outcome of the project. The only reason I would change anything is if we had more and more technical skill. Even though I am very pleased with our current project.