Power of Population Pyramids:



Power of Population Pyramids:

Introduction: To help project population numbers for different countries, demographers look at the profile of the countries’ residents. What are the ages of the people? How many are men? How many are women? Taking this information, they construct “population pyramids.” These graphs depict the configuration of a country’s population as impacted by 70 to 80 years of economic, political, and natural events. Population pyramids represent a specific population, sorted by age and gender, with the youngest at the bottom and the oldest at the top. Each age level grouping is called a cohort. These graphs can also help predict future population trends.

World Population Pyramid:

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Directions:

1. You will work to create a population pyramid for a specific country.

Your assigned country = ___________________________________

2. Use graph paper to construct a population pyramid. You should draw a line down the middle of the graph to separate the male and female populations. You will plot the percentage of the population for each cohort along the x-axis – the females to the right and males to the left of the center line. The age groups will be running up the y-axis with the youngest at the bottom and the oldest at the top. (Use the cohort separations shown on your world population sample pyramid.) After graphing your data, use colored pencils to shade in the two sides of the graph.

3. Remember to label your graph with the country!

Questions:

1. Where are you represented on the U.S. population pyramid? (In other words, what percentage of the U.S.’s population is in your age cohort?)

2. Are there more baby boys or more baby girls born in each country?

3. Are there more elderly women or men? Why might that be the case?

4. Can you tell from the graphs which country has the most people? Why or why not?

5. Of the countries selected, which graphs look most like pyramids? What does that indicate about their population growth rates? What factors would change the shape of the pyramids in the future?

6. Looking at the pyramids, which of these selected countries appears to have the slowest rates of population growth? How can you tell?

7. How would you expect the Mexican pyramid to look if you graphed it 40 years from now? Why do you think that?

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