The Power of the Pyramids



Name:The Power of the PyramidsPurpose: To show the age and gender distribution within a large population in order to help realize the growth rates of a country’s population. In this exercise, students will construct and interpret population graphs and discuss the differences in growth rates among several different countries. Materials: Colored pencils/crayons; internet access; ruler; calculator; graph paperBackground Information: Demography is the statistical study of human populations, especially with reference to size, density, distribution, and vital statistics (relating to births, deaths, marriages, health and disease, etc). In making population projections for different countries, demographers look at the profile of the countries’ residents. They ask: What are the ages of the people? How many are men? How many are women? Using this information, they construct “population pyramids” (a.k.a. age-sex histograms) like the ones the class will create in this activity. These graphs illustrate the configuration of a country’s population as shaped by 70 to 80 years of economic, political and natural events. As the class will see, the graphs can also help predict future population trends.Procedure:1) The graph to the right is called an age-sex histogram, that represents the entire world population, sorted by age & gender. Each age level grouping is called a cohort.Q: Which is the largest age cohort?A: 0-4 year oldsQ: What do you think this says about population change? Explain.A: World population will probably increase, because there are many young people who will soon be in their reproductive years.2) Get in groups of no more than 3 students. Each student will have two of the following countries to analyze: United States, India, France, Nigeria, Mexico, China3) For each of your countries, calculate the percentages for each cohort on the following page. This is done by dividing each segment’s population by the total population. The percentages should add up to equal 100.EX: The United States’ total population in 1995 was 263,119,000. The population of males ages 0-4 was 10,515,000. 10,515,000 X 100 = 4%263,119,0004) Using this information, construct an age-sex histogram for each country (on the graphs provided) to compare the gender and age ranges of the members of the country. COUNTRY:UNITED STATESPOPULATION IN THOUSANDS (2004)AGE GROUPSMALE%FEMALE%0-410,3349,8875-99,9819,53310-1410,80810,29315-1910,70210,14820-2410,66910,14425-299,8349,51730-3410,23610,07535-3910,50310,46740-4411,39711,56445-4910,90011,20450-549,5209,96155-597,9938,49960-646,0036,60365-694,6245,32170-743,7954,71075+6,66011,142Total143,959149,068Total Population293,027COUNTRY:MEXICOPOPULATION IN THOUSANDS (2004)AGE GROUPSMALE%FEMALE%0-45,6255,3855-95,6475,41710-145,6425,42715-195,3255,21820-244,7134,85025-294,4274,62030-344,1094,31235-393,4493,81640-442,9213,31645-492,4292,76250-541,8442,08755-591,5111,70860-641,2451,40265-699591,09970-7469281775+9671,217Total51,50553,453Total Population104,958POPULATION IN THOUSANDS (2004)COUNTRY:CHINAAGE GROUPSMALE%FEMALE%0-443,59039,9675-951,04646,62910-1456,59151,30015-1960,14655,29220-2450,24746,83125-2949,99047,46930-3463,09359,73735-3963,01759,49740-4447,23544,79945-4944,49741,38150-5440,16338,15255-5928,03726,31260-6421,62820,39865-6918,43918,03370-7413,97414,68475+13,61318,843Total665,306629,324Total Population1,294,630POPULATION IN THOUSANDS (2004)COUNTRY:FRANCEAGE GROUPSMALE%FEMALE%0-41,9481,8535-91,8731,78110-141,9031,81215-191,9571,87320-242,0071,92425-291,9371,86530-342,2322,16935-392,1512,15440-442,1282,17445-492,0742,13850-542,0662,11755-591,8651,90360-641,2801,34665-691,2001,37170-741,1001,39875+1,7493,071Total29,47030,949Total Population60,419POPULATION IN THOUSANDS (2004)COUNTRY:NIGERIAAGE GROUPSMALE%FEMALE%0-411,50311,3035-99,9049,80610-148,5788,52815-197,3857,33620-246,5646,44825-295,4165,22930-344,3604,13935-393,5783,40240-442,9392,77045-492,4232,23050-541,9711,87255-591,6371,57960-641,2291,19965-6986887570-7457759675+499507Total69,43167,819Total Population137,250POPULATION IN THOUSANDS (2004)COUNTRY:INDIAAGE GROUPSMALE%FEMALE%0-458,63955,6475-958,11554,78510-1457,11653,57215-1955,48852,03320-2452,01947,21125-2948,04241,94430-3442,04639,04135-3936,11436,27640-4432,00131,36745-4927,96826,26550-5423,29121,63955-5918,63517,17760-6414,18313,33665-6910,1179,89470-747,2227,17275+8,5478,270Total549,543515,629Total Population1,065,172Name:1. Where are you represented on the Student Worksheet table and on the graphs?2. Can you tell from the data if there are more boy babies or girl babies 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?5. Which country has the most people? How can you tell?6. Of the six graphs, which 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?7. Looking at the pyramids, which country appears to have the slowest rates of population growth? How can you tell? 8. Which are the two biggest age groups in the United States?9. In which countries do children make up the biggest percentage of thepopulation?10. Why might it be advantageous to have boys rather than girls in these countries? What are some consequences that may arise if a generation has a gender imbalance?11. If you had a business and wanted to capitalize on your information about the population age distribution for the United States, what would you sell?12. If you had a business in Nigeria and wanted to capitalize on your information about theNigerian population, what would you sell?13. How would you expect the Mexican pyramid to look if you graphed it in 40 years from now? ................
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