Population Pyramids High School

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Population PyramidsHigh School

• Tennessee Geographic Alliance One Day Geography
  Workshop
• Instructor
• Kristi Neuroth
• Ravenwood High School
• Brentwood, TN

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Overview of Session

• 1. The power of data.
• 2. What is a population pyramid?
• 3. Variations of population pyramids.
• 4. What population pyramids tell us.
• 5. What population pyramids can be used for.
• 6. Lesson options.
• 7. Additional resources.

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Tennessee Standards

• W.100 Using census data and population pyramids,
  identify and describe the demographic changes
  worldwide since 1980. (C, E, G, H, P)
• US.107 Using census data and population pyramids,
  identify and describe the demographic changes in
  the United States since 1980 and the increased
  movement of people from the Rust Belt to the Sun
  Belt. (C, E, G, H, P)

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THE POWER OF DATAData can be a powerful tool
to help us understand our world

• 200 countries, 200 years

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How can we represent powerful trends in World
History?

• One Powerful Tool Population Pyramids

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So, what is a Population Pyramid, anyway?

• A TYPE OF GRAPH THAT ILLUSTRATES 3 SPECIFIC
  PIECES OF DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION
• Age Group (Cohort)
• Gender
• Percentage of population

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Variations

• Population can be shown as a percent, or in
  actual numbers (as demonstrated above).

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Variations
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What can population pyramids tell us?

• Life expectancy
• Old-age dependent or youth dependent?
• Level of development
• Historical patterns and projections for the
  future
• Sex ratio

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Population Pyramids
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Population Pyramids can reveal the story of a
nations recent history

• Can you tell what country is represented here and
  why it looks the way it does?

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They can illustrate events like the impact of
AIDS in Botswana
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What can we tell about these countries from their
pyramids?
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Population Pyramids can be used to

• Help explain levels of development

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Population Pyramids can help explain the
Demographic Transition Model
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Assignment for US History and Geography/ World
History and Geography

• Please see the assignment titled US and Foreign
  Population Pyramid Analysis which addresses the
  standard
• W.100 Using census data and population pyramids,
  identify and describe the demographic changes
  worldwide since 1980. (C, E, G, H, P)

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Population pyramids can help teach math skills

• An excellent lesson for this can be found at the
  Population Education website.
• http//www.populationeducation.org/media/upload/Ac
  tivity-power_of_the_Pyramids.pdf

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Population Education Power of the Pyramids
lesson plan

• For younger students you can provide the answers,
  for older students you can have them do the math
  on their own

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Students will then graph their answers on this
sheet
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For more advanced classes

• U.S. Census Bureau
• America Fact Finder

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Great Resource Population Reference Bureau
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Extension Activity or Exit Slip

• Assign each student a country with a unique
  population pyramid (either a country like
  Afghanistan with an exaggerate pyramid shape or
  Italy with a top-heavy pyramid). Have the
  students brainstorm what types of social and
  demographic challenges a leader would face if
  they ruled that particular country. Then have
  students pose potential solutions for the
  demographic challenges. (This could be turned
  into a more extensive writing assignment if
  desired).

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Resource List

• 1. Wonderful teacher resources at Population
  Connection
• 2. Population Pyramid lesson plan from Population
  Connection
• 3. Website with population pyramids for all
  countries from 1950-2050
• 4. National Geographic Expeditions lesson plan
  using population pyramids
• 5. Light presentation for middle school teachers
  on population pyramids
• 6. Population Reference Bureau YouTube Channel
  Distilled Demographics
• 7. Population Reference Bureau Population
  Pyramids Lesson Plan