Activity
Engage
What tools do we have at our disposal that will help us analyze the differing
populations of the world? (Students will probably share line graph, pie graphs,
bar graphs etc. Take these ideas as good ideas)
Explore
Tell the class, “Today we will be learning how to use a different type
of graph called a Population Pyramid. Think about what you know about pyramids.
What might this tell you about a Population Pyramid?”
Once students have shared their ideas show them Overhead One. Tell them that
these are 3 different Population Pyramids for 3 different counties. They show
the age and sex structure of a population. Have students look as the different
horizontal bars, which show the percentages of males and females for each age
group.
Ask students to look at the center graph (The United States). Which age group
has the greatest percentage of people? Which has the least? Which bar includes
the students in the room? Are there more people in the bar above or below theirs?
Now ask them to look At Germany and the Republic of Congo’s graphs. How
are these graphs similar and different from that of the United States? Ask
them to look at the graphs and se if they can determine which countries have
increasing growth, which is decreasing, and which are staying constant.
Ask students to think why world leaders would want to know the proportion of
the population each age range? What difference might the difference in ages
make? What good and services do the people of each bracket need? Is it important
for a country’s leader or planner to know about the ages of their population?
Tell students that they are going to practice making their own population pyramid
of the United States. They will use 4 age categories instead of 16 like the
samples shown.
Allow time for students to complete their pyramids.
Explain
When student have finished, have a student explain the steps as you fill in
Overhead 2. (This is an excellent opportunity for students to self assess.)
Have students create a second pyramid using the data table. Assign a different
country to each student. Have student compare their graph to at least two other
graphs in the room. How are the graphs and populations similar and different?
Expand
Have students complete a population pyramid to reflect the current population
information of their country. This should be final quality as it will be part
of the final project.
If possible use excel. Directions available from http://www.prb.org/Content/NavigationMenu/PRB/AboutPRB/Population_Today1/may99_pt.pdf
Evaluate
Are students able to create an accurate
graph?
Can students analyze data from their graph? |
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