Population Graphs: Power of the Pyramids

Knowing the population of an area is important for things like how much water will be needed or if new hospitals or schools need to be constructed. Knowing the breakdown by gender and age is important for deciding crucial things like the number and location of hospitals and schools because not every age group uses those things to the same degree.

1. a) Find the male population by adding up the number of individuals in each age group.

b) Now find the male population percentage for each age bracket. You will have 16 percentages for each country - one for each age group. Find the percentage by:

            (population for a particular age bracket) x 100%

                        total male population

2. Repeat step 1 for the female population.

3. Draw a population pyramid for each country.

4. Are the male and female sides of each pyramid similar?

5. Which age group is the largest percentage of the population?

6. Which gender has the highest population in older age groups? Why is this so?

7. a) Of the three countries, which has a graph that looks most like a pyramid?

b) What does this tell you about the population growth rate of that country?

8. a) Looking at the pyramids, which country appears to have the slowest growth rate? How can you tell?

9. What will a pyramid begin to look like if:

a) many couples start having just one child?

b) health care improves and people begin to live healthy lives?

10. If people begin to adopt healthy lifestyles, what effect would it have on

a) hospitals?

b) senior’s care homes?