GEO 101J
Human Geography
Dr. L. Savage
Population Pyramid Assignment

1.      Read the assigned chapter!

2.     Print off this assignmnet so you will have the instructions to use while on the Internet.

  1. Go to http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/idbpyr.html
  2. Select a country, select a type of pyramid (summary provides information for different years or dynamic provides an animated pyramid over time), select a size and then click on submit query.
  3. After you finish exploring (which I hope you do!), generate summary pyramids for China, Bangladesh, Germany and the United States. Select the country from the list, then select summary periods for each country and pyramids for 2000, 2025, and 2050 are created for you. You can print them all the same page if you choose the medium size.
  4. Answer the following questions using the reading from the text and the summary pyramids for China, Bangladesh, Germany and the United States.
  5. Your answers to the following questions should be typed and double-spaced and are due in class. Please do not attach the summary pyramids.

 

The United States

    1. What are some of the likely impacts baby boomers will have on American society when they retire and achieve senior citizen status?
    2. Why do females continue to outnumber males in older brackets?

China

    1. Why do Chinese men greatly outnumber women in the 2000 pyramid, particularly at the younger age brackets (0-4)?
    2. What do you think caused the large indentation in the 40-44 age bracket in China’s 2000 population pyramid? (not in text, use history and logic to come up with a good reason)
    3. Why does China’s 2025 population pyramid look so markedly different from the 2000 pyramid?

Germany

    1. What do you think caused the large indentation in the 50-54 age bracket in Germany’s 2000 population pyramid?
    2. Is Germany’s total population expected to decline between 2000 and 2025 and beyond?
    3. Which bracket is predicted to be the largest for Germany in 2050?

Bangladesh

    1. Why is its 2000 pyramid so different from the U.S. and Germany pyramids?
    2. How many people in Bangladesh were under age 5 in 2000?
    3. Is Bangladesh’s population expected to exceed 200 million in 2050?