Name: ____________________________________________ Period: _____
Cemetery Demography
Modified from activities by N. Flood & W. Molnar by M. Oliphant – AP Environmental Science
INTRODUCTION
As the United States has progressed through the industrial revolution over the last 150 years, changes in the
life-styles of citizens have been reflected in their age at death. Factors such as diseases and accidents have
changed in their relative impacts. One way to study these changes in human demographic patterns is to
collect information from a cemetery.
By collecting data on the year of death for all individuals of the same age
class (called a COHORT), you can produce a graphical representation of
their survivorship. In this activity, each cohort will represent individuals
born during the same decade.
When studying a wide variety of different species, survivorship curves
usually follow one of three generic shapes (see right):
Type 1 – Many individuals live a long life
Type 2 – Steady death rate throughout life
Type 3 – Few individuals live to an old age
Human survivorship typically fits a Type 1 curve, although events during
a cohort’s lifespan can change the shape of their survivorship curve
(see right).
OBJECTIVES
1. Collect age data and calculate survivorship for at least two cohorts in
a community. Graph these data to show the survivorship curve for
each decade you studied.
2. Compare and explain the differences in the survivorship curves for at
least two different cohorts in a community.
3. Make a prediction on future changes in demography, based on
current community changes
DATA COLLECTION
1. Go to the online records for one of the following cemeteries:
a. Oliphant Cemetery located south of Center Point, IA: http://goo.gl/ze473
b. Czech National Cemetery in Cedar Rapids, IA: http://goo.gl/dOyCA
2. Collect the following data
a. 100 individuals who died BEFORE 1900
b. 100 individuals who died AFTER 1900
Table A – Cemetery Data (Pre-1900 Deaths)
Born
Died
Age @
Death
Sex
(M/F)
Born
Died
Age @
Death
Sex
(M/F)
Born
1
35
69
2
36
70
3
37
71
4
38
72
5
39
73
6
40
74
7
41
75
8
42
76
9
43
77
10
44
78
11
45
79
12
46
80
13
47
81
14
48
82
15
49
83
16
50
84
17
51
85
18
52
86
19
53
87
20
54
88
21
55
89
22
56
90
23
57
91
24
58
92
25
59
93
26
60
94
27
61
95
28
62
96
29
63
97
30
64
98
31
65
99
32
66
100
33
67
34
68
Died
Age @
Death
Sex
(M/F)
Table B – Cemetery Data (Post-1900 Deaths)
Born
Died
Age @
Death
Sex
(M/F)
Born
Died
Age @
Death
Sex
(M/F)
Born
1
35
69
2
36
70
3
37
71
4
38
72
5
39
73
6
40
74
7
41
75
8
42
76
9
43
77
10
44
78
11
45
79
12
46
80
13
47
81
14
48
82
15
49
83
16
50
84
17
51
85
18
52
86
19
53
87
20
54
88
21
55
89
22
56
90
23
57
91
24
58
92
25
59
93
26
60
94
27
61
95
28
62
96
29
63
97
30
64
98
31
65
99
32
66
100
33
67
34
68
Died
Age @
Death
Sex
(M/F)
Table C – Survivorship of Individuals (Pre-1900)
Age Interval
Number of Deaths (D)
Total Alive (L)
Survivorship (S)
(Age Group)
(# individuals who died during interval)
(# alive at BEGINNING of interval)
(# alive in current interval ÷ total deaths)
1.0
0-9
(Everyone born has survived to be 0 years old)
10-19
20-29
30-39
40-49
50-59
60-69
70-79
80-89
90-99
100+
Total
Deaths
Table D – Survivorship of Individuals (Post-1900)
Age Interval
Number of Deaths (D)
Total Alive (L)
Survivorship (S)
(Age Group)
(# individuals who died during interval)
(# alive at BEGINNING of interval)
(# alive in current interval ÷ born) × 100
0-9
10-19
20-29
30-39
40-49
50-59
60-69
70-79
80-89
90-99
100+
Total
Deaths
1.0
(Everyone born has survived to be 0 years old)
DATA ANALYSIS
1. Using either MS Excel or a step-by-step website (http://goo.gl/3ylX), to construct graphs using the
survivorship (S) data from Tables C & D.
2. Both survivorship graphs should include:
a. A descriptive title including the cohort (pre- or post-1900) and the cemetery name
b. Labeled X and Y axes
c. No legend is necessary if the graph contains only one set of data
3. Using a separate sheet of graph paper, create a Population Pyramid (like we did in a previous activity) for
both cohorts (Remember the types of data you need?).
QUESTIONS TO ANSWER
1.
Compare the survivorship curves for the Pre-1900 and Post-1900 cohorts. Compare and contrast the curve shapes to the
example curves on the first page of this activity.
2.
Provide some possible biological/historical/societal causes for any differences you see in the two survivorship curves. For
example, was there a major disease at the time? War? Change in attitudes towards family sizes?
3.
How would the survivorship curves of a developing country compare to those of a developed country?
4.
How could survivorship curves be used to make judgments about environmental and heath conditions in a country?
5.
Humans are generally classified as having a Type I survivorship curve…
6.
a.
Name an organism (other than humans) that could be considered as possessing a Type I curve.
b.
What sort of species (K- or r-selected) would most likely have a Type I survivorship curve? Why?
Using your population pyramid for the post-1900 cohort, what pattern of growth does your population pyramid suggest for the
future? What evidence did you use in your prediction? (remember, this is a small sample of the population, so it might not be
the best representative picture!)
EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITY
Conduct another study on a local cemetery and produce the same graphs as we did in this activity. The plots inside of most
cemeteries send to be grouped, so be sure to collect data from all parts of the cemetery grounds.
Be VERY respectful while at the cemetery!
___________________________________________
Country: ____________________________________
85-90+
80-84
75-79
70-74
65-69
60-64
55-59
50-54
45-49
40-44
35-39
30-34
25-29
20-24
15-19
10-14
5-9
0-4
10
8
6
4
2
0
2
4
6
8
___________________________________________
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