What is a population pyramid
and what does it tell me?
Starter
• What is the Demographic Transition Model?
• What does the DTM show?
• Why do birth and death rates change?
• Where is the UK on the DTM?
What is a population pyramid?
• A population pyramid
shows a countries
population structure.
• The population is divided
into year age groups.
• It is divided into males
and females.
• The percentage of each
age /sex group is given.
What is a population pyramid?
• Population
pyramids have 2
main sections:
1. Active
population
2. Dependant
population
Explain these terms
LEDC population pyramids
• This is a typical
shape for a LEDC
country.
• It has a wide bottom.
• It has a narrow top.
• WHY?
• Unlike LEDC countries who have too many
children born each year, MEDC’s have too few.
• What does this do to the shape of the pyramid?
ACTIVITY ONE
10 mins
Using the four population pyramids below,
identify which one matches each stage of
the DTM (Stage 1-4) Draw and label
ACTIVITY TWO
Complete the two worksheets.
Exam Practice
• Compare and contrast the population structure of
the UK with that of Malawi (6 marks)
Exam Practice
In Malawi there is a much younger population (√) (1 mark) as the birth
rate is high and the death rate is high.
There is a high amount of people in their 30s in the UK whereas there are
fewer middle aged people in Malawi. (√) (2 marks)
In both population pyramids there are fewer older people. (√) (3 marks)
In Malawi the structure of the pyramid is steadily decreasing as you go up
the age groups while in the UK the structure is fairly random below the
age of 50 and only starts to steadily decrease after 50 (√) (4 marks)
Both male and female populations are about the same for each country
(√) (5 marks) although the UK has many more people living past 80.
Malawi is more pyramid shaped – a typical LEDC (√) (6 marks)
HOMEWORK
• COMPLETE THE WORKSHEET
• TRY AND KEEP YOUR ANSWER WITHIN THE
LINES!