We want to encourage people to think geographically—and to do so, you need to introduce students to tools and techniques that help them to organize and analyze geographic information. Discovering Mexico explores Mexico from the air, looking down on the landscape and the cities and roads, then focuses on individuals and their different lifestyles. Population demographics can have a decisive influence on human lifestyles; therefore students need to understand populations, especially the numbers of people of different ages who live in a country.

This activity is designed to have students do three things:

1. Construct a population pyramid.

2. Interpret a population pyramid.

3. Make comparisons between population pyramids for two countries, Mexico and the U.S.A.

Click on Mexico Population Data Table, U.S. Population Data Table, and Population Pyramid Template to obtain handouts which you can print for class use.

We suggest the following:

1. Construct a population pyramid of Mexico:

• For each student, make two copies of the graph template and, if possible, a copy of each data table. If you cannot copy the data tables, use overheads to show them to the class.
  
• Explain the basis for the tables. One way is to ask the students to imagine that there are 100 males and 100 females living in a country. We could ask each person his or her age and sex. We could group the numbers into categories (males age 20 through 29, females age 10 through 19, and so on) and because there are 100 of each gender, the numbers we obtain would equal percentages of the total.
  
• You can look, for example, at the percentage of women age 20 through 29 and the percentage of men the same age, and compare relative gender distributions. Then you can look at the percentage of men age 20 through 29 and the percentage age 30 through 39, and compare relative age distributions.
  
• Numbers are difficult to remember and compare. But it is not difficult to make a graph that helps us to understand people’s ages and sex.
  
• Next you need to explain the Percent of Population (horizontal) and the age category (vertical) axes of the graph. At this point, you can either ask students to complete the graph on their own or you can construct a graph on an overhead, showing how to enter a few of the numbers.
  
• One way of explaining the population pyramid is to turn it on its side. If you do that, then you have two bar graphs, one for men and one for women.

• After the graphs are complete, ask the students what the shape resembles so they understand why it’s called a pyramid. Ask them a series of “Are there more or less...” questions to be sure that they understand the information presented in their graphs.
  
• Now you can ask questions about the use of the pyramid. What kinds of goods and services do teenagers need? Old people? How and why are their needs different? If you were planning to open a store in Mexico, how could this pyramid help you?

• You can either have your students construct another population pyramid for the U.S.A. or show them one that you have made from the data table.
  
• Ask students to point out similarities and differences between graphs for the two countries and to explain the implications.