Top Ten Country Populations

Top Ten Country Populations Source: Population Reference Bureau.

How To Count, Using Statistics

Use one type of pasta (e.g., elbows) to represent 100 million people. Use the other type (e.g., ziti) to represent ten million people. Round up if the final digit is five or more.

Example: Brazil, according to the chart at left, would get one elbow and seven ziti.

Ways To Display

• Print the map of each country from the Xpeditions Atlas and glue the pasta to the map.

• Get ten bowls of similar sizes and fill each with the appropriate amount of pasta for each country. Remember that a bowl which appears to have more pasta might have a smaller population, since one type of pasta represents ten times as many people as the other. Create labels for each bowl.

• If your pasta has holes, you might make a mobile. You'll need ten pieces of string or yarn and a stick or a coat hanger. Tie a big knot at the end of each string. Slide each country's pasta onto a different string. Then attach the strings to the stick or coat hanger. Don't forget to label each strand of the mobile using an index card or a piece of construction paper.

• Make a bar graph. Draw ten horizontal lines on a big piece of paper. At the far left of each line, write the countries' names. Next to each name glue the pasta for that country.

Sharing What You Have Learned

Encourage a friend to create a display using a different method from the one you choose. Which is easier to understand? Are there times when one style would be a better choice than the other?