Geography of Utah – Spring 2010                                Your Name: Genevieve Atwood

Summary – Zick and Smith, 2006

CHAPTER 1. From Trailhead to the Summit of Utah’s Age Pyramid: age structure in Utah.

By: Ken R. Smith and Julie H. Carmalt

 

THREE BIG CONCEPTS

 

1.      Every population has a signature and that signature can be expressed in a graphical format called an age pyramid.

·        How to read an age pyramid (male:female; equal-interval data; wide base = poor health for children, usually poor, developing countries, high birthrate and death of vulnerables; versus stable or diminishing populations; boom and echoes;

 

2.      Age structure (the population pyramid) is cumulative: it reflects past events (births, deaths, migrations) and future needs (dependencies of the oldest and youngest sectors of society on working members of society.

·        Utah and school-age population: differences in national ranking for (a) amount spent per pupil; (b) amount spent per household; (c) change in amount spent per pupil and per household as demographics change nationally.

 

3.      Average, mean, and median. Average and mean are the number of the population divided by the attribute (outliers torque). Median is the middle individual (like a road).

·        Utah has greater numbers of very young and proportionately fewer elderly than the rest of the country. .

·         Utah County the youngest median age for 2000, 23.3 years old; Daggett is oldest with 39.2 as median.

 

FIGURE(S) TO UNDERSTAND:

Figure 1.1, Figure 1.2, and Figure 1.3. – Population pyramids for Utah and the United States for 1980, 1990, and 2000.

 

 

 

 

 

THREE GEOGRAPHIC QUESTIONS about any aspect of the chapter… (at least one is a “why” question):

Why does Utah have “the highest life expectancy with the largest sex ratio” (in favor of women) compared to other Western States?

Why do some counties mirror national trends more than other?

What are the implications of dependency ratios for Utah for the 21st Century?

 

HYPOTHESIS

Utah’s state budget is dominated by issues of education because Utah’s demographics are dominated by children and youth.

 

REFERENCES of interest in addition or from the chapter:

US Bureau of the Census: Population Pyramids for the Nation: and for states / counties.. http://www.censusscope.org/us/chart_age.html WONDERFUL site... easy to get age pyramid by county.

US Bureau of the Census: http://www.census.gov/ipc/prod/97agewc.pdf about aging population of the United States.