Unit 1 WebQuest - Internet Project

You’re Only as Old as You Feel!

Introduction | Task | Process | Guidance | Conclusion | Questions

Introduction
Do you think you may live to be 100 years old? In the United States the number of older people is increasing. In 1970, 9.8% of the people in the United States were 65 years of age or older, while by 2000, the percent for that age category had increased to 12.4%. In California in 2000, people 65 years and older represented 10.7% of the total population. The circle graph below shows the percent of the population of California for various age categories in 2000.

     In this project, you will explore how equations, functions, and graphs can help represent aging and population growth.

The Task
In your new job as an advisor to the governor of your state, you have been asked to prepare a portfolio or Web page to inform the residents of your state about the changing age structure of people in the United States. Your portfolio or Web page needs to contain the following information:

• a prediction for the age structure of the U.S. for the year 2050;
• a prediction of how life in the U.S. will change due to the aging of Americans;
• support for the predictions using mathematics, graphs, tables, and/or facts that you find so that the residents of your state will have confidence in your predictions.

• Find data about the age structure of the United States for the 20th century. For example, how many people were 65 or over in 1900? How many people were under 5 in 1960? How many people were 25-34 in 1980? For help, try these Web sites.
  www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0110384.html
  www.census.gov
  www.statistics.com
  www.prb.org
  www.elderweb.com
  www.agingstats.gov
• Devise a method you can use to predict the age structure of the population in the future.
• Use the data on age and population to prepare some type of graph(s) or table(s) to visually display your findings.
• Find another set of data, of your choice, that relates to aging. Display the data in a graph or table and include a brief description of the data.
• Explain your findings and describe the changes that you predict in the U.S. due to an aging population.
• Be creative. Add some additional data, information, or even pictures to your portfolio or Web page. For other data and information, try these Web sites.
  www.usatoday.com
  www.ssa.gov
  www.yahoo.com
  www.time.com/time/
  www.msnbc.com/news/NW-front_Front.asp

1. How has the average life expectancy for people in the United States changed during the 20th century?
2. How did the leading causes of death change during the 20th century? (Consider both diseases and accidents.) Why have these changed?
3. How does Social Security help retired people to meet their financial needs? In what other ways do retired people find the money to cover expenses?
4. How might products, services, and advertising change as the age of the population changes?
5. Will the elderly work longer? Will they be able to compete in the job market with younger people?
6. In the year 2050, you may be nearing retirement age. How will your lifestyle differ from the lifestyle of your parents or grandparents when they retired?
7. Consider finding data about the age distribution of the population in another country or worldwide. Compare this data to U.S. data.

• Present your project to your class or at a family night.
• Present the information on a Web page. Have other students critique your project and help you to make improvements to your project.
• Write a one-page summary of your project, including what you have learned from researching this topic. How has it changed your ideas about the elderly?

Lesson 1–9
Use the data below about people 65 years and older in the United States.

1. Let the year be on the horizontal axis and let the population be on the vertical axis. Plot the ordered pairs to make a line graph of this situation.
2. Describe how you might use this graph to predict the number of people that will be 65 years or older in 2050.
3. Use your method to make a prediction for 2050. Explain whether you think your prediction will be accurate.

1. If a person was selected at random in the state of California in 2000, what is the probability that the person was 65 years or older? Express your answer as a percent rounded to the nearest tenth.
2. If a person was selected at random in the state of California in 2000, what is the probability that the person was 85 years or older? Express your answer as a percent rounded to the nearest tenth.
3. How many times more likely was it to select a person 65 years or older than a person 85 or older in a random selection in California in 2000?
4. If a person was selected in California in 2000 that was 65 years or older, what is the probability that the person was also 85 years or older? Express your answer as a percent rounded to the nearest tenth.

1. What was the percent increase in the number of people over 65 from 1900 to 1910?
2. In 1900, the percent of the population of the U.S. that was over 65 was 4.1%. In 1910, the percent of the population of the U.S. that was over 65 was 4.3%. Find the difference in percent from 1900 to 1910.
3. Why are the answers to Exercises 1 and 2 different?
4. Describe how you might use percent to help you predict the number of people who will be 65 and over in 2050. Use your method to make a prediction.