Good Learning Co.
SavannahYear 8
← Geography
GeographyMigration, settlement and trade32 min★★★ difficulty

Global trade: from raw material to consumer

A product on a shelf is the final stop in a chain of farms, factories, design studios, ports and shops spread across several countries.

Part of your national curriculum
  • Human and physical geography: Understand the use of natural resources, including energy, food, minerals and water
  • Human and physical geography: Understand economic activity in the primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary sectors, and the change in their inter-relationships in different economic settings
  • Geographical skills and fieldwork: Interpret and analyse a range of quantitative and qualitative data, including statistical data on trends and relationships between geographical phenomena

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Understand economic activity in the primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary sectors, and the change in their inter-relationships in different economic settings

Key learning points

  • • The global supply chain
  • • Why production moves
  • • Who gains?
  • • Responsible choices

This lesson at a glance

  • 32 minutes
  • 15 parts to scroll through
  • 3 quick checks
  • Marked quiz at the end
  • Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

economicactivityprimarysecondarytertiary

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 15 · Discover7%
1

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 15

Watch first

Global trade: from raw material to consumer

An English teaching video on this topic from CrashCourse. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.

In a nutshell

Understand economic activity in the primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary sectors, and the change in their inter-relationships in different economic settings

2

Learning cycle

Part 2 of 15

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Part 1 · The global supply chain

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

3

Explore the idea

Part 3 of 15

Learn

The global supply chain

A smartphone may use minerals mined in several countries, components manufactured across East Asia, software designed elsewhere and global transport and retail services. Primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary work are linked rather than isolated.

4

Explore the idea

Part 4 of 15

Learn

Why production moves

Businesses compare labour skills and costs, energy, transport links, taxes, political stability and access to markets. Containerisation cut the time and cost of moving goods, making long international supply chains practical.

5

Quick check

Part 5 of 15

Quick check

Which change made moving standard loads between ships, trains and lorries much cheaper?

6

Quick check

Part 6 of 15

Quick check

Software design belongs mainly to which economic sector?

7

Reset break

Part 7 of 15

Pause

That's sitting 1 of 2 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now
8

Learning cycle

Part 8 of 15

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Part 2 · Who gains?

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

9

Explore the idea

Part 9 of 15

Learn

Who gains?

Trade can create jobs, tax income and access to goods, but value is not shared evenly. Brand owners and designers may receive a larger share than raw-material producers, while workers and environments can carry hidden costs.

10

Explore the idea

Part 10 of 15

Learn

Responsible choices

Certification, transparent sourcing, stronger labour rules, repair and recycling can improve a chain. Geographers test claims by tracing evidence through places rather than accepting a product label at face value.

11

Quick check

Part 11 of 15

Quick check

Why can trade create uneven gains?

12

Challenge round

Part 12 of 15

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

13

Challenge round

Part 13 of 15

Game · Fill the gaps

Finish the sentences

Choose the word that belongs in each gap.

____, secondary, tertiary and quaternary work are linked rather than isolated.

14

Mastery quiz

Part 14 of 15

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: Global trade: from raw material to consumer

3 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.

  1. 1. Which change made moving standard loads between ships, trains and lorries much cheaper?

  2. 2. Software design belongs mainly to which economic sector?

  3. 3. Why can trade create uneven gains?

15

Lesson round-up

Part 15 of 15

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

Not sat

Games

Not played

Points this lesson

0

Best run

0 in a row

Luna: 0 out of 3 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?

Ask Luna

Do the work

Your written work for this lesson

This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.

Case study

Flooding on the River Calder

The town of Harbrook sits where a steep valley opens onto a flat floodplain. In December 2015, 120 mm of rain fell in 36 hours onto ground that was already saturated. The river rose 2.4 m in five hours, and 380 homes and 54 businesses flooded. Two roads and the railway closed for eleven days.

Geographers pointed to physical causes — steep slopes, impermeable rock, heavy rainfall — and human causes: moorland drained upstream, new housing built on the floodplain, and drains designed for smaller storms.

Since then the town has planted 40 hectares of woodland upstream, built leaky dams in small streams, and raised flood walls to 1.8 m. In the storm of 2020 the peak river level was 0.3 m lower and 40 homes flooded, not 380.

Written for Good Learning Co.

Reading questions

  1. List two physical and two human causes of the 2015 flood.
  2. Explain how planting woodland upstream lowers the river's peak level.
  3. Using the figures, judge how successful the scheme has been. Quote data in your answer.

  • Case study notes

    Writing

    Write the place, the facts and the figures from this lesson so you can revise them later.

    Half a page

  • Explain answer

    Writing

    Answer in full sentences, giving causes and effects. Use one figure or place name as evidence.

    8–10 sentences

  • Map or sketch

    Diagram

    Draw the map, cross-section or field sketch with a key, title and labels, then photograph it.

    1 map with a key

  • Data work

    Working out

    Plot your figures as a graph on paper and write one sentence about the pattern.

    1 graph + 1 sentence

Saved as you type.

Part 1 of 15 · Watch & discover

How this is going

  • Not looked at yet

    Understand the use of natural resources, including energy, food, minerals and water

  • Not looked at yet

    Understand economic activity in the primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary sectors, and the change in their inter-relationships in different economic settings

  • Not looked at yet

    Interpret and analyse a range of quantitative and qualitative data, including statistical data on trends and relationships between geographical phenomena

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