New
New
Year 6

Patterns of production

I can investigate the production of a mobile phone and describe some of the effects the manufacturing process has on people's lives.

New
New
Year 6

Patterns of production

I can investigate the production of a mobile phone and describe some of the effects the manufacturing process has on people's lives.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Electronic devices have complex global supply chains.
  2. The availability of natural resources, workers and transportation costs influence the location of manufacturing.
  3. The way some products are manufactured can lead to poor working conditions for people in different parts of the world.

Keywords

  • Supply chain - A supply chain is all of the stages involved in producing goods, transporting them and selling them to customers.

  • Natural resources - Natural resources are those that come from Earth without human influence and can be used for human needs.

  • Transport - Transport is a way of travelling between places and methods of transport include cars, buses, trains, bicycles.

  • Working conditions - Working conditions are the physical and mental conditions that people experience in their jobs.

Common misconception

All the parts of a mobile phone come from one country.

The raw materials which go into making phones come from all around the world.

You could do a roleplay activity where children have to interview each other on what it is like to work in a mobile phone factory.
Teacher tip

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
What is a worker?
a person that goes on holiday
Correct answer: a person that earns money from doing a job
a person that runs the country
Q2.
What is an electronic device?
Correct answer: a device that uses electricity to power it to do a task
a device that uses electricity to provide heat or light
a device with many different components
Q3.
Which of the following is not a definition of a global supply chain?
Correct answer: the producing, transporting and selling goods in one country
the producing, transporting and selling goods in many countries
Correct answer: the distance that food travels
Q4.
Which of the following is a commodity?
beef
Correct answer: coal
a large amount of money
Q5.
Which of the following is not a manufactured good?
flour
wheat
Correct answer: bread
Q6.
What is a supplier?
Correct answer: a company, person, etc. that provides things that people want or need
a company, person, etc. that buys things that people want or need
a company, person, etc. that shares things that people want or need

6 Questions

Q1.
Electronic devices have complex __________ supply chains.
local
government
Correct answer: global
Q2.
Which of these is not part of the supply chain?
extraction of the natural resources
Correct answer: recycling the product
manufacturing of the different components
assembly of the product
Q3.
What are natural resources?
Correct answer: things found in nature which can be used by humans
A large amount of money
things that are made through the process of manufacturing (often in factories)
Q4.
What are working conditions?
the place where people work
Correct answer: the physical and mental conditions that people have to work in
the journey to work
the amount of money people get paid
Q5.
What are transportation costs?
the cost of buying goods
the cost of recycling goods
Correct answer: the cost of moving goods
Q6.
Working conditions are in lots of phone factories
very good
good
Correct answer: bad