Economics & Business · Year 10

Active learning ideas

Global Supply Chains and Resilience

Active learning works because supply chains are invisible systems with human consequences. Students need to trace real products, hear real voices, and feel real tensions before they understand costs and risks. When they map, debate, and simulate, they move from abstract ideas to concrete trade-offs that stick.

• ACARA Content Descriptions
• AC9HE10K04
• AC9HE10S02

• 40–60 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Case Study Analysis
• 50 min · Small Groups

Case Study Analysis: COVID Disruptions

Provide articles on 2020 toilet paper and chip shortages in Australia. In small groups, students identify supply chain stages, pinpoint failure points, and propose local fixes. Groups share via gallery walk.

Analyze the trade-offs created by global supply chains for national security versus economic efficiency.

Facilitation Tip

During the Case Study: COVID Disruptions, have students annotate a world map with dates and events to make the timeline visible for all.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'Imagine a major earthquake hits Taiwan, disrupting its semiconductor production. What are three specific impacts this could have on an average Australian household?' Allow students to discuss in small groups before sharing with the class.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Decision-Making
• Self-Management

Activity 02

• Case Study Analysis
• 40 min · Pairs

Product Mapping: Aussie Exports

Pairs trace the supply chain for wool or iron ore from Australian mine to overseas market. Mark countries, risks, and resilience strategies on a world map. Discuss as class.

Explain how disruptions in one part of the world affect local Australian consumers.

Facilitation Tip

In Product Mapping: Aussie Exports, provide pre-cut sticky notes so groups can physically rearrange supply routes on a large poster.

What to look for

Provide students with a short case study about a fictional Australian company that offshores manufacturing. Ask them to list one benefit and one cost of this decision for the company, and one benefit and one cost for Australian workers. Collect responses for review.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Decision-Making
• Self-Management

Activity 03

• Case Study Analysis
• 60 min · Whole Class

Stakeholder Debate: Offshoring

Divide class into teams: Australian workers, corporations, developing nation laborers, consumers. Research positions, debate trade-offs, then vote on policy. Debrief key learnings.

Evaluate who benefits and who bears the costs of shifting production to developing nations.

Facilitation Tip

For the Stakeholder Debate: Offshoring, assign roles by drawing names from a hat to ensure students prepare opposing views before the discussion.

What to look for

On an exit ticket, ask students to identify one Australian industry that is particularly vulnerable to global supply chain disruptions and explain why in one to two sentences. They should also suggest one action that could increase that industry's resilience.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Decision-Making
• Self-Management

Activity 04

• Case Study Analysis
• 45 min · Small Groups

Disruption Simulation

Small groups draw a simple supply chain for smartphones. Roll dice to trigger events like strikes or floods, then adapt with diversification plans. Compare outcomes.

Analyze the trade-offs created by global supply chains for national security versus economic efficiency.

Facilitation Tip

In Disruption Simulation, limit the debrief to five minutes so students focus on identifying vulnerabilities, not just recounting the scenario.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'Imagine a major earthquake hits Taiwan, disrupting its semiconductor production. What are three specific impacts this could have on an average Australian household?' Allow students to discuss in small groups before sharing with the class.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Decision-Making
• Self-Management

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teachers should anchor lessons in concrete products students use daily, like smartphones or breakfast cereal, to make abstract networks tangible. Avoid over-relying on videos; instead, use role-plays and mapping to build empathy and critical distance. Research shows that when students physically manipulate maps or scripts, they retain more about systemic interdependence than from lectures alone.

Successful learning looks like students naming specific links in a chain, weighing benefits against harms, and proposing credible resilience actions. They should connect global events to local outcomes, speak from multiple perspectives, and explain why resilience matters beyond the classroom.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Product Mapping: Aussie Exports, watch for groups that label only the final destination and ignore intermediate stops.

  Redirect groups by asking, 'What happens to a shipment if the container ship breaks down in the South China Sea?' and require them to add at least two intermediate nodes to their map.

• During Disruption Simulation, watch for students who assume disruptions are short-lived and easy to fix.

  After the simulation, pause the class to list real-world recovery times for events like the 2021 Suez Canal blockage, then ask students to revise their timelines accordingly.

• During Stakeholder Debate: Offshoring, watch for arguments that focus only on corporate profits without addressing worker conditions.

  Prompt each stakeholder to cite one concrete labor practice or wage figure from their research before stating their position, using peer feedback to balance the discussion.

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Methods used in this brief

• Case Study Analysis