Geography · 7th Grade · Human Patterns and Processes · Weeks 10-18

Economic Geography: Secondary and Tertiary Activities

Examining the location factors for manufacturing (secondary) and service industries (tertiary), and their global distribution.

• Common Core State Standards
• C3: D2.Eco.1.6-8
• C3: D2.Geo.11.6-8

About This Topic

Secondary economic activities transform raw materials into manufactured goods. Tertiary activities deliver services rather than producing physical things. Together, they make up the bulk of economic activity in most countries. For 7th grade students in the US, this topic explains the economic geography they observe around them: why certain cities became manufacturing centers, why financial services cluster in specific districts, and why many factory jobs shifted from the US to Southeast Asia over the past 50 years.

The location of manufacturing follows a specific set of factors: proximity to raw materials, labor cost and availability, transportation infrastructure, energy access, and market proximity. Service industries, by contrast, depend more on educated workforces, communication infrastructure, and clustering with similar firms (called agglomeration). As students compare the geography of these two sectors, they develop a clearer picture of how economies change over time, from agricultural to industrial to service-based, and what that transition means for different regions and workers.

Active learning is well-matched to this topic because location decisions require weighing multiple competing factors, a skill that simulation activities and case analysis develop far more effectively than lecture. Students who work through a location decision themselves, and then examine what actually happened, build transferable reasoning tools.

Key Questions

1. Explain how globalization has influenced the location of manufacturing industries.
2. Analyze the role of infrastructure in supporting tertiary economic activities.
3. Differentiate between the factors that attract secondary versus tertiary industries to a region.

Learning Objectives

• Compare the primary location factors for secondary (manufacturing) industries versus tertiary (service) industries.
• Analyze how globalization has specifically influenced the relocation of manufacturing jobs from developed to developing countries.
• Evaluate the role of transportation and communication infrastructure in supporting the growth of tertiary economic activities in urban centers.
• Explain the concept of agglomeration and its impact on the clustering of specific tertiary industries, such as finance or technology.
• Synthesize information from case studies to predict potential future location trends for secondary and tertiary industries.

Before You Start

Primary Economic Activities: Resource Extraction

Why: Students need to understand where raw materials come from before learning how they are transformed into goods.

Basic Economic Concepts: Supply and Demand

Why: Understanding how supply and demand influence prices is foundational for grasping labor costs and market proximity as location factors.

Types of Transportation Networks

Why: Knowledge of different transportation systems like roads, railways, and ports is essential for understanding their role in manufacturing and service industries.

Key Vocabulary

Secondary Economic Activity	Activities that transform raw materials into manufactured goods, such as factories producing cars or processing food.
Tertiary Economic Activity	Activities that provide services rather than tangible products, including retail, healthcare, education, and finance.
Globalization	The increasing interconnectedness of economies and societies worldwide, leading to the movement of goods, capital, and labor across national borders.
Agglomeration	The clustering of businesses and people in a particular area, which can lead to benefits like shared infrastructure and a skilled labor pool.
Infrastructure	The basic physical and organizational structures and facilities needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, such as roads, power grids, and internet networks.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

Manufacturing always returns to where it originally was once labor costs equalize.

What to Teach Instead

Once supply chains and skilled workforces develop around a new manufacturing location, they create a geographic inertia that is difficult to reverse. Returning manufacturing requires rebuilding supplier networks, worker training pipelines, and infrastructure. Students hear reshoring discussed politically and sometimes assume it is straightforward, but the geographic reality is more complex.

Common Misconception

Service industries do not depend on geography because many are digital.

What to Teach Instead

Tech companies cluster in Silicon Valley, financial services in lower Manhattan and the City of London, and medical research near major universities. Agglomeration effects, shared talent pools, and proximity to similar firms create real geographic advantages even for digital industries. Physical proximity still drives innovation and deal-making in most service sectors.

Common Misconception

Secondary activities are declining because manufacturing is less important than it used to be.

What to Teach Instead

Manufacturing's share of employment has declined in many high-income countries, but global manufacturing output has actually increased. The change reflects automation and offshoring, not a reduction in importance. Students often confuse employment share with economic significance, which is a useful distinction to make explicit.

Active Learning Ideas

Location Decision Simulation: Where Should the Factory Go?

Groups receive a set of 5 potential factory locations described in terms of labor cost, proximity to materials, transport links, and market access. Groups must decide where to site three different types of operations: a clothing manufacturer, an electronics assembly plant, and a pharmaceutical company. Each decision requires a written justification comparing all 5 locations, and groups compare their choices to explain why different industries produce different location answers.

40 min·Small Groups

Think-Pair-Share: Why Did the Factory Move?

Present a short case: a US shoe factory that moved production to Vietnam in the 1990s. Students individually identify 3 geographic factors that explain the move, pair to compare and rank their factors, then share to build a class consensus on the most significant drivers of manufacturing relocation. The class then considers what would need to change for those factors to reverse.

20 min·Pairs

Gallery Walk: Service Industry Clusters

Post maps of 4 cities showing the location of financial districts, medical centers, tech campuses, and retail cores. Students rotate with analysis cards, identifying what geographic factors (transport nodes, university proximity, historical patterns) explain each cluster. Students then sketch a generalized model of service industry location and compare sketches to identify common patterns.

35 min·Small Groups

Real-World Connections

• Students can examine why major auto manufacturing plants are located in specific regions of the US, considering factors like historical labor availability, access to steel mills, and interstate highway networks.
• The concentration of financial services in New York City's Wall Street district or technology companies in Silicon Valley illustrates the principle of agglomeration, where firms benefit from being near similar businesses and a specialized workforce.
• The shift of textile and apparel manufacturing from the US Northeast to countries like Vietnam and Bangladesh over the past 30 years demonstrates the impact of globalization on secondary industries, driven by lower labor costs and access to new markets.

Assessment Ideas

Exit Ticket

Provide students with a list of three industries (e.g., a smartphone factory, a call center, a local bakery). Ask them to identify each as secondary or tertiary and list one key location factor that would be most important for each, explaining their choice in one sentence.

Discussion Prompt

Pose the question: 'Imagine you are advising a city council on how to attract new businesses. What specific types of infrastructure would you recommend investing in to attract both secondary and tertiary industries, and why?' Facilitate a brief class discussion where students share their ideas and justify their reasoning.

Quick Check

Present students with a short scenario describing a hypothetical new business. For example: 'A company wants to build a new plant to assemble electronic components, utilizing advanced robotics and requiring a highly educated workforce.' Ask students to identify the primary economic activity and then list two specific location factors from the lesson that would be critical for this company's success.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between secondary and tertiary economic activities?

Secondary activities transform raw materials into manufactured goods: a steel mill turning iron ore into steel, or a car plant assembling vehicles. Tertiary activities provide services: healthcare, retail, banking, education, and transportation. A fourth category, quaternary activities, covers knowledge and information services, though many middle school curricula include these within the tertiary sector.

How has globalization changed the location of manufacturing?

Globalization allowed manufacturers to separate production into steps and locate each step where it can be done most efficiently. Raw material extraction often happens in resource-rich lower-income countries, assembly in countries with lower labor costs, and design and marketing in higher-income countries. The result is global value chains that span multiple countries for a single finished product.

Why do service industries cluster in specific cities?

Service industries cluster because firms benefit from sharing a pool of trained workers, being near specialized suppliers, and exchanging ideas with competitors and collaborators. This agglomeration effect means the first few firms in an area attract more firms, reinforcing the cluster. Historical chance often determines which city develops the cluster first, and geographic momentum keeps it there.

How does active learning support understanding of secondary and tertiary activities?

Location decision simulations, where students must weigh competing factors and justify a choice for different industry types, mirror the reasoning that economic geographers and business planners actually use. Students who work through decisions for different industries see concretely why a clothing factory and a software company make different location choices, which is more durable than memorizing location factor lists.