Geography · 7th Grade

Active learning ideas

Economic Geography: Secondary and Tertiary Activities

Active learning helps students grasp why economic activities cluster in specific places by letting them simulate decisions and analyze real-world patterns. When students role-play location choices or map service clusters, they see geography’s role in shaping economies, not just read about it.

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

• 20–40 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 3 activities

Activity 01

• Case Study Analysis
• 40 min · Small Groups

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.

Explain how globalization has influenced the location of manufacturing industries.

Facilitation Tip

During the Location Decision Simulation, circulate and ask each group to articulate one trade-off they are considering before making their final choice.

What to look for

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.

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

Activity 02

• Think-Pair-Share
• 20 min · Pairs

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.

Analyze the role of infrastructure in supporting tertiary economic activities.

Facilitation Tip

Use the Think-Pair-Share to press students to explain their reasoning using specific geographic terms like ‘labor supply’ or ‘transportation costs.’

What to look for

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.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

Activity 03

• Gallery Walk
• 35 min · Small Groups

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.

Differentiate between the factors that attract secondary versus tertiary industries to a region.

Facilitation Tip

For the Gallery Walk, assign small groups to focus on one service industry cluster and prepare to share one surprising finding with the class.

What to look for

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.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Create
• Relationship Skills
• Social Awareness

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teach this topic by grounding abstract concepts in concrete examples students see daily. Avoid overgeneralizing—highlight that manufacturing decline in the US reflects automation and offshoring, not a loss of importance. Use maps and case studies to show how agglomeration shapes both factories and financial firms. Research shows students learn best when they connect economic theory to their lived environment.

Students will explain how location factors influence where factories and service firms locate. They will compare secondary and tertiary activities and justify their choices using evidence from simulations and discussions.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During the Location Decision Simulation, students may assume that once labor costs rise in a new country, factories will automatically return to their original location.

  Use the simulation’s post-activity debrief to show how supply chains, skilled workforces, and infrastructure create geographic inertia. Have students revisit their simulation maps and add notes about what it would take to reverse a move.

• During the Gallery Walk, students may think service industries do not depend on geography because they are digital.

  Direct students to the service clusters they observe and ask them to note how proximity to universities, talent pools, or other firms enables innovation. Use the gallery notes to highlight how even tech firms cluster in specific districts.

• During the Think-Pair-Share, students may confuse employment decline with manufacturing’s reduced importance.

  After the activity, ask students to calculate how automation and offshoring changed output versus jobs. Use their paired discussion responses to clarify the difference between employment share and economic significance.

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Methods used in this brief

• Case Study Analysis
• Think-Pair-Share
• Gallery Walk