Globalisation and trade patterns (online lesson)

In this online lesson, we take a look at the meaning and nature of globalisation, along with its advantages and disadvantages. We also explore some of the patterns of trade, and consider whether we are experiencing deglobalisation.

WHAT YOU'LL STUDY IN THIS ONLINE LESSON

• the meaning of globalisation, its characteristics and its causes
• advantages and disadvantages of globalisation, from different perspectives
• globalisation over time, and deglobalisation
• patterns of trade

Additional teacher guidance is available at the end of this lesson. Thank you to Cathy Williams and Jon Clark for their contributions to this lesson.

HOW TO USE THIS ONLINE LESSON

Follow along in order of the activities shown below. Some are interactive game-based activities, designed to test your understanding and application of globalisation and trade patterns. Others are based on short videos, including activities for you to think about and try at home, as well as some extra worksheet-based activities.

If you would like to download a simple PDF worksheet to accompany the video activities, you can download it here. You can print it off and annotate it for your own notes, or make your own notes on a separate piece of paper to add to your school/college file.

ACTIVITY 1: VIDEO - GLOBALISATION...CAUSES AND CHARACTERISTICS

In this introductory video, we explore the meaning of globalisation, and take a closer look at some of its characteristics and causes. There is a also a chance to practise writing analytical paragraphs.

ACTIVITY 2: GAME - UK EXPORTS AND IMPORTS

How involved in international trade is the UK? Find out more by playing this interactive game!

ACTIVITY 3: VIDEO - EVALUATING GLOBALISATION

There are winners and losers from globalisation. Find out more about the advantages and disadvantages of globalisation in this video.

ACTIVITY 4: WIDER READING AND RESEARCH ON TRADE PATTERNS

There are tonnes of resources available online to help you find out more about globalisation and trade patterns We've selected some of our favourites for this activity.

• Head to the Our World in Data website for their special report on trade and globalisation. Read through it and select your 10 favourite facts to add to your notes.
• Our World in Data also provides an interactive map, showing the "Openness to Trade" of different countries. Play around with the dates on the map - how has trade changed over time?
• Use the World Bank's DataBank to explore the contribution of trade to GDP in a huge number of countries. Select 8 to 10 countries and jot down the data that you find - try to find a range of proportions from "very little trade" through to "huge amounts of trade".
• Take a look at this tutor2u study note and accompanying video for a summary of trade patterns. Jot down your own notes.

Finally, download this Trade Patterns and Statistics worksheet and follow the instructions on it, to help build your notes on this topic.

ACTIVITY 5: VIDEO - DEGLOBALISATION

Some commentators argue that globalisation is in reverse, or at least slowing down ("slowbalisation"). Find out more in this video.

ACTIVITY 6: GAME - GLOBAL EXPORT VALUES

Deepen your knowledge of trade patterns and globalisation by having a go at this tricky Tug-of-War game.

ENRICHMENT READING

Here are two articles from The Economist magazine. Read the articles, then identify as many economic key terms as you can, and decide whether you agree or disagree with the arguments made.

1. Slowbalisation: the steam has gone out of globalisation (from January 2019)
2. Has Covid-19 killed globalisation? (from May 2020)

After reading the articles, try to make a prediction about what global trade might look like in 2 to 5 years time.

ADDITIONAL TEACHER GUIDANCE

This lesson comprises:

• just over 20 minutes of guided video, spread across 3 videos
• around 20 minutes of student thinking and activity time across the videos
• 2 interactive games, designed to build student awareness of real-world trends and examples in trade patterns
• a research and reading task (which could take between 30 and 60 minutes, depending on student interest) - answers to the trade statistics worksheet can be downloaded here
• an enrichment reading task, focusing on the slowdown in globalisation and international trade