Here you have some more projects about the secondary and the tertiary sectors. These students have researched on different activities: telecommunications and electrical installations, industry, carprentry, transport and retail trade. We hope you like these projects and learn a lot of things about these activities. Please, leave your comments.
Showing posts with label secondary sector. Show all posts
Showing posts with label secondary sector. Show all posts
Friday, March 18, 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011
Challenge number 7
This week you will have to research on the Spanish production of energy. The questions refer to different renewable energy sources. They are not very difficult:
QUESTION 1
What is the autonomous community that concentrates more wind farms?
QUESTION 2
What has been the record of production of electricity coming from wind power?
QUESTION 3
What´s this? Where is this facility located?
QUESTION 4
There is a peculiar solar farm in Manzanares and another one is being built in Fuente el Fresno. What kind of solar farms are these? How do they work?
QUESTION 5
Where is located the only wave energy plant in Spain?
QUESTION 6
What is the Zèfir Test Station? Where will it be located?
QUESTION 7
What are the European Union objectives of renewable energy production for 2010?
Cheer up! Be more active!
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Some more information about outsourcing
Checking the labels of our clothes, we´ve discovered today that many of the textiles sold in Spain have been produced in other countries. Many companies have outsourced their factories to places such as Bangladesh, Indonesia, India, China, Turkey, Thailand, Philippines, Pakistan or Mexico. Here you have some cartoons that show the reality of globalization in industry:
The first cartoon shows how the theory of capitalism can affect to the same people who are its main supporters:
This cartoon plays with a very know quote in the USA: it used to be "What´s good for General Motors (the car company) is good for America".
This one shows the dilemma of many Mexican workers:
The executive of this cartoon justifies outsourcing as a good thing for American citizens:
This one shows the reality of many companies of the developed countries: their workers live in other countries.
And the last one is focused on consumers.
Source of all the images: http://www.davar.net/IT/CARTOONS.HTM
The truth is that the high consumption levels of the most developed countries are only possible because many of the goods we enjoy come from countries where the working conditions and the rights of workers are not respected. If you´re interested in this topic, you can watch the following video about working conditions on the sweatshops in Bangladesh:
And if you want to take action, this is the link to the Playfair 2012 Campaign. This is an international campaign whose purpose is to put pressure on the sport companies that produce sportwear in outsourced factories in Asia. You can send an e-mail to the major companies and ask them to respect the rights of their workers:
You can also play the game "Unfair factory" and learn how´s a workday in the sweatshops:
Monday, February 7, 2011
Some films about industrial reconversion / deindustrialization
Here you have the trailers of some good films that reflect the hard reality of deindustrialization in the United Kingdom and Spain:
THE FULL MONTY
This film shows the story of a group of unemployed who lost their job in a steel factory of Sheffield, in the north of England. They look for different options, trying to survive. One of them has the idea of preparing a stript tease and he tries to convince his mates to join him.
BRASSED OFF
This film tells the story of a colliery brass band that will disappear after the closure of the coal mine where its members have been working for many years. The miners prepare their participation in a music band contest at the same time they have to face the reality of unemployment, depression and the loss of their normal life. The film was inspired in the real story of the struggle of the Grimethorpe miners against the closure of their mine.
BILLY ELLIOT
The background of the story of this dancing boy is also reconversion: the 1984-1985 miners´ strike in the United Kingdom. Margaret Thatcher´s government defeated the miners, many mines were closed and the unions lost the main part of their power.
LOS LUNES AL SOL
This Spanish film tells the story of a group of unemployed who were fired during the shipyard reconversion of the 80's and 90´s in Spain. The film shows the different ways of facing unemployment.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Challenge number 6
This week´s questions will be focused on industry and some of the concepts we´ll study next week.
Question 1
Taking into account world industrial output, what are the three largest industrial manufacturers (countries)? What have been the recent changes in this list? What is the expected evolution of this list?
Question 2
What are maquiladoras? What´s the origin of this word? Where are they located? What do they produce? What are their main problems?
Come on, participate!
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Planned obsolescence
Have you ever heard your parents or grandparents say that things lasted more in the past? They might be right. This is a very interesting documentary broadcasted on La 2 a few weeks ago. It explains one of the pillars of industrialized societies: planned obsolescence. This is a strategy many companies develop to oblige consumers to buy new products, by limiting their duration. Many products have been designed to have a short useful life, so that consumers have to buy new models. It is cheaper to buy a new product than trying to get it fixed. Some experts try to justify planned obsolescence, like a way of preserving employments: if products lasted for ages, less workers would be needed and unemployment rates would be higher. However, other experts explain that this strategy has led to consumerism, the exhaustion of many resources and high pollution and waste levels. The documentary is in Spanish, but many of the people who appear in it speak in different languages.
More about planned obsolescence:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_obsolescence
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/planned_obsolescence.asp
Monday, January 31, 2011
Presentation about industry
Here you have the small presentation we have used today to learn some new concepts about industry. Please, review it. Next day we´ll learn about horizontal and vertical concentrations.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Dangerous mines
Today we have learned how dangerous is working in underground mines. Miners are exposed to gas leaks (especially methane) and if the working conditions are not safe, collapses can happen and the miners can get trapped. Precisely today an accident has happened at a coal mine in Colombia. At least 20 miners have been killed. Working underground requires specific safety rules that have to be respected and qualified workers who follow the instructions. Minig accidents are more fequent in the least developed countries.
Here you have some links where you can get more information about mining:
- Infomine website: this site provides a lot of information about mining around the world. If you click on "Mines sites", you will have access to a world map with the most important mines. You can know what minerals they extract and the type of mines (open- cast/open- pit or underground mines):
- Chinese mines are among the most dangerous in the world. This BBC report explores the reasons for this dangerousness:
- On this link you can get information about the world´s worst mining disasters:
- Finally, a piece of news about today´s mining accident in northest Colombia:
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