THE ECONOMY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION - … ECONOMY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION Esther Gonzàlez Jové INS Escola del Treball THE ECONOMY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION TEACHERS’ NOTES Esther …

THE ECONOMY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

Esther Gonzàlez Jové INS Escola del Treball

THE ECONOMY OF

THE EUROPEAN

UNION

TEACHERS’ NOTES

Esther Gonzàlez Jové

December 2010



INTRODUCTION

The aim of these teaching notes is to provide guidance on how to use the students’

worksheets and supplementary materials.



UNIT 1: THE EUROPEAN UNION’S ECONOMY

LESSON 1: THE ECONOMIC SECTORS TIMING: 7 hours

CONTENT

The economic sectors

The relationship between the level of economic development and the percentage of

people working in each sector.

PROCEDURE

1ST HOUR

In this first hour, the key ideas are introduced to the students. The language tips needed

are provided in the students’ worksheets.

Brainstorming. Ask students some questions such as: what do you know about the

economic sectors? / Can you tell me something about the economic sectors? / What

are the key words to come to your mind when talking about the economic sectors?

Running dictation (see supplementary materials).

o Write on the board and explain any key words or phrases from your running

dictations – sentences that your students may find difficult to understand such

as steel, coal, goods…

o Display each sheet of paper with the definition of each economic sector around

the classroom.

o Students will work in pairs.

o Assign an economic sector to each pair and give the corresponding sheet which

includes the title of the economic sector.

o Each group must have a runner/reader and a writer.



o First the runner goes around the room to find his or her economic sector.

o The runner reads the sentences committing them to memory.

o Tell students that they are not allowed to touch the paper, take the paper back to

the group or shout out the sentence across the room.

o Once they think they can remember the sentence they return to the group and

repeat to them what it said.

o The writer of the group writes down the sentence as it is dictated. Tell students

that if the runner forgets part of the sentence they are allowed to go back to the

paper and re-read it.

o Then the group put the sentences in the correct order.

o Tell students that the team that finishes first wins.

o At this point ask each group to read aloud the definition of their economic sector.

PowerPoint

o Show and explain the PowerPoint about the economic sectors. (slides 1 – 5)

o Ask students to take some notes while viewing the presentation.

Ending the lesson

o One minute papers. At the end of a CLIL lesson tell students that you are going

to ask them some questions related to what they have been doing in this

session: what was the most important thing you learnt today? What remains

unclear? What two important questions do you still have? What would you like

to know more about? This technique provides feedback to the teacher.



2ND HOUR

In this second hour, the economic sectors are explained in depth and some activities are

done in order to check the students’ understanding.

Let’s just recap on what we did the other day. Ask them some questions such as:

what are the economic sectors? Name an economic activity for each economic sector.

What were the main things we worked on last lesson?

Activity 11

o Find a text which has key words and expressions to be learnt. For example:

There are four main factors of production, known as INPUTS that are used to

produce the economy’s goods and services. These are land, labour, capital and

enterprise. Land is used to describe the gifts of nature used in the production

process. These are raw materials which are found on, in or above the Earth.

Examples of land are soil, fish and coal. Labour is the term used to describe any

production activity, whether it involves mental or physical effort. Examples of

labour are a teacher or a fireman. Capital is the name given to items necessary

to produce a good or service. Examples of capital are machines, vehicles and

money. Enterprise is the most important factor of production as this is the

process of bringing together the other factors to produce a good or service. It is

carried out through an entrepreneur.

Key words and expressions

inputs produce goods and services labour

capital enterprise raw materials nature

land entrepreneur factors of production item

known as are used to Earth

1 Adapted from, Deller S. and Price C. ‘Teaching Other Subjects Through English’ (CLIL), 2007



o Make a copy for each student.

There are f__ __r main __act__ __ __ of pro__ __ __ __ __ __ __, kn__ __n as

in__ __ts that are u__ __ __ to produ__ __ the ec__n__my’s go__ __ __ and

ser__ __ __ __ __. These are l__ __ __, __ __ __our, ca__ __ __al and

enter__ __ __se. L__ __ __ is __ __ ed to describe the gifts of __ __ __ure used in the

pro__ __ __tion process. These are r__ __ mater__ __ __ __ which are found on, in or

above the __ __ __th. Examples of land are s __ __ __, fish and c__ __ __.

__ __ __ our is the term u__ __ __ to describe any production activity, whether it

involves m__ __ __ __ __ or physical effort. Examples of labour are a

t__ __ __ __ __ __ or a f__ __ __ __ __ __. Capi__ __ __ is the name given to

i__ __ __ __ necessary to produce a g__ __ __ or s__ __ __ __ __ __ . Examples of

capital are machines, vehicles and m__ __ __ __. Enter__ __ __ __ __ is the most

important fac__ __ __ of __ __ __ __ __ __tion as this is the process of bringing

together the other factors to produce a good or service. It is carried out through an

entre__ __ __ __ __ __ __.

o Write the title of the text on the board. Tell the students that you are going to

read the text to them.

o Ask students to work in pairs to write a list of key words and phrases they think

could be in the text. Divide the board in half and ask the students to read out

their words. Write these on one side of the board. Add and explain any new

words from your key words list that are not on the board.

o Write the list of expressions on the other side of the board. Discuss the

expressions and translate into L1 if necessary.

o Read the text. Ask the students to listen but not write anything down.



o Read the text twice more. Now tell the students to write down any of the words

and phrases they hear while you are reading, but not to make notes about the

text.

o When you have finished reading put students into groups of three or four. Give

the groups time to compare their individual lists.

o Give every student a copy of the gapped text. Tell the students they can work

together to build up the text. Explain that they can send members of their group

to ask other groups for help, but they must not ask you for help. Give the

students time to work on the text.

o Stop the activity just before the groups have completed the whole text.

o The students take it in turns to read out their texts. When they have a gap they

nominate someone from another group to continue. If nobody knows the missing

word, give them clues such as it’s the opposite of…, it means the same as…,

another word for this could be…

o Show the completed text on the screen or whiteboard for a final check.

o Ask students to write down the key words and expressions from the text and

take it in turns to explain them to their partners.

o Homework. Ask the students to write sentences using the expressions from the

board.

PowerPoint

o Show and explain the PowerPoint about the economic sectors. (slides 6 – 12)


Activity 2 and 3.

Students work individually in both activities.

In activity 2, ask students to match the definitions of different types of economic sectors

with the names given. Then, in activity 3, ask students to identify the types of economic

sector that are in the photos and write the letters in the correct categories in activity 2.



Ask students to check the correct answers on the whiteboard.

The solution is as follows:

The secondary sector: this sector includes activities which process raw materials or

assemble parts to make a finished product. Photos: A, E, H

The tertiary sector: activities such as food, health, personal and entertainment, fall

under this category. Photos: B, F, I

The primary sector: industries in this category make use of the extracted natural

resources. Photos: C, D

The quaternary sector: the sector of industry including the intellectual services such as

research, development and information. It was once considered part of the tertiary

sector. Photos: G

Activity 4 and 5.

Students work in pairs in both activities.

Activity 4

Ask students to classify the jobs given as primary, secondary, tertiary or quaternary

sectors. As a whole class they compare their answers.


1) Teacher: tertiary

2) Miner: primary

3) Software developer: quaternary

4) Farmer: primary

5) Salesman: tertiary

6) People who work in a textile factory: secondary



Activity 5

Ask students to write their own examples trying not to repeat any of the examples given

in the previous exercises. When they have finished ask them to write their examples on

the whiteboard and check their answers by asking their peers or teacher.

Some examples for each economic sector are suggested.

Primary sector: fisherman, woodcutter.

Secondary sector: builder.

Tertiary sector: plumber, bus driver.

Quaternary sector: scientist.

3RD HOUR

In this third hour students will continue working on the economic sectors doing some

different activities such as a collocation activity and a sector game. After having done

some exercises the employment structures will be introduced to the students.

Let’s just recap on what we have been doing since we started the unit.

o Question-and-Answer Pairs. Firstly, students work alone in order to write five

questions related to the topic which has been explained in class. Secondly, they

write the answers to their questions on a separate sheet of paper. Thirdly,

students working in pairs exchange questions but not answers. And finally, after

having answered their partner’s questions, answers are compared. Go round the

groups checking their work.

Activity 6.

Students work in pairs. In this activity, students name a secondary and a tertiary

industry that may arise from each primary industry. The first example is given as a

model. Some definitions are provided in order to help students’ understanding. Then

ask students to give their own example starting with naming a primary industry. When

they have finished as a whole class they compare their answers. Invite any students



who think their example is wrong to check their answer.


Primary sector Secondary sector Tertiary sector

1. Fishing Fishery Restaurant

2. Mining Oil refinery Gas station

3. Logging Paper mill Stationery store

4. Quarrying Stone manufacturing

plant

Furniture store

5. Sugar plantation Sugar refinery Grocery store

MY OWN EXAMPLE

6. Farming Factory farming Supermarket

Activity 7. COLLOCATION ACTIVITY

Students work in pairs. Explain what a collocation is to the students. Ask students to

match the nouns given to the verbs given. Tell students that some verbs can go in 2 or

3 places. The first example is given.

an idea a hospital a new plan rice

cars medical care steel microchips

wine plastic goods new products new fashions

a business financial services dresses

BUILD

Hospital

PROVIDE

Financial services

Medical care

MANUFACTURE

Cars

Steel

Plastic goods



Activity 8. SECTOR GAME.

Students work in pairs or in groups of four depending on the number of students. Ask

students to write a list of twelve jobs, three for each economic sector. Tell students that

they have to make an effort to not repeat any examples given in the exercises done

before. They can use a dictionary or internet if necessary. When they have finished,

ask students to write the examples on the different pieces of paper provided by the

teacher and pass them to another group. Teacher will provide the name of the

economic sectors on different pieces of paper. Each group classify each example

(piece of paper) into primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary.

PRIMARY SECTOR

SECONDARY SECTOR

TERTIARY SECTOR

QUATERNARY SECTOR

PRODUCE

Microchips

Rice

Wine

DEVELOP

An idea

A new plan

A business

DESIGN

Dresses

New products

New fashions



Brainstorming

o Ask some questions to check the students’ understanding concerning the

employment structure such as: what is the most important economic sector in a

rich country? What is the most important economic sector in a poor country?

What does MEDCs mean? What does LEDCs mean? Tell me the name of a rich

country, a poor country and an emerging and developing country.

PowerPoint

o Show and explain the PowerPoint (slides 13– 17). At the same time do the

activities 1 and 2 suggested in the presentation.


4TH HOUR

In this fourth hour an ICT activity related to the employment structure is done.

Let’s just recap on what we did the other day. Let’s start with activity 3 suggested in

the PowerPoint in order to review the content explained in the previous session. You

can also ask what were the main things we worked on last lesson?

Activities 9 – 13. ICT activities based on employment structure. Students will work

with a Word and Excel document.

Activity 9

Students work individually if there are enough computers. Ask students to complete

these tables with the information they could find at the following website:

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2048.html

The solution is:

SPAIN

SECTOR % LABOUR FORCE BY OCCUPATION

Primary 4,2

Industry 24

Services 71,7

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2048.html



ETHIOPIA


Primary 85

Industry 5

Services 10

CHINA


Primary 39,5

Industry 27,2

Services 33,2

Activity 10

Ask students to open Microsoft Excel, copy each table in a different sheet and make a

pie chart with the information given above.

is a pie chart

Activity 11

Then ask students to copy and paste each pie chart in their word document.



Activity 12

Students work in pairs now. Ask students to look at the diagrams above and then

answer the questions based on the employment structures. Tell students to justify their

answers using the information provided by the tables below.

Spain

Ethiopia

is

the

richest

poorest

country because most people

work in the

primary

secondary

tertiary

sector such

as

China

is

the/a/

an

richest

poorest

emerging

and

developing

country because

the labour force is

more equally

distributed

between

the three

sectors



A possible solution is:

Activity 13

Ask students to answer the following questions based on the previous activities.

1) What percentage of people work in tertiary jobs in China? 33 %

2) In which country does the greatest percentage of people work in the primary

sector? In Ethiopia

3) Give reasons why there are a low percentage of primary workers in Spain.

Use the underlined sentence to start your answer + because + reasons

4) Suggest reasons why it might be difficult for secondary industry to develop in a

LEDC or poor country.


Spain is the richest country because most people work in the tertiary

sector such as banking and tourism.

Ethiopia is the poorest country because most people work in the primary

sector such as farming.

China is an emerging or developing country because the labour force is

more equally distributed between the three sectors.

There are a low percentage of primary workers in Spain because on

the one hand many jobs are now done by machines so fewer workers

are needed and on the other hand many people prefer to work in jobs

that are easier to do and pay better than primary jobs such as fishing

and mining.



Ending lesson

o Three minutes review. Stop any time during the lesson in this case at the end

and give teams three minutes to review what has been discussed or has been

done.

5TH HOUR

This fifth hour is dedicated to summing up through an activity concerning the employment

structure in Catalonia, an activity called mastermind and finally a student-generated

puzzle.

Activity 14

Students work in pairs. Ask students to answer the following questions:

CATALONIA 2009

Types of work Male Female Total % Total

Primary 45,500 12,400 57,900 2 %

Industry and construction 722,100 228,300 950.400 30 %

Tertiary 978,100 1,202,500 2.180.600 68 %

TOTAL 1.745.700 1.443.200 3.188.900 100 %

Source: Catalan statistics website www.idescat.cat from the Labour Force Survey

It might be difficult for secondary industry to develop in a poor country

because on the one hand people don’t have enough money to buy

manufactured goods and on the other hand there is a low level of

education and training in industrial skills.



a) Complete the table of statistics with the missing Information. (Total workers and the

% Totals). You can round the figures in the % Total column to the nearest whole

number.

b) Which of these statements are true and which are false?

The lowest % of workers work in the primary sector. TRUE

More males than females work in tertiary jobs. FALSE

Most people work in the secondary sector. FALSE

About three quarters of all jobs are in the tertiary sector. FALSE

c) Explain why in Catalonia so few people work in the primary sector.

Look back at your previous work. Start the sentence with because.

Activity 15. STUDENT-GENERATED WORD PUZZLE2

Students work in groups of four. Give half the groups use Puzzle A’ and the other

groups use ‘Puzzle B’. Ask them to write a clue for each of the words in their puzzle.

Stress, that they all need to write the clues, because they will work alone in the next

step. Go round the groups checking their work. Put students into A and B pairs. Tell

them not to let their partner see their chart. Students take it in turns to ask their partner

for a clue for any of their blanks, for example, please give me the clue for number 5.

Then they write the answers in their chart.


There are a low percentage of primary workers in Catalonia because

on the one hand many jobs are now done by machines so fewer

workers are needed and on the other hand many people prefer to work

in jobs that are easier to do and pay better than primary jobs such as

fishing and mining.



1 F O R E S T R Y

2 G O O D

3 R A W M A T E R I A L S

4 C O N S T R U C T I O N

5 R E S E A R C H

6 C O M M E R C E

7 D A I R Y P R O D U C T S

8 T E X T I L

9 F A R M I N G

10 S E R V I C E

11 S T O C K E X C H A N G E S

12 F A C T O R Y

13 M U L T I N A T I O N A L

14 L O G G I N G



Activity 16. MASTERMIND3

o Write a list of about eight questions related to a previously taught topic. They

should be questions which elicit fairly short answers.

o Example:

1. What is the most important economic sector in a rich country?

2. List three inputs in the production of a car.

3. What is the other name for the service sector?

4. What is the most important economic sector in a poor country?

5. What is the name of the economic sector which extracts raw materials from

the Earth?

6. Write down an example of a secondary job.

7. What kind of activities does the quaternary sector include?

8. Where are More Economically Developed Countries located?

o Ask two students to come to the front of the class. These could be volunteers, or

you may want to choose them. Explain that they are going to be ‘the experts’.

They will have to work together to tell the class the answers to your questions.

o Get the rest of the class to write the numbers 1 – 8 down the side of a page.

o Tell the class you are going to ask ‘the experts’ eight questions. The class have

to listen to their answers and decide if they are right or wrong. They put a tick or

a cross next to the matching question number in their side of the page. You




need to do the same.

o Ask the experts the questions, and check that the class are marking the experts’

answers right or wrong. Then let the experts sit down and relax.

o Write the numbers 1 – 8 on the board. Go through the questions and count the

number of ticks and crosses from the class for each one. In this way you will get

feedback about how much understanding or misunderstanding there is. It also

gives feedback to the students as to the areas they need to revise.

o Repeat the questions which ‘the experts’ answered correctly and get different

students to write on the board the correct answers that they heard from ‘the

experts’.

o Now repeat the questions which were answered incorrectly and invite students

to tell you the right answer. They write these on the board.

o Ask the class to copy all the answers into their notebooks, leaving a line after

each one.

o Ask the students to re-write in their notebooks the questions to the answers.

This could be done for homework.

6TH HOUR

In this sixth hour a jigsaw is done.

Activity 17

Explain what a jigsaw is following these instructions.

o Jigsaw Instructions

In this activity students are divided into home groups of three and given

an agenda (final task) which poses a series of eight questions on the

three economic sectors in the European Union. Give every student a

copy of the final task.



The Home groups are asked to discuss these for about ten minutes and

share their initial thoughts.

Then the teacher suggests that the best way to handle the task is to

share responsibility for discovering specific information relating to the

different areas covered by the questions.

After that, each home group is subsequently split up, with members from

each going to one of three expert groups. There could be more than three

expert groups depending on the number of students.

The expert groups are each given a specific aspect to explore related to

each economic sector in the European Union. Give every student of the

expert group a copy of the text.

Approximately thirty minutes are allowed for this. Tell each expert to take

some notes because in the following step he or she will work alone

because she or he will be the only expert of a specific economic sector in

the home group.



GROUP 1

Europe has some of the world’s richest farmland. Farming, except in parts of eastern and

southern Europe, is highly mechanised and efficient. Only 5% of the labour force works in

this sector because many jobs are now done by machines and many people prefer to work

in jobs that are easier to do and pay better than primary jobs.

On high mountains and in the far north of Europe (Scandinavian countries) farming is

impossible because it is too cold for crops to grow. But evergreen trees such as pines and

firs can survive cold winters.

Further south, in the centre of Europe, most of the land is suitable for farming. It produces

a wide variety of crops including cereals, sugar beet, potatoes and all sorts of fruit and

vegetables. In the United Kingdom, cereals, sugar beet, potatoes are produced.

In the Mediterranean countries, farmers can grow fruit such as oranges and lemons,

grapes and olives. Farmers also grow other fruits and vegetables such as tomatoes,

lettuces, cucumbers.

Grass grows easily where there is enough rain. Many European farmers in the United

Kingdom, Ireland and Nordic countries keep animals that eat grass such as cows, sheep

or goats. France, Germany, Poland are Europe's greatest producers of dairy products

(milk, butter, cheese). Leaders in the production of beef and veal include Belgium,

Germany and Italy. Farmers also keep pigs especially in Spain, Denmark, Germany and

Lithuania or poultry such as chickens in France, Spain, Czech Republic and Latvia.

Reindeer are typical in Scandinavian countries.

Forestry centres largely in northern Europe particularly in Finland, Austria, Germany and

Sweden. Parts of France, Romania and Poland also produce timber.

Fishing has always been important for people in Europe. It is an important activity

especially in northern Europe. Modern fishing boats, such as factory trawlers can catch

large numbers of fish. To make sure that enough fish are left in the sea, European

countries have agreed rules about how many fish can be caught and about using nets that

let young fish escape.



There are some definitions and images to help your students understand the text:

WORD DEFINITION

Crop: A cultivated plant that is grown on a large scale

commercially, especially a cereal, fruit, or vegetable.

Evergreen: A tree or bush that has green leaves all through the year.

Fir: Tree that grows in cold countries and has leaves that are

like needles.

Scandinavian countries: Finland, Norway and Sweden.

Timber: Wood prepared for use in building and carpentry

Trawler:

A fishing boat that uses large nets that it drags through the

sea behind it.

Rule: A statement of what must be or must not be done in a

particular situation or when playing a game.

Ask students 1 to read the text about the primary sector in the European Union and

answer the following questions.

1. Ask students to place the flashcards in the correct location on the map. Make

enough copies of each one.

Dairy products Cereals Grapes & Wine Olives & Olive oil

Timber Potatoes Sugar beet Fish

Pigs Sheep Cows Beef

Poultry/eggs Vegetables Reindeer





2. Why is farming not possible in the north of Europe and on high mountains?

Farming is not possible in the north of Europe and on high mountains because it is

too cold for crops to grow.

3. What is the wood used for?

The wood is used to make many things from houses and furniture to paper and

cardboard packaging.

4. What percentage of people work in the primary sector?

5 %

5. Name some farming products found in Segrià. Search on the Internet if necessary.



GROUP 2

The European Union is together with the United States and Japan one of the major

industrial world powers. Moreover, some of the world’s leading multinational companies

(Nokia Corporation, L'Oréal Group, Bayer, British Petrol, etc.) have their headquarters in

EU member states.

By employment, 28 per cent of the labour force is employed in this sector. Although the

labour force is expensive, it is highly skilled. As a whole, Western Europe is industrially

and technologically more advanced than Eastern Europe.

The most important industries in the European Union are: iron and steel, automobiles,

aeronautics and aerospace, electromechanics, textile, wood and paper, chemicals,

pharmaceuticals and food manufacturing.

Concerning aeronautics, some of the world’s best planes are built in the European Union –

for example, the ‘Airbus’. Different European countries make different parts of an Airbus,

and then a team of engineers puts the whole plane together. In addition, the fastest ever

passenger plane, the Concorde, was designed by a team of French and British engineers.

Concorde could fly at 2,160 km/h –twice the speed of sound – and could cross the Atlantic

in less than three hours! Concorde took its final flight in 2003. Ariane – a joint project

between several European countries is also important. The Ariane rocket is used to launch

satellites, which are needed for TV and mobile phone networks, and for scientific research.

Shipbuilding centres largely in the Scandinavian countries, Germany, Poland, Spain and

the Baltic states. Paper and other wood products are manufactured mainly in Scandinavia

and Germany.

Industry in the EU is basically concentrated in specific regions, particularly in a NW - SE

divide running from the UK through to the north of Italy including France, Belgium, Holland

and Germany. Also important is the northern European strip running from southern

Sweden through Denmark and down to the English Channel. These areas are called

industrial belts or axes.



Here are some definitions to help your students understand the text:

WORD DEFINITION

Headquarters: A place from which an organization is controlled; the

people who work there.

Labour force: All the people in a particular country who are of the right

age to work.

Skilled: Having enough ability, experience and knowledge to be

able to do something.

Scandinavian countries: Sweden, Norway and Finland.

Rocket:

A vehicle designed to travel through space.

Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Strip:

Like a belt.

Ask students to read the text and answer the following questions:

1. What percentage of people work in the secondary sector?

28 %

2. Where is EU industry concentrated?

The EU industry is concentrated in specific regions, particularly in a NW - SE divide

running from the UK through to the north of Italy including France, Belgium, Holland

and Germany. Also important is the northern European strip running from southern

Sweden through Denmark and down to the English Channel.

3. What are the most important types of industry? Name six.

Aeronautics, shipbuilding, textile, wood and paper, chemical and pharmaceutical.



4. Complete the table below. Search the internet if necessary. Add your own example.

MULTINATIONAL COMPANY COUNTRY

Nokia Corporation Finland

L’Oréal Group France

Bayer Germany

British Petrol Great Britain

My example

Ikea Sweden

5. Locate the main important industrial belts or industrial axis on the following map of

Europe.



GROUP 3

The tertiary sector is the sector of the economy that concerns services. Services generate

67 % of the employment.

The tertiary sector in the European Union is concentrated in four major activities: tourism,

transport, trade and business.

The European Union is a major tourist destination fortified by its rich culture and heritage,

attracting visitors from outside of the Union and citizens travelling inside it. France is the

world’s number one tourist destination for international visitors, followed by Spain, Italy and

the United Kingdom.

The European Union has developed transportation networks, especially in Western

Europe which has excellent rail, road, air and water transportation systems providing

efficient systems for the movement of people and goods. Most capital cities are linked by

highways. The EU has some of the world’s busiest airports such as London, Paris, Madrid,

Frankfurt and Amsterdam. It also has active ports.

Europe has a leading role in international finance. Europeans are the most important

investors in such countries as India and China. The European Union is the world’s largest

exporter of manufactured goods, designer goods and high-tech goods. It is the second

biggest exporter of textiles. The EU also includes some of the major stock exchanges such

as London, Paris and Frankfurt. Some of the world’s largest banks, which receive much

foreign investment because they offer security and high rates of return, have their

headquarters in France, Germany and the United Kingdom.



Here are some definitions to help your students understand the text:

WORD DEFINITION

Concern: Synonym: involve

Trade: The activity of buying and selling goods or services

between people or countries.

Business: The activity of making, buying, selling or supplying goods

or services for money.

Road: A main route for travelling long distances, especially one

connecting and going through cities and towns.

Investor: A person or an organisation that invests money in

something.

Stock exchanges: A place where shares in companies are bought and sold.

Wall Street is one of the most famous and important stock

exchange in the world.

High-tech: Using the most modern methods and machines, especially

electronic ones.

Headquarters: A place from which an organization is controlled

Read the text and answer the following questions:

1. What percentage of people work in the tertiary sector?

67 %

2. What’s the world’s most popular tourist destination?

Paris

3. Why are transportation networks so important?

Use ‘because’

Transportation networks are so important because they provide an efficient system

for the movement of goods and people.



4. Name the four stock exchanges located in Spain. Check on the internet if

necessary.

Madrid

Barcelona

Bilbao

Valencia

5. What kind of products does the European Union export?

The European Union exports manufactured goods, designer goods and high-tech

goods and textiles.



7TH HOUR

In this seventh hour

Continue the previous activity.

o Jigsaw instructions

Students go back to their Home Group and answer the final questions for

about fifteen minutes.

Depending on the time, students in their home groups can be asked to

prepare a presentation of what they have learnt. Give some time to

prepare the presentation.

Group presentation.

FINAL TASK

Ask students to answer the following questions

1. Complete the following table with the information given.

THE EUROPEAN UNION


Primary 5

Industry and construction 28

Services 67

2. Design a pie chart with the information included in the above table.



3. Based on employment, is the European Union a rich or a poor region? Justify your

answer.

Look back at your previous work to answer the question.

4. Why do you think Western Europe industries have spread to Eastern Europe and

Asia?


5. What kind of activities does the primary sector include?

6. Why is the Ariane rocket so important?

Western Europe industries have spread to Eastern Europe and Asia

because labour is cheaper and environmental policies and health and

safety regulations are less strict.

The European Union is a rich region because most people work in the

tertiary and quaternary sectors.

The primary sector includes farming, fishing, forestry and mining.

The Ariane rocket is so important because it is used to launch satellites,

which are needed for TV and mobile phone networks, for scientific

research.



7. Name three examples of tertiary activities.

8. Find some World Heritage cities or villages in Catalonia on the internet. Then complete

the table. The first example has been done for you.

http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/

Barcelona Works of Antonio Gaudí such as La Pedrera, la Sagrada

Familia…

Poblet Poblet Monastery

Barcelona Palau de la Música Catalana

Barcelona Hospital de Sant Pau

Tarragona Archaeological Ensemble of Tárraco

Vall de Boí Catalan Romanesque Churches of the Vall de Boí

Ulldecona Pietat d’Ulldecona

Pyrénées Mont Perdu

Tourism, transport and trade.



UNIT 1: THE EUROPEAN UNION’S ECONOMY

LESSON 2: THE ECONOMIC INDICATORS TIMING: 5 hours

CONTENT

The most important economic indicators.

How to interpret the data collected.

PROCEDURE

1st HOUR

In this first hour, the key ideas concerning the economic indicators are introduced to the

students. The language tips needed are provided in the students’ worksheets.

Brainstorming

o Ask students some questions such as: what do you know about economic

indicators? What is an economic indicator? What are the most important

economic indicators? Can you tell me the name of an economic indicator? Why

are the economic indicators so important?

PowerPoint

o Show and explain the PowerPoint. (Slides 1-12)


Activity 18

Tell the students to fill in the definitions of different economic indicators with the names

given below. They have to be careful because there are more words than definitions.

Interest rate Gross Domestic Product (GDP) inflation

the unemployment rate employment structure euribor

GDP per capita PPS4 exchange rate HICP5

4 GDP per capita in PPS = Gross Domestic Product per capita in Purchasing Power Standards

5 HICP = Harmonised and Indices of Consumer Prices




1) The Gross Domestic Product is a measure of the value of goods and services

produced in a country in a year.

2) Inflation measures how much the prices of goods, services and wages are increasing

each year.

3) The employment structure shows how a country’s economy is divided between

primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary industries.

4) The unemployment rate is the percentage of the total workforce that does not have a

job and is looking for paid work.

5) The Gross Domestic Product per capita in Purchasing Power Standards is the ratio

between the level of gross domestic product (GDP), expressed in purchasing power

standards, and total population.

Activity 19

Ask students to complete the following mind map with the words given below. When

they have finished ask them to complete the definitions with the words given above.

active population total population employed unemployed inactive population

employees self-employed

Total population

Active population

Employed

Self employed

Employees

Unemployed

Inactive population



Complete the following definitions with the words given above.

1. Self employed Working for yourself and not employed by a

company.

2. Total population All the people who live in a particular area, city or

country.

3. Employee Is a person who is paid to work for somebody.

4. Unemployed Without a job although able to work.

5. Inactive population Consists of persons who are not employed or

unemployed during the survey week such as

pensioners, housekeeper, students…

Ending the lesson

o PIGEOMETRE from Mary Chopey. Ask students to answer the following

questions

What have you learnt today?

What did you find easy?

What did you find difficult?

What do you most like doing?

What do least like doing?

Any suggestions.

2ND HOUR

In this second hour some activities are introduced to students in order to recap what we

did the previous lesson.

Let’s recap on what we did last lesson6.




KEY WORDS

active population total population employee unemployed person

inactive population self-employed person

1. ____________________ is somebody who is working for himself or herself and not

employed by a company.

2. ____________________ is all the people who live in a particular area, city or country.

3. ____________________ is a person who is paid to work for somebody.

4. ____________________ are those who are either employed or unemployed

5. ____________________ is somebody without a job although is able to work.

6. ____________________ consists of persons who are not employed or unemployed

during the survey week such as pensioners, housekeeper, students…

o Give out the definitions and ask the students to fill in the gaps.

o Check the answers with the whole class.

o Write the key words on the board, check students have the right pronunciation

and then ask them to give you the translation of each key word in their

language.



o Go round the class giving each student a slip of paper and one of the key words.

o Tell the students they must write the key word you gave them on one side of the

paper and the translation in their language on the other side. They must ask you

if they need help. Check their translations.

o Get the student to stand with a partner. Student A of each pair reads out their

word in either English or their language, and waits for students B to give them

the translation. If student B doesn’t know the translation student A tells them and

makes them repeat it three times. Then student B reads their word and follows

the same process.

o When they have finished, they exchange papers and go and find another

partner. They repeat the process. Each time they are with a new partner they

can choose whether to start with the key word in English or in L1.

o Continue like this until they have had a chance to hear most of the words.

o Ask them to write down from memory all the words they heard plus the

translations.

Activity 20

Students work in pairs. Ask students to classify each item into its category.


INACTIVE POPULATION

ACTIVE PERSON WHO IS EMPLOYED

ACTIVE PERSON WHO IS UNEMPLOYED



Jan has just retired after working 35 years in the same company

INACTIVE POPULATION

Laia is studying Engineering at the University of Cambridge and she earns some

money doing support classes

INACTIVE POPULATION

Pol works as a ski instructor at the weekends


Nil has just finished his studies in marketing and now he is looking for his first job

ACTIVE PERSON WHO IS UNEMPLOYED

Anna who is twelve years old is studying 1st of compulsory secondary education

INACTIVE POPULATION

Joan decided to stop working in order to take care of his family

INACTIVE POPULATION

Jana has been working as a teacher for 17 years in the same school


Xenia won the lottery and she decided to stop working and take a trip around the world

INACTIVE POPULATION

Ona was working as a lawyer when she decided to take a sabbatical year in order to go

to India to take part in a humanitarian program

INACTIVE POPULATION

Arnau had an industrial accident and as a result is permanently disabled

INACTIVE POPULATION



Activity 21. FIND SOMEONE WHO7

o Write a worksheet and make copies, one for each student (see the example

below). Write an answer key.

o Example: FIND SOMEONE WHO…

1. can name the four economic sectors in the European Union.

__________________________________________________________________

2. can give you the name of two economic indicators.

__________________________________________________________________

3. can give you the name of two economic activities related to quaternary sector.

_________________________________________________________________

4. can name one of the candidates to join the European Union.

__________________________________________________________

5. can give you the name of an economic indicator that measures how much the prices of

goods, services and wages are increasing each year.

_________________________________________________________________

6. knows the name of the European rocket.

__________________________________________________________________

7. can give the name of an economic activity related to the primary sector.

__________________________________________________________________

8. can name an example of an inactive person.

__________________________________________________________________

9. knows the most important economic sector in More Economically Developed Countries

(MEDC).

__________________________________________________________________

10. can name one of the Scandinavian countries.

__________________________________________________________________




o Give each student a copy of the worksheet. Set a time limit for example 15

minutes. Ask students to walk round the class and interview as many other

students as possible. Tell them to try to find answers for at least eight of the

questions before you stop them.

o On the dotted lines the students make notes of the answers they get and the

names of the students who gave them.

o When they have finished, choose a student to read out the information they

collected for question 1. Choose a different student to answer for question 2.

Continue through the worksheet.

o Follow-up 1

In later lessons students could work in groups to make their own ‘Find

someone who…’ sheets to be used in the class.

Ending the lesson

o One minute papers. At the end of a CLIL lesson tell students that you are going

to ask them some questions related to what they have been doing in this

session: what was the most important thing you learnt today? What remains

unclear? What two important questions do you still have? What would you like

to know more about? This technique provides feedback to the teacher.

3rd HOUR

In this third hour the interpretation of some economic indicators is introduced to students.

Let’s recap on what we did last session. Students work in groups of three to make

their own ‘Find someone who…’



Activity 22

Look at the graph below and answer the questions:

Source Eurostat http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/eurostat/home/

a) What does the unemployment rate represent? The unemployment rate represents

the percentage of total workforce who is unemployed and is looking for a paid job.

b) Which European member state has the lowest unemployment rate? Austria and the

Netherlands

c) Which European member state has the highest unemployment rate? Spain

8,6

10

7,1

7,3

6,9

18,6

13,7

12,2

20,2

9,9

8,3

7,1

19,4

18,2

4,9

11,2

6,5

4,5

4,5

9,5

11

7,1

14,4

8,5

8,5

8,1

7,7

0 5 10 15 20 25

Belgium

Bulgaria

Czech Republic

Denmark

Germany

Estonia

Ireland

Greece

Spain

France

Italy

Cyprus

Latvia

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Hungary

Malta

Netherlands

Austria

Poland

Portugal

Romania

Slovenia

Slovakia

Finland

Sweden

United Kingdom

%

HARMONISED UNEMPLOYMENT RATE 2010/06



Activity 23

Tell students to look at the graph below and interpret it following the example given.


These figures for the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per inhabitant expressed in

Purchasing Power Standards (PPS) are published by Eurostat the Statistical Office of

the European Union. They cover the 27 EU Member States.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per inhabitant expressed in Purchasing Power

Standards (PPS) varied from 41% to 271% of the EU27 average across the Member

States.

271

130

128

122

120

117

116

116

116

111

108

104

102

100

98

93

87

80

79

78

71

63

63

61

53

49

45

41

0 50 100 150 200 250 300

Luxembourg

Netherlands

Ireland

Austria

Sweden

Denmark

Belgium

Germany

United Kingdom

Finland

France

Spain

Italy

European Union 27

Cyprus

Greece

Slovenia

Czech Republic

Portugal

Malta

Slovakia

Estonia

Hungary

Poland

Lithuania

Latvia

Romania

Bulgaria

%

Gross Domestic Product per capita in Purchasing Power Standards 2009

AB

OV

E

B

EL

OW



Interpretation of graph 1

In France, Spain and Italy GDP per inhabitant in PPS was between 1% and 10% above

the EU27 average. Finland, the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, Denmark,

Sweden, Austria, Ireland and the Netherlands were between 10% and 30% above the

average, while the highest level of GDP per inhabitant in the EU27 was recorded in

Luxembourg.

Using the identical structure given above, do the same with the EU member states

which are below the EU27 average (100).

Activity 24

Tell students to look at the graph below and interpret it


Interpretation of graph 2 In Cyprus and Greece GDP per inhabitant in PPS was between 1% and 10% below

the EU27 average. Slovenia, Czech Republic, Portugal, Malta and Slovakia were

between 10% and 30% below the average. Estonia, Hungary, Poland, Lithuania,

Latvia and Romania were between 30% and 55% below the average, while the

lowest level of GDP per inhabitant in the EU27 was recorded in Bulgaria.

0

2,5

0,6 1,1

0,2 0,2

-1,7

1,3

-0,2

0,1

0,8

0,2

3,3

4,2

0

4

1,8

1

0,4

4

-0,9

5,6

0,9 0,9

1,6 1,9

-3

-2

-1

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

BE BG CZ

DK

DE EE IE EL ES FR IT CY

LV LT LU HU

MT

NL

AT PL

PT

RO SI SK FI SE UK

%

HARMONISED INDEX OF CONSUMER PRICES (HICP) 2009




These figures are about the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices published by

Eurostat the statistical office of the European Union. They cover the 27 European

Member states.

In this graph, we have and x and y axes. The x-axis refers to the European member

states and the y-axis shows a percentage scale.

The highest annual rates were observed in Romania (5,6%), Lithuania (4,2%), Hungary

(4%) and Poland (4%).

Using the model given above, do the same with the lowest annual rates observed in

the graph.

4TH – 5TH HOURS

These fourth and fifth hours are dedicated to summing up through writing an economic

report about an EU member state.

Activity 25 JIGSAW GROUP PROJECTS

o Divide the whole class into groups of four. Each member is given a number

between 1 and 4.

o Ask students to choose an EU member state or a candidate to join the European

Union.

o Each member of the group is asked to complete a part of an assignment.

o Give every student a copy of each task called student 1, student 2, student 3


The lowest annual rates were observed in Ireland (-1,7%), Portugal (-0,9%) and

Spain (-0,2%)



and student 4.

o Give the Excel file to students 1, 2 and 3.

o When every member has completed his or her assigned task, the pieces can be

joined together to form the final project (economic report)

o Give every student a copy of the final task.

Documents

THE ECONOMY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION - … ECONOMY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION Esther Gonzàlez Jové INS Escola del Treball THE ECONOMY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION TEACHERS’ NOTES Esther …