Economics and business / Year 7 / Economics and Business Skills / Questioning and research

Curriculum content descriptions

Develop questions about an economic or business issue or event, and plan and conduct an investigation or project (ACHES021)

Elaborations
  • developing questions to form the basis of an economic or business investigation (for example, ‘Why do people work?’, ‘Why is it important to plan ways to achieve personal financial objectives?’, Why are consumers and producers reliant on each other?, How can a business achieve success in the market?)
  • identifying the steps needed for an investigation and the resources needed
General capabilities
  • Literacy Literacy
  • Critical and creative thinking Critical and creative thinking
ScOT terms

Research questions,  Business and enterprise

Online

Growing Exotic Fruit - a niche farming enterprise

This unit of work uses the operation of an small agribusiness to explore what it means to be a producer in a small scale business. The unit focuses on the operation of a real-life, exotic fruit farm in northern New South Wales from which fruits are sold to local markets. The units provides five inquiry-based activities ...

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Coal crossword

Test your knowledge of coal. This is a crossword puzzle with clues related to the formation, mining and uses of coal.

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Fruitcake mining

This is an activity sheet providing instructions for a simulated mining experiment using pieces of fruitcake. Students use various tools to remove different fruits, each representing different minerals, from a piece of fruitcake which represents the mine site. They are then required to rehabilitate the 'mine site'. The ...

Video

Weston Farm - organic farm (Tasmania)

This is a video about horticulturalist and farmer Richard Weston and his success in growing high quality organic food and flowers. It shows scenes of Weston Farm as he speaks of his commitment to quality niche products, the importance of diversification in small-scale farming, and the value of overseas research. He goes ...

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Exploring farms that produce our meat and wool:producer video

This is a video about Mayura Station in South Australia and the full-blood Wagyu beef it produces. It is introduced by owner Scott deBruin who explains the origin of Wagyu cattle in Japan; points to the characteristic marbling of its meat preferred by Asian customers; and outlines the importance of high energy grain feed ...

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Waratah Australis Nursery (flowers) – Batlow, New South Wales

This is a video about plant breeder and nursery owner Brian Fitzpatrick and his work of breeding waratahs. It shows scenes of his activities in the Waratah Australis Nursery as he speaks of the magnificence of waratahs; the stages in the breeding process including hand-pollination and the production of 12,000 seedlings ...

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Farm Diaries: producer video

This is a video about pig production at the Tintinara property of the Mount Boothby Pastoral Company in South Australia. Pigs at various stages are shown, including nursing piglets, weaned piglets weighing between 7 and 10k, and pigs close to a live weight of 100k. Pig producer Alastair Johnson gives statistics about the ...

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IConnect Electrician supports Agribusiness in Tasmania

This is a short clip in which electrical contractor, Luke, describes his job working as an electrician specialising in agricultural irrigation. Luke describes his path to his current job, beginning with an apprenticeship in the family business, and also explains what he enjoys about his job and the benefits of working in ...

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CERES Environment Park

This is a video about the sustainable not-for-profit agribusiness operated by the Centre for Education and Research in Environmental Strategies (CERES) in inner Melbourne. CERES Environment Park runs an organic farm, fruit and vegetable delivery business, and delivers educational programs to schools. Presented by the ...

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Growing exotic fruit - a niche market enterprise

This is a video(3:15 min) about John and Lyndall Piccone’s exotic fruit orchard at Tyagarah in New South Wales. The resource describes how the property produces more than 200 different tropical and sub-tropical fruits with the harvest beginning in early spring. Successive harvests serve to maintain customer interest in ...

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Smart Water - Precision Irrigation: video

This is a video (5:08 min) about the importance of water to a fully-irrigated 1600ha farming and wine-producing enterprise on the banks of the Murray River and the effectiveness of its fully automated irrigation system. The enterprise is Andrew Peace Wines and the system was developed by WiSA. The video iillustrates viticulture ...

Online

Is it all your own work? Navigating copyright

This resource provides teachers and students with an overview of some of the issues when using other people's intellectual property or copyrighted works. The resource provides an overview of copyright, permissions and Creative Commons licensing; a student quiz (with answers) based on real-life scenarios; and a Copyright ...

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Out and about on farms: producer video

This is a video about the Willalooka Pastoral Company in South Australia and its annual cycle of cattle and sheep production. Narrated by owner Thyne McGregor, it shows the scale of the company's operations as he describes how its 10,000 ha size came about and how its five staff are deployed. He emphasises the importance ...

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IP in everyday life

This is an interactive resource about products that exist in everyday life that have protected intellectual property. The resource is presented as a timeline of one day, beginning at breakfast in the morning through until night. Interactive images appear as the mouse scrolls across the timeline. These images are linked ...

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Investigating Australian approaches to producing fish, seafood and meat: producer video

This is a video about the Robarra barramundi aquaculture operations at West Beach and Robe in South Australia. Presented by Lance Vater, Managing Director of the Vater Corporation that includes Robarra, it shows the stages of production from an egg to a 100mm fingerling at West Beach; the feeding and grading of fish in ...

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Investigating technologies in agriculture: producer video

This is a video about how facial tissues, kitchen towels and toilet paper are made at Kimberley-Clark's South Australian mill. Mill Manager Scott Wicker describes how the mill takes base wood pulp and turns it into finished products. He outlines the differences between long and short wood pulp fibres and where they are ...

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Prawn Farming

This is a short clip in which Gold Coast prawn farner, Nick Moore, describes the prawn farming industry, the business he manages, and the high standards of the Australian industry. Nick, explains why this business is more like agricultural farming than fishing and how his qualifications and experience more closely match ...

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Cascades Nursery - focus on growing trees

This is a video about tree grower Mandy McCorkindale and how she and her husband propagate, grow and sell 300 different trees at Cascades Nursery at Batlow, New South Wales. It shows footage of their activities in various parts of the nursery as she outlines the advantages of buying advanced trees that have been hardened ...

Interactive

PreVET

The PreVet program is designed for students in the middle years and explores ideas around work culture and the value of literacy and numeracy in working life. It is a vast, multi-layered website providing student and teacher resources promoting job pathways for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people in remote northern ...

Online

MoneySmart: Should I drink bottled water?

This unit of work gives students opportunities to develop an understanding of the importance of water for the environment and potable water for human consumption. Students will consider water availability and use from an individual, national and international perspective; explain the natural processes in the water cycle ...