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Practice Activity Go to Let‘s Practice! Industry Investigations . This activity may be completed in pairs or teams, or as whole-class guided practice. Direct students to “Industry Investigations” in Chapter 8 of the workbook. Introduce the activity: “Each sub-industry represents career opportunities all over the world. Unless you are employed in public service, government, public education, or nonprofit business, such as church, charity, or NGO, it’s likely that one day, you will work in one of these sub-industries.” Complete the practice activity. Correct and share answers to Questions 13 and 14. Return to instruction. Industry Clusters There is a branch of geography that studies where industries develop. It’s called economic geography . Economic geographers study the location of industries and the factors that influence their location and development in a particular location. Industries often develop regionally . Specific industries which develop and become concentrated in particular geographical areas are referred to as industry clusters . The places named at the start of this lesson are industry clusters. Essentially, industry clusters function as business ecosystems , attracting workers, suppliers, education and training, and businesses and services that support the cluster. They can even influence the design and construction of buildings, housing, and transportation in an area. Industry clusters can bring a great deal of prosperity into a region. Cluster Initiatives Engage students a discussion: In the last lesson’s Ponder and Predict, you were asked whether it is by design or coincidence that certain types of business or industries develop within a geographical area. What do you think? There are hundreds of industry clusters in the U.S. and throughout the world. Some developed organically. For example, the film industry took root in Hollywood in the early 20th century because of the ability to film outdoors year-round. Napa Valley’s wine industry flourishes because the sunny days and cool nights make for perfect grape growing conditions. Silicon Valley, a powerful tech industry cluster, traces its roots to about 1937. It is where William Hewlett and David Packard, then-recent graduates of nearby Stanford University, happened to live and start their company, Hewlett-Packard. Because of the increased employment and prosperity an industry cluster can bring to a region, local, state, and national governments often nurture the development of a cluster with cluster initiatives . These may include tax or other economic incentives to attract businesses to a cluster. In the U.S., most states have active cluster initiatives: Texas’ cluster initiatives seek to attract technology and manufacturing , aerospace , petroleum refining , chemical processing and energy production ; New York’s target the nanotechnology industry ; Michigan supports a cluster for advanced battery technology ; West Virginia is developing a biometrics cluster, which is the study of human characteristics such as face recognition, DNA, iris recognition, SLIDE 8I PRODUCT PREVIEW
Lesson 8 | Commerce = the Sum of Many Parts 130
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