Lesson video

Hello, my name's Miss Gilyeat and I'm going to be your geography teacher for today.

In today's lesson, we are going to be learning about global transport routes, which is the seventh lesson of the globalisation topic.

So let's get going.

So your lesson outcome for today is that you can describe global transport routes and explain the importance of the Suez Canal in global trade.

We've got four keywords for today's lesson.

So the first one is containerization, which is using containers to transport goods by ships, road, and rail.

A choke point are narrow passages of water in global transport routes.

Global trade, the exchange of goods, money, and services between countries.

And cargo is goods carried by ships, road, rail and aircraft.

So these four keywords are highlighted in bold in the lesson if you need to refer back to them at any point.

We've got two learning cycles.

So to start off with, we're gonna look at what do container ships do, and then we're gonna think about why is the Suez Canal so important? So first, let's get going with what do container ships actually do.

Now, every year, billions of tonnes of goods across the world's oceans following trade routes.

Most of these goods are transported in shipping containers on large container ships.

So if you have a look at the image here, here's a container ship with hundreds of containers on it.

Now in those containers, there'll be lots and lots of goods that are being transported.

Around 90% of all global trade is carried for at least part of its journey via sea routes.

Over 50,000 ships carry over 8 billion tonnes of cargo every year.

That's quite a lot of stuff.

Now, the first container was invented by Malcolm McLean in the 1950s.

The first ship, which carried these first containers, set off from New Jersey and landed in Texas carrying 58 containers.

Now, the largest container ships in the world can carry over 24,000 containers.

So if you have a look at the slide here, we've got a map, which shows the journey of the first container ship and where it went from, yeah, in New Jersey to Texas.

Now, isn't that quite crazy that now some container ships can hold 24,000 containers? Let's check our understanding.

So true or false? The majority of goods are transported via sea routes.

That is true.

Can you tell me why? Around 90% of all trade is carried for at least part of its journey via sea routes.

Now, one of the main reasons why for this is because it's cheaper and easier to transport goods this way than it is via other methods.

Now, containers have been designed so that it can easily be loaded and transported so they can stack on top of each other.

So they're one uniform size, which means that you can put one on top of the other.

Yeah, so that's what that says.

So there are standard size.

They can move between different modes of transport.

So when you are transferring a container from a ship to a lorry or to rail, then you just take up that the container and move it to the different mode of transport because they are all of a standard size.

These features reduce cost and time and increase the efficiency of transporting goods.

Containerization has revolutionised global trade and has been a crucial driver of globalisation.

Okay, let's check our understanding.

So, how does containerization increase efficiency in global trade? Now, there's four answers there, but you are going to tick three.

So, A, containers can be easily loaded onto several forms of transport.

B, containers are a standard size.

C containers can only be transported on ships.

And D, containers can be stacked on top of each other.

So which three has increased efficiency in global trade? So the answer is A, B, and D.

For C, containers can only be transported on ships.

That's not true because we can also put them on lorries and also rail.

Now, this map here shows some of the major shipping routes of the world.

The thickness of the line represents how many ships use the route, okay? So, for example, this line here is very thin, so it's a minor shipping route.

Not that many ships go from South America to South Africa, okay? The thicker line shows the major shipping routes.

Okay, so looking at that slide, what major shipping route can you spot out? What oceans are they going through? Okay? And where are they going to end from? Many container ships take goods from eastern China to western Europe by the route that has been highlighted in yellow, okay? So as we've learned in previous lessons, a lot of manufactured goods are produced in Asian countries.

However, a lot of the people that are buying the goods live in Europe.

Okay? So that means that those goods have to be transported.

Now, the yellow route shows the majority of the way that those goods travel.

Now, if you have a look very carefully at where that highlighted yellow route is, what can you notice about the route that the ships have to take? Now, when container ships travel from eastern China to Western Europe, they have to go through a series of narrow passages of water.

Now, these are known as maritime choke points.

So these are the three main ones.

Okay? So you've got one there, there, and there.

Okay? So these are very narrow passages of water that the ships have to navigate through and they're called choke points.

So you imagine a constricted area, okay? Now on the slide here we've got some of the most famous ones that you might or might not have heard of.

So you've got the Panama Canal, the Strait of Gibraltar, the number two.

The Bosphorus Strait is number three.

Number four, the Suez Canal.

And so that's the one that we're going to learn about, which connects the Mediterranean and the Red Sea.

The number five, the Strait of Hormuz, and number six, the Straits of Malacca.

Okay, let's check our understanding.

So which of the following choke points connects the Mediterranean and the Red Sea? Is it A, the Suez Canal, B, the Strait of Hormuz, or C, the Panama Canal? The answer's A, sorry, the Suez Canal, which is what we're going to learn about now.

Okay, so for the task A for this lesson, what I'd like you to do is annotate the shipping containers, which with features, which makes trade easier.

For question two, you know, explain how the features have been a driver for global trade.

For question three, you're going to use an atlas, and what I'd like you to do is label the global maritime choke points on the world map.

So the purple arrows show their location.

So if you can do some of the map by memory, fantastic.

If not, use an atlas to label those choke points.

Okay, let's go through our answers.

So, for question one, some of these features make a trade easier.

So first of all, they can be easily loaded onto a ship, lorry, or train.

They're all of a standard size.

They can stack on top of each other.

And they've also got the logo of the company, which makes it easier for them to keep on top of where those containers are.

For question two, explain how the features have been a driver for global trade.

So the containers are a standard size.

This means that they can easily be transported onto different modes of transport, such as lorries and trains, which reduces the time it takes to move the cargo.

The fact that they can be stacked on top of each other means that they are space efficient, therefore, more containers can be carried on a ship.

And all of these features reduce cost and time and increase the efficiency of transporting goods.

Containerization has revolutionised global trade and has been a crucial driver of globalisation.

Now, you didn't have to write exactly that, but it might be worth pausing the video and seeing if you can add any extra detail to your answer.

Okay, so for question three, those are the locations of the maritime choke points.

So pause the video and double check you have got your places correct.

Okay, we're moving on to our second learning cycle now, which is looking at why is the Suez Canal so important.

Now, the Suez Canal links the Mediterranean and the Red Sea providing easy access from Europe to Asia and has been named the gateway from the east to the west.

Without the Suez Canal, ships has had to travel all the way around Africa, adding around an extra 17,700 kilometres to their journey.

Okay? The Suez Canal was constructed in 1869 by the Suez Canal company, and it was built from the combined efforts of nearly one million Egyptian labourers.

The canal is 162.

5 kilometres long, only 200 metres wide, and only 24 metres deep.

It takes between 11 and 16 hours for ships to pass through its two lanes.

30% of all global container traffic and 12% of all global trade passes through the canal.

Around $9 billion worth of goods passed through the Suez Canal on a daily basis.

So you've got a nice image there from a container ship looking at through the canal.

And that's a satellite image as you can see of where the canal is located.

The Suez Canal is so important for global trade because 12% of all trade passes through it, okay? If the Suez Canal wasn't there, container ships would have to go around Africa, so they'd have to take the route that's been highlighted in red, which adds a lot of extra distance.

This would take much longer and cost a lot more due to the extra fuel that the ships would use.

Okay, so true or false? The Suez Canal is only important for the Middle East.

That is false.

And can you tell me why? The Suez Canal is important globally as 30% of all global container traffic and 12% of all global trade passes through the canal.

So well done if you got that correct.

Now, in March 2021, the Ever Given ship, which is the length of four football fields, became wedged in the Suez Canal and prevented ships from passing through for six days.

So you've got a satellite image there of the location of where the Ever Given ship was stuck.

This was one of the world's costliest ever traffic jams and billions of dollars were lost.

So I want you to have a think.

What impacts do you think that would cause with that ship being stuck in the middle of the canal? Now, here are some of the main impacts of the Suez Canal blockage.

450 ships were delayed waiting to get through the canal.

Some container ships took a detour, which added eight days to their journey.

It cost the canal $9.

6 billion for each day of the blockage.

The total economic cost of the blockage was estimated at $60 billion.

And businesses such as supermarkets and manufacturers had supply issues.

Now that is one costly traffic jam.

Eventually, it was dislodged, okay? But they had to use a few different methods to get it out.

So containers were removed from the ship to try and make it a bit lighter.

Diggers were used to remove silt and sand from the banks of the canal where it was stuck.

14 tugboats used cables to pull and push the Ever Given at high tide.

And eventually, after five days of effort, the container ship was finally freed.

So let's check our understanding.

How much did the Suez Canal blockage cost? A, $60 million, B, $10 billion, or C, $60 billion? The answer's C, $60 billion.

Wow.

Okay, so our task B for this lesson is I would like you to create a fact sheet on the Suez Canal, which includes the information.

So I want you to give the location, the date it was built, the dimensions of the ship, sorry, not of the ship, of the canal, and the importance of the Suez Canal for global trade.

You are then going to answer these questions.

So for question 2A, suggest three impacts of the Suez Canal blockage.

And for question 2B, how was the Ever Given ship eventually dislodged? So pause the video and have a go at those questions.

Okay, so here's the information you should have got for your fact file.

So the location of the Suez Canal is the canal passes through Egypt and links the Mediterranean and the Red Sea.

It was built in 1869.

It's 162.

5 kilometres long, 200 metres wide, and 24 metres deep.

And why it's important, because 30% of all global container traffic and 12% of all global trade passes through the canal, $9 billion worth of goods passes through every single day.

So pause the video and add any extra detail to your own fact file.

Okay, let's check our answers.

So three impacts of the Suez Canal blockage estimated a global cost of $60 billion.

There were 450 ships waiting to get through.

And it cost the canal $10 billion per day.

How was the Ever Given ship eventually dislodged? Well, diggers were used to excavate under the ship and on the banks of the canal to try and free it.

Containers were offloaded to make it lighter and they had to use 14 tug ships with cables to try and move it.

Eventually, the ship was freed after five days of effort.

Okay? So it might be worth pausing the video and adding any extra detail to your answer.

Okay, so here's a summary for today's lesson.

So, container ships transport products across the world.

Containers have been designed so they can be easily loaded and unloaded, and transported by ship, road, and rail.

Containerization has revolutionised global trade and been a crucial driver of globalisation.

Many container ships take products from eastern China to western Europe through a series of choke points.

The Suez Canal is an important route for global trade between Asia and Europe.

In 2021, the Ever Given became stuck in the Suez Canal, delaying global trade and costing billions of dollars.

Wow, that was an interesting lesson.

Now, that's it for today.

So good work and I'll see you next time.

Bye.