The International Trade Game

Today we launched our economics unit with a simulation called 'The International Trade Game'. Students were grouped into countries and asked to manufacture products (shapes) with the technology (tools), finance (money), natural resources (paper) and knowledge at their disposal. Little did they know that the countries had uneven resources and - just like in the real world - some had relatively little technology with lots of natural resources (Leah suggested this was like East Timor), while others had lots of technology and knowledge, but few natural resources (Yilin mentioned this was similar to Singapore). This lead to some initial confusion and cries of 'Not fair!' but they soon got on with trying to find ways to make the best of their situations.

Negotiations were heated - sometimes successful, sometimes not.

It was fascinating to see how students negotiated, bartered, traded and even stole from each other in order to come out with the most money. Some countries chose to work together for their mutual benefit, while others were ruthless in their exploitation of others. Just like in the real world, incidents affected the outcomes such as strikes (when equipment was removed from teams for a limited period of time), discovery of new resources (usually in the poorer countries) and sanctions (for when countries behaved in ways other countries did not approve).

Workers working, traders trading, and negotiators negotiating!

Sign in with your ISKL account to see more pictures and video footage from the activity here.

Once the time limit had elapsed, we came together for a debrief. During this discussion, we talked about how the simulation reflected the real world. To watch students' takeaways, see the video below.

If you're interested in hearing more from the students, check out their blogs on the right-hand side where you'll find their reflections on the activity.

Whatever you do, happy learning!