Unit #1 Competency Task
Geography and Globilazation
Thao Tran
Before I start, knowing these word's definition would help.
Globalization: A interaction between nations, such as, culture, companies and ideas.
Geography: The study of people and the environment around them.
Iphone
In order to understand more about those two topics I chose a product and follow it through it's manufacturing process. That product will be an IPhone.
Raw material for...
Circuit Board: It is a thin plate of plastic or fiberglass with wires and circuit made of metal located on top.
- the manufactures must extract crude oil from the earth to make plastic.
- To have metal, the manufactures have to mine out metals such as gold and silver.
- they also need coltan. Coltan is electronic element that controls current flow inside miniature circuit boards.
Liquid crystal display: It shows pictures, numbers on a screen.
- To make the liquid crystal display, the manufactures must have plastic, glass and mercury.
- But to make the screen function as a touch screen, they must also have indium, tin and oxygen.
Batteries: The power of the phone and they are rechargeable.
- There are different types of batteries but all of them contain minerals such as cobalt and zinc.
Case: This locks all of the mechanics inside and protects the phone itself and what's inside.
- To make the case, the manufactures need aluminum or magnesium alloys.
Where can the raw materials be found?
Circuit Board:
- The crude oil can be found in Athabasca oil sands in Canada.
- The best place to find metals is in The East Rand Mine, in Boksburg.
- Coltan can be found in Congo.
Liquid crystal display:
- For plastic, you must have crude oil that can be found in Athabasca oil sands in Canada.
- Glass are mostly man made but you can find it in the natural world such as lightning strikes desert and beach sands and volcanoes spew molten rock.
- Spain and Italy produce about half of the world's supply of Mercury. Mercury can also be found when vehicle emits air and when fossil fuels burn.
Batteries:
- Cobalt are often mined in Zaire, Zambia, Russia, Canada, Congo and Cuba.
- Zinc can be found in Australia, Canada, China, Peru and the USA .
Case:
- You can find aluminum in the earth's crust.
- Magnesium alloys are found in Czech Republic, China and Switzerland
- Crude oil are very popular in the Athabasca oil sands in Canada.
Where is it manufactured?
Circuit Board: Circuit boards are made in India at PCB Power India Limited. PCB Power India Limited is a leading exporter, manufacturer and service provider.
- Crude oil are very popular in Russia and Canada. There are a lot of companies such as Rosneft, Surgutneftgaz and Lukoil in Russia; Suncor Energy Inc. and Imperial Oil Ltd. in Canada.
- Metals can be manufactured in East Rand Mines, South Africa.
- Coltan is mostly sold in Congo. Coltan is found in major qualities in Congo.
Liquid crystal display: There are many companies manufacturing LCD such as Toshiba from Japan, LG display from Korea and Medion from Germany.
- The top manufacture for plastic in China is Yuhuan Tonva Plastics Machine Co., Ltd.
- Companies that produce glass are Saint-Gobain in France and AGC Group in Japan.
- Companies that make Mercury are Quality Chemical S.L and Marco Element S. A in Spain.
Batteries: Batteries are manufactured at Energy System Company and InGen Technology Ltd. in Bangladesh,
- Cobalt manufacture company in Canada is Canada Carbon Inc. and Taseko Mines. The largest company that mines cobalt is Katanga Mining, Congo
- Zinc manufacture company is Lundin Mining Corp., Hudbay Minerals, Inc. and Imperial Metals Corp. in Canada.
Case: The case is assembled in Guangdong, China
- The largest producer for aluminum are China Hongqiao, Rural, Alcoa and Rio Tinto. Hongqiao Group Co., Ltd is the largest cooperation for aluminum in China. Rio Tinto Aluminum is the eight largest company for aluminum
- Magnesium Elektron CZ is the company in Czech Republic that manufactures magnesium alloys. Chinese Magnesium Association is a cooperation in Nanjing, China that manufactures magnesium alloys.
How does it get to the consumer?
All the materials from other countries such as Congo, Czech Republic, Canada...etc. will arrive at Focconn (Guangdong, China) for phone assembly. Materials here include circuit board, batteries...etc. After the phone is finished, the Iphone is shipped to Minnesota, United States for market. Then, the Iphone are shipped by trucks to other states to more consumers.
Visiual Representation
4 Categories of Globalization
The 4 categories of globalization is economic, technology, cultural and environmental.
MAJOR PROBLEMS:
Economic: Globalization had led other countries have a lot of growth in economics when the U.S gave the jobs away. On the other hand, the U.S had a slight decrease in economics growth.
Technology: Making the IPhone impact technology because people can hack into the IPhone and steal information while they are doing their job. On the other hand, due to the IPhone is so popular, companies from other countries that want to sell their types of phone can't do because they won't earn any profit.
Cultural: Making the IPhone impacts culture because with all the information on the IPhone, it changes the perspective of people from different culture.
Environmental: Making the IPhone impacts the environment because if the manufactures dump wastes into water, it will be very harmful to the environment and the people.
Solution for Major Eviromental Problems
When companies dump waste into water, most people think that the water will be permanently toxic, but it can be treated. Although, the treatment will be very costly because of the need for fuel and it requires large treatment of ignition gases. This process is suitable for sludge that contains metals and other pollutions. Sludge that comes from industries are better to burn or reduce to ashes. The cost for treating the sludge and taking the sludge out of the water are the same.
This solution is possible because the process are effective in removing the toxic from human and animals contact. Such as, using ignition gases to remove toxic from sludge and extremely toxic sludge will use the method incineration so no one gets in contact with it.
How this Competency relate to areas of my life
I chose this product because this product is global, everyone knows or heard it's name and every major cities have it. That is the reason why I thought it would be good for the globalization competency project.
This product plays an important role in my life because I can contact anyone when needed. Whether if it is important or not, it lets me access information from others. This product also let me research topics on the go and remind me when something is going on. This product is everything in one.