Five panels of business scale, from a lone prospector panning to a listed company's operations
Year 7 · Unit 02 · Lesson 05

Who Owns the Chain?

One idea must land: ownership shapes who decides, who profits and who carries the risk — and ordinary people own the giants.

The circular flow diagram says “businesses” as if they’re all the same animal. They’re not — and the difference starts with one question that stops a Year 7 room cold: who owns BHP? The answer (millions of people, possibly including their own families through super) opens a lesson where students climb Joan’s ladder from sole trader to listed company, place real WA businesses on a standing spectrum with quoted evidence — and then launch the unit’s summative: the Supply Chain Map.

Spark

The BHP question

Harvest the Lesson 4 seed — the mine, the store, the one-ute outfit — then ask it: who owns BHP? Guesses lock before the reveal: not one tycoon but millions of shareholders, super funds included.

Say it and watch the room: “there’s a real chance someone in your family owns a slice of the Pilbara and doesn’t know it.”
Core

Joan’s ladder — told as a story

One business climbs all four rungs while students fill the ladder table: sole trader Joan (owns all, decides alone, risks everything personally) → partnership with her brother → Marla Creek Minerals Pty Ltd with two private investors (its own legal thing; shares exist but are NOT for public sale) → listed on the exchange, where anyone can buy in and managers run the day-to-day.

The line that lands rung four: “Joan now owns 8% of something enormous instead of 100% of something small — was that a loss?” And the day’s trap, flagged early: proprietary means PRIVATE.
Workshop

The spectrum, then the studio

Four corners become four rungs. Teams place ten business cards — BHP, Rio Tinto, Fortescue and Wesfarmers are real and verifiable; the small ones are scenario businesses with tell-tale clues — and defend placements under challenge, quoting the card as the only admissible evidence. Then the Assessment Pack lands: six requirements walked aloud, rubric row by row, and the skeleton plan gates the devices — five stages, a job and an owner-type per stage, on paper first.

The trap card: the family earthmoving company — family-run for thirty years but registered, shares held inside the family. Family-run ≠ sole trader.
Land it

Exit ticket

Pty-Ltd-versus-listed in a sentence a parent would understand; Joan’s trade explained — own less of something bigger; due date and research plan captured. The map completes across your following sessions with the rubric visible every time it’s open.

Teacher intel

Who owns BHP — could YOU? What would it take, literally, this afternoon?
Which rung carries the most personal risk — and which lets you sleep if the business fails?
Why would Joan trade 100% of small for 8% of enormous?
Whose superannuation might own a slice of the Pilbara — and does that change how “big mining” feels?
Watch for“Big companies are owned by one rich person” (scattered across millions) · “Pty Ltd means public” (proprietary = private — the day’s trap) · “shareholders run daily operations” (managers do; owners vote and collect).
Running shortThe spectrum goes desk-based — cards on tables, one challenge round. Protect Joan’s ladder, evidence-quoted placements, and the summative skeleton plan.
SupportLadder table with the “who owns it” column pre-filled; cards read aloud within the team.
ExtendThe co-operative card: owned by forty members, one vote each — it doesn’t sit cleanly on any rung. Why does the ladder struggle with it?