--- title: "Supply chains" description: "Where products come from before they reach the customer; raw materials, making, transporting, and selling; the journey of a product from start to finish" canonical: https://lightmysky.com/learn/life-skills/supply-chains-mt_tqgZH11cP5 source: https://lightmysky.com/learn/life-skills/supply-chains-mt_tqgZH11cP5.md retrieved: 2026-10-19 --- > **Agent view.** This is the Markdown twin of the page, for tools and assistants. > When to use this site, and the call that answers each job: https://lightmysky.com/agent-instructions.md > API description (OpenAPI 3.1): https://lightmysky.com/openapi.json · Authentication: https://lightmysky.com/auth.md > Pricing: https://lightmysky.com/pricing.md · Catalog: https://lightmysky.com/llms.txt · Full catalog: https://lightmysky.com/llms-full.txt > Every machine-readable file on this domain: https://lightmysky.com/.well-known/ai-catalog.json > Ask for Markdown with `Accept: text/markdown`, a `.md` address, or `?mode=agent`. # Supply chains Where products come from before they reach the customer; raw materials, making, transporting, and selling; the journey of a product from start to finish Subject: Life Skills · Area: Entrepreneurship · Ages 9 to 11 Page: https://lightmysky.com/learn/life-skills/supply-chains-mt_tqgZH11cP5 ## Ready when they can - Trace the journey of a familiar product (e.g. chocolate bar) from raw material to shop shelf - Identify at least three stages in a supply chain - Explain why a long supply chain can make a product more expensive ## Lesson: The journey of a chocolate bar A supply chain includes the people and activities that get a product from its materials to a customer. Growing materials, making products, storing them, transporting them and selling them can all be stages. A model can group several activities into one stage. *(drawing: This model groups many tasks. It leaves out some trips, including travel from the farm to the factory.)* **Example.** Cocoa beans are seeds inside pods on cocoa trees. Workers harvest the pods, remove the beans, then ferment and dry them. To make milk chocolate, a factory roasts and processes the beans and adds ingredients such as sugar and milk. Finished bars are packed and transported to shops, sometimes through a warehouse. Workers, materials, storage and transport cost money. In a made-up example, an item costs 80p to make. An extra delivery costs 15p. With no other changes, the total becomes 95p. Adding a paid task raises total cost when no other costs fall. A shorter list of stages does not prove a lower cost. Distance, materials and production methods also matter. Compare the actual costs of different routes. Cost is what a business spends. The selling price is what a customer pays. The number of stages depends on how a model groups activities. If a question says each box is one stage, count every box once. A model with more boxes may show the same journey in more detail. Do not add stages that the question does not show. To find a total cost, add all the listed costs in the same unit. For a made-up pencil case, materials cost 50p, delivery costs 20p and packaging costs 5p. Add 50 + 20 + 5 = 75p. This is total cost, not profit or a selling price. **Recap.** Supply chains connect materials, making and delivery to customers. Extra work can add cost, but counting stages alone does not tell you the cost or selling price. ## Practice 8 questions on this page, each with its working shown. ## Needs first - [Global Trade](https://lightmysky.com/learn/life-skills/global-trade-mt_0Rx1ISxXFE) - [Costs & Revenue](https://lightmysky.com/learn/life-skills/costs-and-revenue-mt_9gpUHWVKMR) - [Where Things Come From](https://lightmysky.com/learn/civics-and-economics/where-things-come-from-mt_9v5-1k236E) - [Goods & Services](https://lightmysky.com/learn/life-skills/goods-and-services-mt_RgQxPddV8v) ## Opens up - [Ethics in Business](https://lightmysky.com/learn/life-skills/ethics-in-business-mt_b0sXYFblDL)