How I Started Paper 1 Prep for the ABC Abraca Case Study
- alisoneyer
- Mar 2
- 2 min read
This week I kicked off Paper 1 prep for the IB Business May 2026 exam, and I had to smile at the very first piece of feedback I received. One of my students looked at me and said,“The case study is still boring, but at least I finally understand it now.”
Honestly, from a 17 year old, I am counting that as a five-star review.
Because so many teachers are starting to introduce the ABC Abraca pre-released case study right now, I wanted to share exactly what I did during our first hour of the five-hour prep window. These activities helped my students understand the context behind Abraca’s operations and made the rest of the unit much easier.
1. Starting With Three Quick Videos
Before diving into the text, I wanted students to see the real-world processes mentioned in the ABC Abraca Paper 1 May 2026 case study. We watched three short videos to help students visualise the industries Abraca operates in.
Videos I used:
How concrete is madehttps://www.youtube.com/shorts/xx1bpYR_4zI
Gold extraction from e-wastehttps://www.youtube.com/shorts/YfgMRa6ffNY
Industrial plastic shredderhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qqs3-2cR-Tw&t=84s
I asked students to think about how each process might connect to the ABC Abraca case study. Because they had already read the pre-released material before class, this helped them connect the dots and see the operational side much more clearly.
2. Reviewing Key Terminology
Next, we went through the key terminology that appears in the IB Business Paper 1 May 2026 Abraca material. This was important because some students recognised the words, but didn’t fully understand how they applied to Abraca’s situation.
A quick vocabulary review made the next step much smoother.
3. Going Line by Line Through the Case Study
This took the mystery out of the text. Going slowly through the material made students more confident and stopped them from guessing what parts meant. It also helped us identify areas that might come up in Section A or Section B.
4. The Homework: My 5-4-3-2-1 Activity
To consolidate everything, I assigned my favorite 5-4-3-2-1 activity. It pushed students to think critically about the case study without overwhelming them, and it gave me a quick snapshot of who understood what.
Want to Use These Activities in Class?
If you want to run the same lesson without creating everything from scratch, you can download the PowerPoint I used:
Download the lesson PowerPoint for FREE! https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1b6n5gjxsmg-oAq5d47m3use4a07Wu1R-oLeSMIIdXY0/edit?usp=drive_link
Video Support for Teachers and Students
I am also posting short breakdowns and explanations on my YouTube channel. You can share these clips with students or use them yourself to explore the case study from another angle.
Watch the videos here:https://www.youtube.com/@DowntoBusinesLearning/featured
Need Practice Case Studies?
If you don’t have the ABC Abraca IB Business Paper 1 May 2026 practice case studies yet, you can grab them below. The pack includes exam-style questions, Section A and Section B practice, and clear markschemes.