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A Million Money Ideas One of the first concepts young people learn is the value of money in everyday life. From their first allowance to the entrepreneurship of the lemonade stand, students learn how to plan, save, and spend. CyberBee has been busy locating resources that will assist in teaching and learning about money. After your students have learned the basics about money, set up some simulations for them to try. How would they plan for a Lemonade Stand, a pet grooming business, or cookie store. Create teams and let them think up their own names. You never know who will be the next Donald Trump. Crosswords, puzzles, and games teach younger children financial literacy. For pre-teens, an interactive simulation allows them to make an ATM transaction and checkbook entries. This is a good site for teaching basic banking skills. Learn to be money smart through this interactive banking site. The closed caption interface allows for differentiated learning. At the fourth and fifth grade level an alien lands on the planet earth and discovers that money is needed to acquire gasoline for the spacecraft. The alien takes the viewer through the concepts of banking. The elementary level teaches the basics of banking, budgeting, savings and checking, and the power of credit. Middle school students explore budgeting, savings, checking, credit, and investing. High School students learn about CDs, IRAs, and requirements for opening bank accounts. Practical applications geared to the knowledge learned are included at each level. The assessments that conclude the lessons provide immediate feedback and are presented in a problem solving format. This inviting site is well worth the visit. Change Maker is a game that helps the user to learn how to make change. First select a difficulty level that ranges from easy to super brain. Then select a currency. The choices are United States, Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom and Australia. An amount of sale and amount paid is provided. Images of the currency are shown and the user selects how much of each currency would provide the correct changes. Try the activity using different currencies. This is another great offering from Fun Brain. Over 400 teacher-tested economic lessons are available for immediate use in the classroom. Each of the lessons includes a teacher's version as well as a student's version and is designed to be delivered in a variety of formats and classroom settings. There are also data links with current economic information that can be used in conjunction with many of the lessons. Challenge students in real-world financial experiences with a variety of inquiry based mathematical games. Students tackle the stock market in BuyLo/SellHi, manage the complexities of a baseball team with Play Ball, and build a business in Frontyard Fortunes. Budgeting, entrepreneurship, and goal-setting are a few of the important principles that will be instilled with these hands-on activities from Bank of America. Make your own change, learn how coins are made, and find out the latest news from the U.S. Mint. H.I.P. Pocket Change is a fabulous site for elementary students who are interested in beginning a coin collection. Download lesson plans with lots of ideas for using the 50 State Quarters Program. Different cartoon characters explain the fundamentals of money and banking through a series of tutorials. The stories are written for elementary students, but enhanced with a link to additional information. The narrative definitely requires reading skills. At the end of the tutorial are quizzes to assess comprehension of the topic. Rounding out the site is a holiday savings calculator that totals how much money can be saved by a specific date, based on principal and weekly savings. Learning to use money, designed for grades 1-3, presents information about the history of money, using coins and bills together, and the characteristics of American money. In addition, the Money Program teaches students how to use coins and bills when paying for something. There are three levels of difficulty with the highest level asking students to make change. This is a wonderful entry level game for elementary students. Treat your students to a hands-on/minds-on learning experience at Moneyopolis, a virtual city that teaches students about money management and financial planning. NCTM standards are covered for grades 6-8, including number and operation, data analysis, probability, algebra, and geometry. Each scene in the city features an introduction to a concept followed by a series of problems for students to solve. At home students learn about budgets and net worth, at the bank they work through interest rates and taxes, and in the community center the value of philanthropy. Points are tallied for correct answers. You can track student progress by giving them a code to input when they launch the game. Extensive lessons and data sheets are available for printing. This five start site is sponsored by Ernst and Young. Leave planet earth and blast off into space to Moneyland, South Spending, Republic of Savings, and Investor Islands. Cedric and Amy guide the virtual traveler to each continent where different concepts are explored. In Moneyland the topics deal with currency, value, and exchanging money. The exchange rate of Moneyland currency is provided so the traveler can determine the value of the dollar and how to exchange American dollars for Moneyland currency called rinds. South Spending concentrates on prioritizing and organizing spending. Bargains, brands, and generic products are compared. The Republic of Savings provides insight into the challenges and rewards of saving strategies. Finally visit Investor Islands to explore how money can grow. Profits and investing, the stock market, bonds, diversifying, and mutual funds are all explained. Lots of illustrations supplement the text. Quizzes at the end of each continent test student understanding. Immediate feedback is provided. Teachers can register to enter the Teacher Resource Center for free educational materials. ING Direct sponsors this excellent site for explaining the many facets of money. Practical Money Skills for Life Practical Money Skills for Life is designed to help educators, parents, and students practice better money management. Lesson plans are arranged by grade level for easy access. Icons are used to identify the various kinds of teaching materials for speedy retrieval. Over ten calculators are on hand compute to car loans, mortgages, long term savings, retirement, and more. Several games allow students to test their skills in money management decisions. This site is a good starting point with its wealth of resources for all ages. U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing Visit the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing for a fascinating look at currency. Choose from several lessons, including the history of early currency, how notes are designed, or freedom symbols on new bills. Print a color poster titled, Do You Know What’s New About Your Money? Students will love exploring the newly designed features of the $20 and $50 bills, creating their own note, detecting a counterfeit bill, or playing a trivia game. Younger students can put together a money puzzle, match the faces to notes, and identify parts of currency. Don’t miss this cool government site. The SIFE (Students
In Free Enterprise) team created YEA! the |
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