Resources: Money

One of the real-world skills students need to learn is the ability to understand and use money. They need to understand that money is a medium of exchange and has a variety of forms. The most common way to think about money is currency — bills and change. Other forms of money include checks, credit cards, check cards, online banking, etc.

In order to earn money, people need to work. They open their own business or they work for someone else and bring home a paycheck. You might earn money by mowing lawns or helping around the house. People don’t get to keep all of the money they earn. They must pay taxes, insurance and other items before they’re able to spend money on the things they want.

 

A Short History About Money

Before money was invented and people wanted or needed something, they would barter (trade). Coins were first used in 1000 B.C. in a country named Lydia. China was the first country to use paper bills for money. The North American Indians used wampum (strings of beads made with clam shells). The people in the United States first decided to make their own currency when they needed money to pay for the Revolutionary War. Before the mid-1800s each dollar was worth a certain amount of gold or silver. Banks printed all the money. There were more than 10,000 different types of dollars that were printed. These bills (notes) were made in various sizes, colors and designs. From a Web site by Collette McGrew: www.angelfire.com/il2/colettemcgrew/
studentsectionp3.htm.

 

Some Interesting Money Facts

• The largest bill in circulation today is $100.

• All paper bills and coins are made at the Bureau of Printing and Engraving in Washington, D.C., and Fort Worth, Texas.

• Our coins are minted in four places: Philadelphia, Pa., Denver, Colo., San Francisco, Calif., and West Point, N.Y.

• The first $1 notes (called United States notes or legal tenders) were issued by the federal government in 1862 and featured a portrait of Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase.

• In 1955, the government mandated that all currency include the words “In God We Trust.”

• The life span of a $1 bill is 22 months.

• The Bureau of Engraving and Printing produces 37 million notes a day with a face value of approximately $696 million.

• A stack of currency one mile high would contain over 141⁄2 million notes.

• The approximate weight of a currency note, regardless of denomination, is one gram.

• If you had 10 billion $1 bills and spent one every second of every day, it would require 317 years for you to go broke.

• Currency paper is composed of 25 percent linen and 75 percent cotton.

• For more money facts, go to www.moneyfactory.com/document.cfm/18/106.

 

Related Books and Materials

• Alexander Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday, by Judith Viorst

• Arthur’s Funny Money, by Lillian Hoban

• The Berenstain Bear’s Trouble With Money, by Jan and Stan Berenstain

• The Cobbler’s Song, by Marcia Sewall

• Four Dollars and Fifty Cents, by Eric A. Kimmel

• The Go-Around Dollar, by Barbara Johnston

• Kermit the Hermit, by Bill Peet

• If You Made a Million, by David M. Schwartz

• Lemonade for Sale, by Stuart J. Murphy

• Make Four Million Dollars by Next Thursday, by Stephen Manes

• Max’s Money, by Teddy Slater

• Millions, by Frank Cottrell Boyce

• Money, by Jennifer Waters

• A Money Adventure, by Neale S. Godfrey

• Money, Money, Money, by Ruth Belov Gross

• The Money Story (multimedia guide teacher guide produced by the U.S. Mint and Bureau of Engraving and Printing)

• Why Money Was Invented, by Neale S. Godfrey

• A New Coat for Anna, by Harriet Ziefert

• Noom and Raj Start a Business: The ABCs of Money, by Moonjar

• The poem “Smart” in Where the Sidewalk Ends, by Shel Silverstein

• Stacey and the Mystery Money, by Ann Martin

 

 

Web Resources

Banking on Our Future (grades 4-8 and high school)
http://www.bankingonourfuture.org/hope/default.htm

Ch-Ching!
http://www.fleetkids.com/cgi-bin/fleet/chching.cgi

The Currency Gallery
http://www.currencygallery.org

Consumer Math
http://www.aaamath.com/B/mny.htm

EconEdLink
http://www.econedlink.org

Escape From Knab
http://www.escapefromknab.com

FunBrain Change Maker
http://www.funbrain.com/cashreg

Glossary of Money Terms
http:// www.angelfire.com/il2/colettemcgrew/
glossary.htm

The History of Money
http://www.angelfire.com/il2/colettemcgrew/
studentsectionp3.htm

Introducing Children to Money
http://www.stretcher.com/stories/02/02jan07g.cfm

How Many Cents?
http://www.little-g.com/shockwave/cents.html

Money (for grade 3)
http://www.angelfire.com/il2/colettemcgrew/
statementofneeds.html

Money Experience for Kids
http://edu4kids.com/money

Money Flashcards
http://www.aplusmath.com/cgi-bin/flashcards/money

Practical Money Skills for Life
http://www.practicalmoneyskills.com/index.php

The U.S. Mint’s Site for Kids
http://www.usmint.gov/kids

The U.S. Mint’s Site for Kids — Teacher Guide
http://www.usmint.gov/kids/index.cfm?file
Contents=teachers/guide.cfm#B

Welcome to Econopolis
http://gwe.leesummit.k12.mo.us/aspire/
3901/3901.htm