Beach Ball Buzz. Time required: minutes. Purpose. Set-up. Materials. Instructions. Elementary/Secondary. InspireFinancialLearning.

Transcription

1 Beach Ball Buzz This activity can be used to reflect on a financial concept. In this example of Beach Ball Buzz, some concepts that are examined include needs and wants, budgeting basics, credit vs. debit, debt, and investing. Time required: minutes Purpose This activity brings to light financial questions and topics relevant to students. Students assess their own and their peers knowledge of managing finances and reflect on their own knowledge gaps and unanswered questions. Set-up divide the class into groups of students and arrange each group in a circle in the class; assign one moderator in each group; give the moderator one copy of the questions prepared for the game; give each group one beach ball. Materials 1 beach ball for each group of students; copies of questions selected for game, Post-it notes. Instructions In a circle toss the beach ball to members in the group. When a group member catches the ball, whatever panel colour the right thumb lands on, a moderator will read a question from that colour category. o Note: White is a wild colour! If students thumb lands on that colour, they can pick from one of the three categories. If the student answers the question correctly, they can continue to pass the beach ball. If they answer incorrectly, they must turn around, with their back facing the inside of the circle. The student has to continue to play backwards-facing until a student throws them a ball (they can catch and throw the ball over their head) and answers another question. If they answer correctly, they can turn around and face forwards.

2 Lifelines: If a student does not know the answer to a question, before answering, they can throw the beach ball to someone else in the circle who thinks they know the answer (this is called throwing a lifeline ). If the second student answers the question correctly, both students continue to play facing forward. If the second student answers the question incorrectly, both students must turn around and play backwards. Every student gets one lifeline per game. You will need about 5-7 questions for each category. Consolidation/Debrief Discuss the following with your group after playing: 1. What critical questions or other consolidation activities would support reflection of learning after the activity? 2. How could this fit into your curriculum? What expectations can this activity align with?

3 Example elementary questions: Red Money Madness 1. Which Canadian Prime Minister is featured on the $5 bill? (Sir Wilfred Laurier) 2. Which Canadian Prime Minister is featured on the $10 bill? (Sir John A. MacDonald) 3. Which bird or animal is featured on the nickel? (beaver) 4. Which bird or animal is featured on the loonie? (loon) 5. Whose portrait is on the $20 bill? (Queen Elizabeth II) 6. Which bird or animal is featured on the quarter? (caribou) 7. Which Canadian Prime Minister is featured on the $20 bill? (William Lyon Mackenzie King) 8. Which bird or animal is featured on the toonie? (polar bear) Yellow Need or Want? Listen to each scenario and determine whether each purchase is a need or a want. 1. Your parent or guardian brings you to the eye doctor and buys you a pair of glasses. (Need) 2. Your brother buys you tickets to watch a Leafs game for your birthday. (Want) 3. Your parent or guardian stops at the gas station and puts 10 gallons of gasoline in their car. (Need) 4. Your socks are worn out so you go to the store to buy new ones. (Need) 5. The video game you have saved your money for is finally released, so you go out to buy it. (Want) 6. You buy a new back-to-school wardrobe to replace your out-of-fashion items. (Want) 7. You come along with your parent or guardian to buy eggs, milk, bread, and fruit. (Need) 8. You go with your friends to the movie theatre see a Friday night movie. (Want) 9. When waiting patiently at the checkout of the grocery store, you ask your parent or guardian to buy you a chocolate bar. (Want) Blue Budget Basics Determine the best answer to each question. 1. Saving for college, university, or an apprenticeship program is an example of a short term goal or a long term goal? (long term goal) 2. The money that you make from a job or receive from an allowance is called income, expenses, or savings? (income) 3. Name 3 kinds of expenses in your budget. 4. Pretend it is the beginning of March. You want to buy a skateboard in the beginning of July to use all summer. The skateboard that you want costs $100 and you have $60 saved up now. How much do you have to put aside each month so that you can afford to buy it? ($10/month)

4 5. If you get an allowance of $20 every month. If you save 50% of your allowance and spend the other 50%, how much money would you have saved in 6 months? ($60) 6. If you didn t have enough money to buy something you wanted, name two realistic things you might be able to do to earn extra cash? (examples: babysitting, snow shoveling, dog walking)

5 Example secondary questions: Yellow Investing Basics Choose the best answer to each multiple choice question. 1. Which of the following investments pay interest for lending money to a company or a government for a set period of time? (Bond, stock, GIC, Mortgage) 2. Which of these investment options should be less risky? (A single Canadian oil stock, a Canadian oil and gas industry mutual fund, Government of Canada 10-Year-Bonds, all of the above) 3. Which of the following pays interest? (stocks, mutual funds, savings accounts, all of the above) 4. Based on Canadian stock performance over the past 20 years, how much did a typical mix of stocks grow? (3% annually, 7% annually, 15% annually, 25% annually) 5. Which of the following is NOT a benefit of a mutual fund? (mutual funds may offer a broader range of investments than you could buy on your own, mutual funds are run by a professional fund manager, based on performance mutual funds sometimes offer payments called distributions, mutual funds are risk free) 6. Which of the following statements are true of exchange traded funds (ETFs)? (ETFs are usually based on a market index or sector, ETFs are traded on a stock exchange, ETFs allow you to invest in a variety of stocks or other investments, all of the above) 7. What is the minimum age required to open a Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA)? (There is no minimum age, 15, 17, 18) Blue Debt Drama Choose the best answer to each multiple choice question. 1. If you had to borrow $2,500 for three months, which option costs the least interest? (Payday loan, credit card, line of credit, all cost the same) 2. What is overdraft? (a fee charged when converting between currencies, when a cheque is deposited internationally, a bank loan that covers withdrawals if you don t have enough cash in your account) Added note: overdraft loans often carry higher interest rates than regular loans! 3. This form of payment involves borrowing money to pay for a product or service today, and requires you to pay back the full amount plus an additional fee if you are late in repaying the loan. (Debit, Credit) 4. Serena has $2,000 to pay down debt. Which debt should she pay first to save the most interest? (car loan at 6%, credit card at 18%, line of credit at 4%, student loan at 8%) 5. Which of the following will NOT help you cut your spending? (eating out less, using coupons, making more money, giving up expensive habits) 6. When you make purchases using this form of payment, it is easy to overspend. (Debit, Credit)

6 7. If you want to avoid debt, it is better to use this payment method. (Debit, Credit) 8. Purchases made with this payment method will be directly deducted or removed from your bank account. (Debit, Credit) Red Credit IQ Indicate whether each statement is true or false. 1. You can use credit to purchase items and services you need when you need them, even if you don t have enough cash to pay for them. (True) 2. Managing your credit cards well can help you build a solid credit history for the future. (True) 3. The number of credit cards you have will impact your future borrowing options even if you don t use the cards. (True) 4. Credit includes credit cards, mortgages, student loans, and lines of credit. (True) 5. Credit scores help to assess a borrower s knowledge of consumer debt. (False) Further information: A credit score helps lenders to assess an individual s risk of not repaying a loan. The better your score, the more likely you are to get approved for credit, at lower rates. 6. Employers can check your credit score, with permission, to determine if they will hire you. (True) 7. Credit reports keep track of your financial obligations including all of your missed payments (True) 8. Using your credit card frequently for purchases will hurt your credit score. (False) Further information: Your credit score is affected by late payments on loans and debts. Using your card for purchases is fine as long as you pay the bill off on time. Falling behind on your credit card payments can damage your credit score and make it more difficult to get loans in the future. 9. When it comes to credit cards, the letters APR stand for average percentage rate. (False) Further information: APR stands for Annual percentage rate, which refers to the amount of all loan service costs and interest. It may be higher than the interest rate you see in the loan contract. 10. If you use your credit card for a cash advance and pay your credit card bill in full, you won t have to pay interest. (False) Further information: Cash advances do not benefit from an interest-free period in the way that purchases do. You will be charged interest on cash advances starting from the day you obtain the money until the day you pay the bill off in full. 11. When a lending institution like a bank or credit card company approves your credit application, a credit report is automatically generated about you. (True)