The Elementary School Math Project Money Counts Math Grows Up (Number Sense/Computation) Objective Students will count and compare amounts of money less than or equal to one dollar. Overview of the Lesson Through a collection of hands-on activities, students gain experience in counting, exchanging, and comparing money. Students begin the lesson by finding all of the possible combinations of coins that can be used to equal a specified amount of money. They then compare two amounts of money and use number sense skills and problem solving strategies to move coins from one group to another so that both groups are equal in value. Students play the Money Exchange Game as they roll a die with money amounts and try to be the first person to obtain exactly $1.00. Students must make monetary exchanges in the game such as trading ten pennies for a dime. The students are then immersed in an economics activity as they shop in the teacher made puppet supply store where they are given one dollar to buy items to make a paper bag puppet. Materials Teacher: Money Chart Divide a 9 x 16 piece of tag board into 4 columns. Label the columns: Pennies, Nickels, Dimes, Quarters. You may use a picture of the coins rather than words. If you wish to use the chart for other activities, you may make cards with labels that students could place at the top of the columns. http://www.pbs.org/mathline Page 1
Dime, nickel (in your pocket) Drawer of coins PBS MATHLINE Copies of Activity Sheet: Coin Pictures (you will need at least 10 copies of each coin cut-out) Chart with two columns labeled Group A and Group B Each Group of 4 Students: Money Chart (See Teacher Materials) Activity Sheet: Money Counts Coins (pennies, nickels, dimes, quarter) Die (faces marked with 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 10 ) Calculator Each Student: Money Chart (See Teacher Materials) Activity Sheet: Puppet Planning Activity Sheet: Money Recording Board Paper lunch bag Items to decorate puppets (feathers, buttons, beads, ribbon, yarn, markers, crayons, tape, staples, glue, etc.) Procedure Show the class a drawer or bank full of coins. Choose an amount of money and challenge students to find various coin combinations that represent that value. You may want to use the date and have students use that number as an example. Put a nickel and dime in your pocket. Then tell the class that you have fifteen cents in your pocket, but do not disclose the coin combination. Challenge them to determine all of the possible combinations of coins that equal fifteen cents. Divide the class into groups of four students. Give each group a Money Chart, coins and a copy of Activity Sheet: Money Recording Board on which they may record all of the possible combinations. Students place the actual coins in the columns and use this as a manipulative resource. Answers are recorded on Activity Sheet: Money Recording Board. ESMP Money Counts Lesson Guide http://www.pbs.org/mathline Page 2
PBS MATHLINE Then have students share their combinations with the entire class as you record their answers on a class chart. After all the possible combinations have been identified, show the class the coins in your pocket and discuss that this would be the least number of coins that would equal 15 cents. Show the class a chart divided into two columns labeled Group A and Group B. Under Group A, place a picture of a quarter, nickel, and penny and under Group B, place pictures of a quarter, nickel, and three pennies. Use Money Counts for copies of coins. Note, large coins are also available through catalogs. Ask the class to determine which group has more money. Challenge the students to find a way of moving one coin so that both sides have an equal value. Continue the same procedure using progressively more difficult examples. A challenging example would be placing a quarter and four pennies under Group A and a quarter and dime in Group B. Students will have to change the dime into nickels or pennies to accomplish the task. Students then play the Money Exchange Game. Divide the class into groups of four. Each group will need pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters, and a die with faces marked with the following values: 10, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. Each student will need a Money Chart. Students will take turns tossing the die. They will receive the amount of money they rolled and place the money on their game board in the proper column. Students will need to exchange their money for different coins as play progresses. The target amount to win the game is $1.00. The target amount can be changed each time students play. Give each student a paper lunch bag and tell them that they are going to make a puppet out of the bag. Show them a store that you created with different items they can purchase to make their puppets. Some possible items could include feathers, buttons, yarn, and stickers. Crayons, staples, pens, scissors, and tape will be given free of charge. Distribute a copy of Activity Sheet: Puppet Planning to each student. The Activity Sheet shows all of the items from which they can choose as well as the price of each item. Students are told that they have exactly one dollar to spend. On the Activity Sheet, students plan and record the items that they wish to purchase. There is also a place for students to record the amount of money that they did not spend. Students may use a calculator to do this task. After students visit the puppet supply store, they may construct their puppets and then work in groups to present a show or song. Mathematically Speaking... When using calculators to do monetary computations with young learners, you will need to address some potential problems they may encounter with decimals. ESMP Money Counts Lesson Guide http://www.pbs.org/mathline Page 3
PBS MATHLINE Because they do not have an understanding of the decimal system, having a 1.2 on their display when adding 60 and 60 can cause great confusion. You will need to tell them that this is the same value as one dollar and twenty cents. Emphasize with the students that when adding subtracting, multiplying, or dividing money they must be very exact with the placement of the decimal point. They must not forget to push the decimal point key on the calculator as it will affect their answers. Extensions & Connections Have students plan a class party. Encourage them to make a shopping list of supplies they will need. Students will find the total cost of the party. Most children would like to have a dog or cat. Have students research the amount of money it would cost to take care of a dog or cat for one year. The cost of the pet should not be included. However, the cost of food, medical care, and grooming supplies could be considered. Resources NCTM Addenda Series/Grades K-6 First Grade Book National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Copyright 1991 Reston, Virginia. Pigs Will Be Pigs by Amy Azelrod. Illustrated by Sharon McGinley-Nally 1994, 33 pp., $14.95. ISBN 0-02-765415-X. Four Winds Press, 866 Third Ave., 24th Fl., New York, New York 10022. ESMP Money Counts Lesson Guide http://www.pbs.org/mathline Page 4
PBS MATHLINE Ideas for Online Discussion (Some ideas may apply to more than one standard of the NCTM Professional Standards for Teaching Mathematics.) Standard 4: Tools for Enhancing Discourse Young learners often have difficulty using calculators for solving problems with money because they have not had experiences with decimals. What suggestions can you make that will help teachers use calculators effectively when teaching children how to count money? Standard 6: Analysis of Teaching and Learning Many elementary programs across the United States are moving towards multiage groupings. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using this type of grouping in teaching young children? Elementary teachers like to use math games in the classroom. However, some children are very competitive and many potentially good lessons turn into a nightmare as students allow the competition in the game to interfere with the learning. Do you have any insights as to how to maximize the learning and downplay the competition? The video teacher speaks of the advantages of using real money rather than plastic coins as manipulatives. Can you make any suggestions about manipulatives that can be helpful in teaching students how to count and compare amounts of money? ESMP Money Counts Lesson Guide http://www.pbs.org/mathline Page 5
PBS MATHLINE ESMP: Money Counts Money Recording Board Quarters 25c Dimes 10c Nickles 5c Pennies 1c
PBS MATHLINE ESMP: Money Counts Coin Pictures
PBS MATHLINE ESMP: Money Counts Money Counts
Puppet Planning Puppet Supplies Shopping List Name: My Plan: feathers 26c each yarn 8c each pipe cleaners 18c each fabric scraps 18c each buttons 16c each pom-poms 15c each $1.00 Money For Supplies Left Over Money PBS MATHLINE ESMP: Money Counts