Learning to save future projects
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Age group
Students ages 10 and 11
When
November
Time required
5 hours
Broad areas of learning
Environmental awareness and consumer rights and responsibilities
Activity summary
Students learn the principles of saving and budgeting by playing a game. They then apply what they have learned to carry out a school project.
Financial skills
- Creating a budget
- Saving
Competencies
Subject-specific competencies
Subject | Competency | Progressions of learning |
|---|---|---|
Mathematics |
|
|
Other subject-specific competencies
- The challenge cards (in the game) will help reinforce concepts from English language arts and mathematics class.
Cross-curricular competencies
- Cooperates with others
- Communicates appropriately
Preparation
Students discover the principles of saving and borrowing by calculating interest and learning how to make a budget.
Time required
60 minutes
Teaching material
Task 1
Calculating interest
Task 1 objective
By the end of the task, students will be able to calculate the interest on a loan and work with decimal numbers.
Instructions
- Start by determining how much the students know about interest.
- Explain how interest is calculated and use the Internet to explore interest rates. With the students, discuss the differences between interest rates for savings and interest rates for loans
- Hand out the Interest Adds Up! worksheet.
- Give students time to complete the exercises, working alone or in teams of 2.
- Correct the worksheets as a group.
Time required
60 minutes
Teaching material
Task 2
Creating a budget
Task 2 objective
By the end of this task, students will be able to create budgets to save for something they want to do or to fund a future purchase.
Instructions
- First determine how much the students know about budgeting.
- Explain that a budget shows how much money is coming in (income) and how much is being spent (expenses).
- Display the Creating a Budget worksheet on the board and read the background explanation to the students.
- Hand out the worksheet and ask the students to complete the Income and expenses section, working alone or in teams of 2.
- With the students, go through the worksheet display it on the board so they can compare and correct their answers.
- Ask the students to answer the question at the bottom of the board.
- Discuss their answers.
Development
Students reinforce their knowledge of saving and budgeting by playing a board game.
Time required
120 minutes preparation 60 minutes to complete a game
Teaching material
Task 1
The play to save game
Task 1 objective
By the end of the task, students will have reinforced their knowledge of saving, using a game that involves planning a school trip.
Instructions
- Become familiar with the materials used in the Play to Save Game.
- Ask students to come up with questions and answers about math and english language arts concepts.
- Print the Challenge cards on heavy blue stock and hand the printed sheets out to the students so they can write their questions and answers on them. Have the students cut out the Challenge cards.
- Print copies of the account statement, making one for each student.
- Print the Saving cards on heavy green stock. Print the Chance cards on heavy yellow stock.
- Print the game board.
- Ask each student to choose a playing piece. Use small objects like paperclips, coins, coloured tokens and so forth. You’ll also need dice.
- Read the rules of the game to the class.
- Start the game. As play proceeds, colour in the amount of money students win when they answer challenges correctly, and the number of steps they go back if they don’t (based on the question’s degree of difficulty).
Reinforcement
Students apply their knowledge by carrying out a school project.
Time required
Varies
Suggest that the students draw up a budget for a school project. See Organizing a fundraising activity.