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Studying the history of money

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Age group

Students ages 8 and 9

When

March and April

Time required

6 hours and 30 minutes

Activity summary

Students learn about the history of Canadian money, starting from bartering times and beyond.

Financial and cooperative skills

  • Understanding the history of money
  • Understanding the complementary roles and relationships of team members

Subject-specific competencies

Subject

Competencies

Progressions of learning

English
Language Arts

To use language to communicate and learn (QEP 2011)

  • Adjusts writing decisions to purpose and audience (QEP 2011)

  • Intervening at the appropriate moment

  • Selecting prosodic elements

 

Subject-specific competencies

Subject

Competencies

Geography, History and Citizenship Education - Understanding the organization of a society in its territory

  • Understanding the organization of a society in its territory

  • This competency can be targeted as part of this lesson plan by adding the progressions of learning related to learning past and present (QEP 2011).

Cross-curricular competencies

Uses information and communications technologies (QEP 2011)

Preparation

Students learn about the history of payment and trade, starting from bartering times and beyond

 

Time required

30 minutes

Suggested links

La monnaie du Canada

Task 1

Money through the ages

Task 1 objective

By the end of this task, students will be able to recognize key moments in the history of money on a timeline, from bartering to debit cards.

Instructions

  • Have a discussion with students to gauge their knowledge about the history of money.
  • Project the Radio-Canada website in class to display the history of money.
  • Examples of questions to ask :
    • How did people acquire goods?
    • How did they pay for goods?
    • How do we pay for goods today?
  • The Currency Museum website features a large collection of Canadian coins, tokens and bank notes. Suggest that teams of students explore the National Currency Collection.

Developement

Students learn about important moments in the history of canadian money.

 

Time required

2 hours

Teaching material

Evolution of Canada’s Currency - Key Moments [PDF] - 333 Ko

Task 1

Research canadian money

Task 1 objective

By the end of this task, students will be able to describe some characteristics of Canadian money during a given era.

Instructions

  • Hand out the qEvolution of Canada’s Currency - Key Moments sheet.
  • Together with students, read about key moments in the history of Canadian money.
  • Form teams of 2 students.
  • Ask teams to choose a key moment and look for information on that key moment.
  • Give students time to do research.
  • More than one team may choose the same key moment.
  • Research strategy: In a search engine (like Google), enter “Canadian coins” and a year. Avoid using articles in the search query and choose pertinent keywords.

 

Time required

2 hours, for presentations

Task 2

Prepare a presentation on canadian money

Task 2 objective

By the end of this task, students will be able to describe the historic and social context of Canadian money in any given era.

Instructions

  • Suggest that students share their knowledge with classmates or schoolmates.
  • Prepare information kiosks featuring illustrations, pictures and short texts that represent the era.

Teacher's notes

  • Ask students to bring in coins and bills. Some families have kept old coins and bills, so have students ask their parents if they have any old money stashed away.
  • All students should research coins and bills for all categories to increase the chances of finding all the elements.
  • Have students ask their parents if they have one of the elements for a category on the list of subjects. Provide a form where parents can list what they send to school. Put the coins and bills collected in labeled, clear plastic bags.

Evaluation

Students present the results of their research on canadian money to classmates and schoolmates.

 

Time required

Variable, depending on time allotted for presentations

In-class presentations only: 2 hours

Teaching material

Evolution of Canada’s Currency - Key Moments [PDF] - 333 Ko
Evaluation Grid [PDF] - 49 Ko

Task 1

Evaluate oral communication

Task 1 objective

By the end of this task, you will have evaluated students' oral communication.

Instructions

  • Present the evaluation grid to students before the presentations. Explain and give examples for each point.
  • After the first presentation, both teacher and students should note their constructive comments on the Presentation Evaluation Grid in the Evolution of Canada’s Currency - Key Moments document.
  • Optional: Prepare kiosks and invite other classes to see the exhibit.
  • Each team presents its findings to visitors.
  • Watch the student presentations and fill out the oral communication Evaluation Grid for each one.

Reinforcement

 

Time required

A half-day

Students consolidate their new knowledge by visiting a museum where they can learn more about the history of money.

Instructions

  • Visit Société historique Alphonse-Desjardins with students to learn more about the economic context of the 1900s and about the needs behind the birth of financial cooperatives in Quebec.
  • Educational activities for all elementary school cycles as well as a visit to Maison Alphonse-Desjardins are free of charge. To contact Société historique, fill out the Contact us form.

Be sure to mention that you did the Studying the history of money activity and guides will make sure during the visit to reinforce what students learned.