Curated OER
Make a Pinhole Viewer
In this light worksheet, students construct a pinhole viewer using a paper box, wax paper, tape and a pushpin. They answer six questions about their observations, the orientation of the images they saw, and the results of their experiment.
Visa
Money Matters: Why It Pays to Be Financially Responsible
What does it mean to be financially responsible? Pupils begin to develop the building blocks of strong financial decision making by reviewing how their past purchases are examples of cost comparing, cost-benefit analysis, and budgeting.
Curated OER
Budget Busters
Use this economic activity to focus on writing summaries of informational text. First, middle schoolers define common economic terms used to describe news about the economy. They closely read news about the federal budget deficit and...
Curated OER
Making the Impossible, Possible
With budget cuts galore, skip the bake sales and create a project with Donors Choose.
Curated OER
A Cost-Effective Model of Teacher Development
As funding for staff-development days dwindles, Professional Learning Communities offer a no-cost alternative for professional development.
Curated OER
Balancing Budgets: From Reagan to Today
Students discover details about the federal budget. In this contemporary government lesson, students research the efforts to maintain a balanced federal budget in the United States since the 1980's. Students then participate in a debate...
Curated OER
Family Member
In this worksheet on family members, students describe what is meant by family, their duty to family, and family meetings. In addition, they create a budget for their family for one month keeping track of all expenses for 7 days....
Curated OER
Building Tolerance for Poverty in Math
Students explore approximate and exact solutions. In this interdisciplinary lesson plan, 6th graders will be placed in 'family groups' to create a budget that is subject to random events as chosen from the 'things happen' box. This...
PLS 3rd Learning
Monthly Budget & Operating Costs
What teenager wouldn't want a car? But before they make that big purchase, this exercise helps them to understand the costs involved. It includes a worksheet to calculate expenses like taxes and fees, maintenance, gas and insurance, as...
Curated OER
May the Best Character Win
Running an election campaign takes money. Class groups must effectively budget money in order to design and purchase sufficient advertising aimed at procuring classmates' votes. After completing an online tutorial, they also write and...
Curated OER
Book Club Order
Young scholars complete a simulated book order form for their class. In this book club lesson, students budget and plan an order form for their fellow young scholars, discussing why they chose specific books.
Federal Reserve Bank
Choices Are Everywhere: Why Can’t We Just Have It All?
Here is a resource covering a range of terms and concepts regarding scarcity, opportunity cost, and government debt in economics.
Curated OER
Learn to Earn When you Tend to Spend
Analyzing and understanding word problems is extremely important. Pupils learn that in money problems, earn usually means you add and spend usually means you subtract. They will solve a series of money-related word problems, label coins,...
California Academy of Science
Food for Thought: Defining a Problem to Find a Solution
Scholars approach a problem trying to plan a meal for a class party. They learn about the restrictions and must decide what information they need to plan the meal. The first lesson in a 13-part unit on Our Hungry Planet encourages...
NASA
Rocket Races
And they are off! Using Styrofoam meat trays and balloons, individuals build racers that demonstrate Newton's Third Law of Motion. Pupils run their racers three times and make improvements between each trial. To conclude the activity,...
Teach Engineering
Protecting Our City with Levees
Teams use the design process to design, build, and test a model levee to protect the town from a wall of water. A handout provides a price list for the materials learners can use to build their levee within a budget.
Curated OER
Family Finances
Students examine the dynamics of family finances. In groups, they discuss the importance of a budget and create their own given a fictional amount of money. As a class, they listen to a speaker from the bank discussing the importance of...
Curated OER
Government Spending - Earmarks
In this government spending - earmarks worksheet, students research this topic (there are many links listed), examine the issue, write a letter to their congressional representative or a local newspaper, make a video or analyze...
Curated OER
Back-To-School Shopping
Fifth graders estimate the prices of items to be bought for back to school. They use catalogs and/or advertisements to research the cost of each of the items. They use problem solving strategies and a spreadsheet template to determine...
Federal Reserve Bank
The Story of the Federal Reserve System
Prevent the Federal Reserve System from becoming a dry topic for your middle and high schoolers by using an informative, engaging resource! The cartoon takes your class on a journey with aliens from the planet of Novus to observe the...
Curated OER
Earth's Energy Budget - Seasonal Cycles in Net Radiative Flux
Students attempt to understand seasonal variation by viewing images of the energy received by the earth. In this weather activity, students view images from NASA of the influx of energy from the sun and make predictions about resulting...
Ohio State University Extension
Teen Leadership
Are the young leaders of tomorrow sitting in your classroom right now? Polish their skills to perfection using a series of teen leadership activities. Each lesson promotes both personal growth and team building, while helping scholars...
Curated OER
Money Smart Choices
Young scholars make choices regarding money management. In this personal finance lesson, students explore budgets, incomes, and expenses as they learn vocabulary regarding personal finance and consider how to create personal...
Curated OER
A Family Finance Experience
Young scholars create a budget and make predictions about money. In this algebra instructional activity,students balance spending and income by monitoring their finance.