Money: Bucks, Banks and Business
Guided Internet Practice
Grade Level
•	Seventh Grade Career Technical Education, Introduction students
Learner Characteristics/Audience
•	25-30 public school students (per class) in a lower- to upper-middle-class area
•	About 80% of students are white, with about 10% Hispanic/Latino, 5% African-American and 5% Asian
•	Prior experience with and knowledge of computers, prior lessons in Microsoft Office, extensive use of Internet.
•	Most have positive attitudes toward and participation in CTE, Intro
•	Students prefer lessons which involve use of a computer/technology
Instructional Goals
Students will understand the following:

•	Monetary exchange rates change constantly.

•	Students can convert money in any currency into its equivalent in U.S. dollars by using readily available exchange rates, published in newspapers and available online.

Standards & Objectives
Objective 4.1
•	Students will demonstrate basic knowledge and application of hardware, software, and Internet use.

Objective 4.2
•	Students will use technology independently and collaboratively in business applications.

Objective 5.2
•	Explore the relationship and impact of economics on families and consumers.

Objective 5.3
•	Explore the relationships and impact of economics on technology.

Timeline
•	45-minute class period
Materials/Technology
•	Regular education classroom with 32 internet-accessible personal computers 
Procedure
1. This computer activity—comparing local bus fares in cities around the world—is designed to make students comfortable with foreign currencies and aware of how much information the Internet provides for tourists to other parts of the world before they even leave home.

2. Send students to the Travel Center page at CNN's financial Web site to find information on cities worldwide. The URL is http://cnnfn.cnn.com/services/travelcenter/cityguide.html.

3. Tell each student to select six cities outside the United States, three of which should be in Europe. (The site allows users to select individual cities within three groupings: Americas, Europe, and Asia/Africa.)

4. When the student's first city appears on screen, he or she should click the “Transportation” option and then narrow down the information further by clicking on “Getting around.” Within this text, the student should look for the price of the basic fare for a bus ride in town.

The student may find a range of fares for in-town trips, in which case he or she should note the most expensive. The student must note the amount of local currency that the bus ride costs—e.g., not simply “120” but “120dr” (for “120 drachmas”) for Athens; not simply “1,500” but “1,500lire” for Florence. If the student's target city does not have local bus service, the student should pick another city.

For the three European cities, students should estimate costs in both dollars and euro.

5. After the student has found bus fares for three cities, he or she should go to the following cnnfn.com page. There the student should scroll down to the Currency Converter and follow the instructions to find out how much the three bus rides would cost in U.S. dollars. Specifically, the student can request a conversion of 120 Greek drachmas to U.S. dollars; of 1,500 lire to U.S. dollars; and so on. 

To use the Currency Converter, the student does need to know which country each of the chosen destination cities is in.

6. Ask students to hand in all the data they have found and their conclusions as to which of the three cities charges the most for a local bus ride.

Independent Work/Assessment

7. Tell students: Now that you have the hang of gathering the cost of public transportation in other countries, you will be able to apply that knowledge to the cost of anything to the places you wish to travel. Chose the city in which you have the most interest. Pretend that you will be staying in that city for one week. Don’t worry about plane fare to get to the city, but do keep in mind transportation once you are there, as well as food and lodging costs. Also, what do you want to do while you are there? A lot of money might be spent on entertainment depending on where you go. Create a spreadsheet using Excel showing me how much your trip will cost, both in dollars and in the currency of your chosen city/country. Make sure you break down exactly what you will be spending your money on. Make use of headings and subheadings, as well as formatting tools, to create an attractive and easy-to-read spreadsheet. 

Grading Rubric
Item	Points Possible	Points Received	Comments/Explanation	
Class Participation	20			
Transportation Costs	10			
Food Costs	10			
Lodging Costs	10			
Entertainment Costs	10			
Spreadsheet	20			
Total	80			

Major Modifications
In CTE, Intro – Business, I am required to teach about Economics (money, among other things), as well as the Internet. I have always taught both units completely separately, but it behooves me to combine units where possible. 
I found this lesson on DiscoverySchool.com, a site I had no idea was in existence. It specifically says that the plans can be freely downloaded and reproduced for educational purposes. This is just one of the many lessons that I feel would be valuable for my site, and I’m very excited that we were encouraged to search out open resource lesson plans on our own, which is what led me here. 
The beginning of the plan matched very closely what I needed for economics/internet, however I did make some major modifications. For one, I re-worded and fixed some misspellings and format errors. This is mainly because I while I may understand exactly what the plan means, I need to be able to hand off my lessons to a sub when necessary. 
Another modification involved a final assignment/project that uses what was learned in class and expands it just a bit. It includes a fantasy about a vacation that the students may want to take someday. Seventh graders are close enough to adulthood that they can almost taste it, and it’s fun for them to use scenarios where they are “doing” something that they really want to do when they’re older. 
The last major modification included the creation of a grading rubric. The original lesson plan suggested a three-point total, and I tend to have high point-values for my assignments so messing up on one does not make or break students for the entire term. Also, there needed to be an assessment of the Excel activity, and the assessment items needed to be organized in a meaningful fashion.
I am really excited about this website and the others I encountered, and look forward to using many more ideas in the future. 

Original Lesson Plan from Discovery Education

TITLE OF LESSON PLAN:
Money: Bucks, Banks, and Business

LENGTH OF LESSON:
One class period

GRADE LEVEL:
6-8

SUBJECT AREA:
Economics

CREDIT:
Summer Productions, Inc.

OBJECTIVES:
Students will understand the following:

1. Monetary exchange rates change constantly.

2. Students can convert money in any currency into its equivalent in U.S. dollars by using readily available exchange rates, published in newspapers and available online.

MATERIALS:
For this lesson, you will need:

Computer with Internet access

PROCEDURE:

1. This computer activity—comparing local bus fares in cities around the world—is designed to make students comfortable with foreign currencies and aware of how much information the Internet provides for tourists to other parts of the world before they even leave home.

2. Send students to the Travel Center page at CNN's financial Web site to find information on cities worldwide. The URL is http://cnnfn.cnn.com/services/travelcenter/cityguide.htmll.

3. Tell each student to select three cities outside the United States. The site allows users to select individual cities within three groupings: Americas, Europe, and Asia/Africa.

4. When the student's first city appears on screen, he or she should click the “Transportation” option and then narrow down the information further by clicking on “Getting around.” Within this text, the student should look for the price of the basic fare for a bus ride in town. The student may find a range of fares for in-town trips, in which case he or she should note the most expensive. The student must note the amount of local currencythat the bus ride costs—e.g., not simply “120” but “120dr” (for “120 drachmas”) for Athens; not simply “1,500” but “1,500lire” for Florence. If the student's target city does not have local bus service, the student should pick another city.

5. After the student has found bus fares for three cities, he or she should go to the following cnnfn.com page: cnnfn. There the student should scroll down to the Currency Converter and follow the instructions to find out how much the three bus rides would cost in U.S. dollars. Specifically, the student can request a conversion of 120 Greek drachmas to U.S. dollars; of 1,500 lire to U.S. dollars; and so on. To use the Currency Converter, the student does need to know which country each of the chosen destination cities is in.

6. Ask students to hand in all the data they have found and their conclusions as to which of the three cities charges the most for a local bus ride.

ADAPTATIONS:

Encourage students to pick six cities, three of which should be members of the European Union. Students should use the CNN Currency Converter to convert the price of the bus fares in cities in the European Union countries not only to U.S. dollars but also to euros. You can further adapt this activity by asking students to estimate more than bus fares; using information from other parts of the CNN site or other sites, students should estimate the cost of a one-week stay in one of the cities he or she has selected.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

EVALUATION:

You may evaluate your students' work using the following three-point rubric:

-  Three points:student has followed each step of the assignment; student arrives at the correct conclusion regarding the most expensive bus fare
-  Two points:student follows most steps of the assignment; student does not arrive at the correct conclusion regarding the most expensive bus fare
-  One point:student makes an effort but does not follow the assignment; student does not arrive at the correct conclusion regarding the most expensive bus fare

EXTENSION:

Conversion Fees
Tell students to find out how much they would have to pay to convert their U.S. dollars to another currency. What do banks charge for the service they provide? What do currency-exchange companies charge? Why do they charge these fees?

Currency Debate
Should all countries use the same currency? Ask students to list reasons in favor of and reasons against one universal currency.

SUGGESTED READINGS:

Money
Joe Cribb, Alfred A. Knopf, 1990.

Get Real
James Tenuto and Susan Schwartzwald, Harcourt, Brace, and Company, 1992.

The Basics of Foreign Trade and Exchange
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Public Information Department, 1993.

"The Stock Market Game"
The Joint Council on Economic Education, Economics America New York, NY 10036 1-212-730-7007

WEB LINKS:

What's New About Your Money
Visit the U.S. Treasury and find out what changes are being made to U.S. currency to help guard against counterfeiting.
http://www.ustreas.gov/treasury/whatsnew/newcur/

The United States Mint
Visit this Department of Treasury and the U.S. Mint website to find out more about the Mint. Links to information on its history, the production of a coin, and circulating coins are also included.
http://www.ustreas.gov/treasury/bureaus/mint/mint.html

Ben & Jerry's Home Page
For your students who are interested in learning more about Ben and Jerry's ice cream business, have them visit the Ben & Jerry's home page. Here students will find more information on the company, scoop shop lists and the "flavor graveyard."
http://www.benjerry.com/indexg.html

VOCABULARY:
barter
To exchange, swap or trade items for one another.
Context:
Without money, we would have to barter for what we want.

wampum
Small beads made from polished clam shells threaded on a string or made into a belt.
Context:
The darker the wampum, the more valuable it was in trade.

counterfeit
To forge or make a copy of something.
Context:
Engravers create intricate portraits, signatures, and numbers so that it is difficult to counterfeit money.

commodity
Asset, merchandise, goods; an item of exchange and value.
Context:
Gold is expensive because it is a rare and desirable commodity.

imported
Not native; brought in from a foreign country.
Context:
In Japan, imported goods are popular and expensive.

enterprise
A business establishment aimed toward making a profit.
Context:
Small opportunities are sometimes the beginnings of a great enterprise.

ACADEMIC STANDARDS:

Grade Level:
6-8
Subject Area:
economics

Standard:
Understands characteristics of different economic systems, economic institutions, and economic incentives.

Benchmarks:
Understands that all societies have developed economic systems in order to allocate their resources to produce and distribute goods and services.

Grade Level:
6-8
Subject Area:
economics

Standard:
Understands basic concepts of United States fiscal policy and monetary policy.

Benchmarks:
Knows that the Federal Reserve System is the principal organization that regulates money and banking in the United States.

Grade Level:
9-12
Subject Area:
economics

Standard:
Understands basic concepts of United States fiscal policy and monetary policy.

Benchmarks:
Knows that banks may lend a certain percentage of the money that is deposited with them, but they may not lend over the amount of reserves they are required to keep by the Federal Reserve System.

DiscoverySchool.com
http://www.discoveryschool.com

Copyright 2001 Discovery.com.
Teachers may reproduce copies of these materials for classroom use only.