Basic Economics

Learning about money

Currency

Money comes in two forms paper and coins.

Are there other forms of currency?

Who is on the dollar bill?

Paper Money

                                                                                           

                                                                                             

                                                                                             

George Washington Abraham Lincoln

Andrew JacksonAlexander Hamilton

Ulysses S. Grant Benjamin Franklin

Money Math

                                                  =           

                     =

        

                            =

           

                                               =

                                 

Are there any other coins you can think of?

=1 cent

5 cents

10 cents25 cents

1 dollar

Other Coins

Half-Dollar = 50 cents =

Gold Dollar = 1 dollar =

Silver Dollar = 1 dollar =

Money Math

                                                  =           

                     =

        

                            =

           

                                               =

                                 

Are there any other combinations you can think of?

Bartering                                           

                                        

                                                           

                                       

Before money was created, people used to barter, or trade, to get

all the things they needed. 

Here, the farmer is trading with the baker.  The farmer has many items from the farm, but does not have time to bake.  

The baker needs items from the farm, and so trades baked goods, such as bread, for farm goods, such as carrots.  Now both people can have everything they need.

How do you decide how many breads equals one carrot?

What if the baker only needs one carrot, but for one bread gets four carrots?  Then those carrots would be wasted. 

Money was created to solve the problems found in the barter system.

Why was money created?Why was money created?

How does money solve the bartering problem?

What other things do you think people traded?

What if the farmer does not want anything from the baker?

Spend, Save, or Share

There are three main things that we may do with our money:  spend money, save money, or share money with others. What is your favorite thing you like to do with your money?

Why would you share money?

Why would you save money?

Receiving Money

Before we can spend, save, or share our money, we need to get money.  How do you think we can get money? Some ways we get money include doing work, getting money as a gift, or getting an allowance from your parents.Where do you get money?

Goods

One type of thing we can spend money on is called goods.  Goods are what you can touch and feel, like toys, food, clothes, and books.What type of goods do you spend your money on?What type of goods do your parents spend their money on?

Services

Things that you can buy that you can't touch or feel are called services.  Services are such things as getting your car washed, or seeing a movie.

What other types of services can you think of?

Supply

One of the most basic concepts of economics is Supply and Demand. These are really two separate things, but they are almost always talked about together.

Supply is how much of something is available. If you have 9 baseball cards, then your supply of baseball cards is 9.

If you have 6 apples, then your supply of apples is 6.

DemandDemand is how much of something people want. Measuring demand is just like measuring supply .

If 8 people want baseball cards, then we can say that the demand for baseball cards is 8.

If 6 people want apples, then we can say that the demand for apples is 6.

Supply and Demand

Generally speaking, the supply of something will go up if the demand goes up. The price will go up too.

Why? Because the seller thinks he or she can get more money for whatever he or she is selling.

In the same way, the supply will go down when the demand goes down. The price will go down too.

Lesson Review1. What are the two types of money?

2. Which coin is worth 1 cent? 5 cents? 10 cents? 25 cents? 3. What is bartering?

6. What is a good?

7. What is a service?

5. How can you get money?

8. What does supply mean?

9. What does demand mean? 10. How do supply and demand work together?

4. What are the three things we can do with money?

Lesson Review Answers1. What are the two types of money?

2. Which coin is worth 1 cent? 5 cents? 10 cents? 25 cents?

3. What is bartering?

6. What is a good?

5. How can you get money?

Paper money and coins

Trading items

Goods are what you can touch and feel, like toys, food, clothes, and books

By doing work, getting money as a gift, or getting an allowance from your parents.

Penny, Nickel, Dime, Quarter

4. What are the three things you can do with money? Spend it, save it, share it

Lesson Review Answers

Things that you can buy that you can't touch or feel are called services

7. What is a service?

8. What does supply mean?

9. What does demand mean?

10. How do supply and demand work together?

Supply is how much of something is available.

Demand is how much of something people want.

When the demand for something is high the supply goes up too. When the demand for something goes down the supply goes down too.