Fifth Grade - Mathematics

 

Activities

Family Income

Financial and Economic Concepts: Career Management

Time: 20-30 Minutes
Materials Needed: Worksheet for each student or group of students, pencil for each student.

Provide each student with a copy of the “Family Income” worksheet.

Family Income Worksheets (pdf)

Have each student estimate first, then determine the actual total yearly family income using the data provided on the worksheets.

Following the worksheet exercise, conduct a class discussion for students to express their feelings about potentials for income.

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Taste Test

Financial and Economic Concepts: Scarcity and Choices

Time: 45 Minutes
Materials: two jars of peanut butter or other food (Oreos, fruit snacks, etc.  Make sure you have one expensive brand and one economy brand), one box of crackers, a knife, two colors of construction paper cut in two inch squares (two squares per student), one voting box, math journal, and writing materials.

Becoming informed about products and services helps an individual to determine the highest quality.  This activity will help students be able to compare food products by taste and determine that cost is not the only consideration when choosing a product.

Teachers will need to have two jars of peanut butter (one expensive brand and one economy brand), one box of crackers, a knife, two colors of construction paper cut in two inch squares (two squares per student), and one voting box. 

Spread two different brands of peanut butter on crackers and arrange on the colored squares, keeping brands separated by the different colors of paper.  The students should not know which brand is which.

Let the students taste both brands of peanut butter and then vote on the one they like best by putting the colored square in the voting box.

Tally the votes and talk about why they liked one brand better than another.

Identify the two brands and compare their costs.

Suggested questions for class discussion:

• Did we choose the brand which costs more money?
• If something costs less, is it always inferior?
• Would you rather save money even if the product doesn’t taste quite as good?
• Would you buy the brand you like best regardless of the difference in cost?

Have the students figure the difference in cost. 

Extension Activity: Have students estimate the total grocery bill using several name brand items.  Teacher can bring empty boxes from home to show the items.  Then have students estimate the grocery bill using the non-name brand price of the same items.  Then have students figure the actual bill and determine if their estimations were correct.

Note To Teachers:  Please be aware of peanut allergies.  This activity can be done with Oreos, Cheetos, etc.  Just buy one that is name brand and one that is not.

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You’re Going to College

Financial and Economic Concepts: Career Management, including earning an income

Time: 20 minutes-up to 1 hour
Materials: Computer (1 for each student, or teacher computer displayed with projector)  Website

As students start to think about what they will do after high school graduation, they begin to think about college. Do they plan to go to college? If so, what school do they want to attend? Concerns about money will influence their thinking as they answer these questions. This lesson is designed to help students understand the costs of attending college. Most importantly, it introduces options for covering these costs. By preparing early, students will find that they have many choices for continuing their education after high school graduation.

Interactive Activity:

Part 1 – Concentration -  This interactive activity starts with a concentration game where students match up the costs and benefits for various sources of college funding.  Sources include scholarships, parents, jobs, government loans, credit cards, education IRAs, Students could play individually or with a partner.  If student make a match, they are given a bonus question requiring math to compute.

Part 2 – Cha Chingo - A specific expense is described and students are given two dollar amounts.  They are to choose how much they think it costs for that expense on average.  If students answer correctly, they get a “chip.”  The “chips” are then used for a Plinko type game.  (This game takes a few minutes, but you cannot skip it). Dollar amounts earned increase the income total.

Part 3 – Higher Education Showdown - estimate the net value of each higher education package. Students add up the costs and calculate lifetime income for a graduate of a business administration program who started at $35,000/year and worked for 44 years.  Lifetime earnings are calculated using the following formula:  (base salary x years worked) + ((tuition x 4) x rate of return)

Complete Lesson Plan

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