| Economic/Monetary Systems
Consumers, producers, supply, demand...these are components of our system
of economics. We are an important part of this system--consumers keep
the economy going. Everytime we buy something, we are sending a message
to a manufacturer that we like the product and that they should keep making
it.
Sample some of the following activities to learn more about economic
systems.
Places To Go | People
To See | Things To Do | Teacher
Resources | Bibliography
Places To Go
The following are places to go (some real and some virtual) to find out
about economic systems.
 Check
out money lesson plans, kid's clubhouse, and interactive money games at H.I.P. Pocket Change,
a new web site all about coins.
Visit a retail store. How do principles of economics affect their daily
operations? What are the costs and benefits to running a business?
Take a virtual tour of the Federal
Reserve Bank. Find out about the bank's role as regulator and lender
of money.
Treasury
Building
Take a virtual tour of the United States Treasury Building. Learn about
the history of the Treasury Department and its role in the Federal government.
Museum of
American Financial History
Check out the Museum of American Financial History, the nation's only
independent public museum dedicated to celebrating the spirit of entrepreneurship
and the democratic free market tradition.
Visit the Federal
Reserve to learn more about economics. The Federal
Reserve facilitates monetary and credit conditions with the goal of providing
favorable conditions to business ventures that are agricultural, industrial,
and commercial.
Visit the imaginary planet
of Knab and use economic principles to formulate
an escape plan.
People To See
Talk to some adults you know. How do they budget their money? How do
they predict their monthly and yearly expenses? How do economic systems
affect their life decisions and goals?
 You
can email your questions about money or the minting process to Ask
the Mint.
Talk to someone who works at a bank. What does a bank do with torn or
worn out money?
H. Robert Campbell - aacbob@aros.net is the owner of All About Coins, a coin shop in Sugar House. He is currently
running for president of the American
Numismatic Association. He knows everything about coins and paper
currency. You can email him about all of your coin collecting questions.
Visit with Dr.
Econ. You can email him your questions about monetary
and economic quandaries. Also check out his section on previously asked
questions and answers.
Spend some time with “The Donald” and learn what strategies
he uses to further his economic ventures.
Meet Nobel Prize winners in the area of economics.
Things To Do
 How
many pesetas, dinars, florins, or guilders are there in an American dollar?
Find out at the Universal
Currency Converter. There are .001632 bolivars in one American dollar.
What country uses bolivars as part of their currency? There are 2.3062
American dollars in 100 rupees. What country uses rupees as part of their
currency?
Participate in the economic system of the United States--buy an ice cream
cone.
Start a coin collection. Start by finding a penny, nickel, dime, and
quarter from the year you were born.
Money
Origami
Borrow a dollar from one of your parents and return it as a work of art!
Using a dollar bill, you can make a spider, a butterfly, a sailboat, and
more! Bob's Billfolds has instructions on turning dollar bills into a rhino or a pig.
Visit or join the American
Numismatic Society. These are people who collect money for a hobby.
 Have
you noticed the new quarters that are now available? Find one of the new
quarters and examine it. In January 1999, the United
States Mint began a ten-year celebration of the 50 states. A series
of five quarter dollars with new reverses will be issued each year from
1999 through 2008 celebrating each of the 50 states of the union. The
new quarters will come into circulation in the order that the states came
into the union. So far this year, there are quarters where the reverse
sides celebrate Delaware (the 1st state to enter the union), Pennsylvania
(the 2nd state), and New Jersey (the 3rd state). Still to come in 1999
are Connecticut and Georgia. Each state gets to decide and design what
they want to be on the reverse side of their quarter. Find out where Utah
ranks in the order in which it became a state. What year will we get OUR quarter. What do
you think would be a good design for the reverse side that represents
Utah? Did you know that there is a new $1 coin coming soon? The front
of the coin will feature Sacagawea. You can see the winning
designs for this new coin.
Treasury's Page
for Kids
This page has an activity where you get to start a business, pay taxes,
and learn WHY we pay taxes.
The
Young Investor Website
You'll find games with money themes, basic guides to money and investing,
an ask an expert feature, and a quiz.
Anatomy
of a Banknote
Examine a $1 bill. Look at all the details. Do you see the watermark?
From this website, you can learn about many of the details of paper currenty.
Do you know about the serial numbers and authorized signatories?
Youthlink:
Social Security For Kids and Teens
Try and understand social security.
 The Mint
This site provides basic information about starting a business, earning
money, spending it wisely, and saving and investing. It includes quizzes,
games, glossary of financial terms, and a look at how consumer habits
influence the economy.
American Currency
Exhibit
Explore the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco's American Currency
Exhibit online and watch history come alive as you step back in time to
our nation's beginning. Learn how our country's rich history is closely
tied with our currency. Discover the role the Federal Reserve has played--and
continues to play--in that history.
United
States Treasury: Fact Sheets
Learn more about the history of currency and coins in the United States.
BizWorld
Through the BizWorld program, help students understand business,
entrepreneurship, economics and money management. The downloadable activities
are free.
Economic Education Station
Participate in a variety of learning activities
geared to basic economic principles such as supply and demand. This site
also has PowerPoint presentations that teachers can download and use
instructionally in the classroom.
 Wise Pockets World
Help students learn the ins and outs of managing
money. Click on Wise Pockets Schoolhouse for Teachers from the menu on
the left. Find economic lesson plans and activities with literature connections.
Department of Public Debt
Learn about our nation’s public debt.
This site shows the public debt (down to the penny), and the amount is
updated daily.
Fed 101
Find a glossary of economic terms, take economic quizzes, and utilize
classroom guides for economic activities. You can watch a short video
about the life of a dollar bill and trace its path as it leaves the U.S.
Mint as a brand new dollar and then eventually ends up in a shredder
after it has worn itself out.
Peanuts Crackerjacks
Visit the Peanuts & Crackerjacks Federal Reserve
Bank of Boston that integrates economics and professional sports.
EconEdLink
Access complete economic lesson activities that are classroom-ready.
Universal Currency Converter
Convert U.S. dollars to Euros and convert
dinars to liras.
 Economics and Geography Lessons for 32 Children's Books
Find way to
integrate economics and literature.
It All Adds Up
Play online games that help high school students learn
about credit management, buying a car, paying for college, budgeting,
saving, and investing.
Teacher Resources
Online activities are a listing of internet
sites with fun, interesting, and educational tasks attached to each one.
(You can learn how to use this WWW
Activities tool created by UEN for Utah educators).
Lesson Plans/WebQuests
Bibliography
- Armentrout, Patricia. How Money Is Made. Vero Beach, Fla. : Rourke
Press, c1996.
- Barabas, Kathy. Let's Find Out About Money. New York : Scholastic,
1997.
- Godfrey, Neale S. Neale S. Godfrey's Ultimate Kids' Money Book. New
York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, c1998.
- Nathan, Amy. The Kids' Allowance Book. New York : Walker and Company,
1998.
- Otfinoski, Steve. The Kid's Guide to Money : Earning It, Saving It,
Spending It, Growing It, Sharing It. New York, NY : Scholastic Inc.
1996.
- Young, Robert. Money. Minneapolis : Carolrhoda Books, c1998
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