LESSON TITLE:
Theme 1, Lesson 1: Money Is What Money Does
Lesson Description:
This lesson helps students understand and interpret the func-
tions and characteristics of money. Through the reading of
informational text and a role-play developed by the students,
they will demonstrate knowledge about money, how it works
within an economy and how it correlates to periods of history.
Students will recognize why money takes the shape and form
that it does and how the characteristics and functions of money
determine what it is.
Grade Level: 9-12
Key Concepts: Functions/uses of money, characteristics of
money, barter, purchasing power
Objectives: Students will be able to:
1. Define money by its functions/uses as a medium of
exchange, a store of value and a unit of account
2. Identify and explain the characteristics of money
3. Demonstrate the changes in money forms throughout
history
Time Required: 50 to 60 minutes
Materials:
• Money booklet from the Everyday Economics series,
available in a printable PDF at http://www.dallasfed.org/
assets/documents/educate/everyday/money.pdf or in
classroom quantities by request at http://www.dallasfed.
org/microsites/educate/pubs/order.cfm
• Visual 1
• Handout 1; one for each student
• Handout 1 Answer Key
• Visual 2; one for each student
• Artifact Box: assembled by teacher with samples of historical
currency such as corn, pelts, beads, etc. (optional)
Procedures:
1. To begin the lesson, find examples of something once
used as currency, such as corn, beads, shells, furs, etc. Use
Visual 1 as an alternative.
Teacher Note: The examples could be in an “Artifact Box” that
is passed around the room.
2. Ask the following questions:
• What do these artifacts have in common? (Answers will
vary, but may include: items people used in earlier times;
early forms of money, etc.)
• What types of money do we use today? (Answers will vary,
but may include money in the form of cash, checks, credit
and debit cards, etc.).
3. Distribute a copy of Handout 1 to each student. Ask
students to read pages 1 through 5 of the Money booklet
and to complete Handout 1 as they read. Ask students the
following questions and use the Handout 1 Answer Key to
verify accuracy:
• How does the book define money? (Money is anything
that is widely accepted as a form of payment for goods
and services or a repayment of debt.)
• Why is bartering inefficient? (It requires a “coincidence
of wants, the goods and services must be immediately
available, and both traders must agree on the value of
one good in terms of another.”)
Teacher Note: Sharing a contemporary example of coinci-
dence of wants might be helpful, such as carpools, babysit-
ting, household chores, etc.
• Explain the three uses or functions of money. (Money
functions as a medium of exchange because it can be
traded broadly for goods or services in an economy.
Money is also a unit of account because it has a unit value
by which the prices of other items can be compared to it.
Lastly, money is a store of value because its purchasing
THEME ONE: INTERPRET THE HISTORY, FUNCTIONS AND CHARACTERISTICS OF MONEY
1
The Money Circle: Theme 1, Lesson 1: Money Is What Money Does
