Financial Literacy World Gr. 5

8-10 yrs old

11-13 yrs old

Math & Economics

Physical Health & Wellness

Whether you want to save your money and not buy anything, or buy it all, there are lots of opportunities to discuss financial literacy!

Submitted By: Blaise Patterson of Fair Chance Learning

November 23, 2020

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Skills

Citizenship
Communication
Critical Thinking

External References

Financial Literacy World File

Link to the Financial Literacy World File.

Supporting Files

Teacher Preparation Notes

A document that outlines important notes to consider when facilitating the activity.

Financial Literacy World Lesson Plan

A document that includes all of the information needed for the Financial Literacy World activity.

Learning Objectives

Learning Objectives are based on Grade 5 Ontario Math Curriculum learning expectations.
Financial Management: F1.3 - Design sample basic budgets to manage finances for various earning and spending scenarios
Financial Management: F1.4 - Explain credit and debt, and describe how financial decisions may be impacted by each
Consumer and Civic Awareness: F1.5 - Calculate unit rates for various goods, and identify which rates offer the best value

Guiding Ideas

Curriculum-Focused Questions:

First, create a budget based on prices seen in-game, keeping in mind that you earn 2304 gold (player’s max inventory) every month, what are you able to afford without running out of money? Try creating different budgets and consider what is essential, and non-essential, when creating a budget.
What were the differences between using your own money and paying with a credit card?

Questions to Expand the Learning Experience:

How much money did you have at the end of the activity?
What decisions did you make that you think led to you have the amount of money that you did?
What did you own at the end of the activity (house, car, clothing, etc.)?
Based on your conversation with others, what do you plan to do next time?
For those that purchased a home, car or phone, did buying or leasing seem to be the better option?
What were the effects of opening a savings account at the bank?
What were the effects of opening a credit account at the bank?
What were the pros and cons between using money out of pocket, from a savings account, and from a credit account?
Why might someone use one form of payment over the other?
How much did you spend on non-essentials (clothing, movies, music, pets, fast food)?
How much did you spend on essentials (groceries, shelter, transportation)?
How often did you run out of money? What do you think would be the consequences if you couldn't pay for these expenses in real life?
Why do you think it’s required to have a savings account and a credit account in order to make big purchases? (Discuss banking, automatic withdrawals and building credit)
How much money had you saved up before you started paying monthly expenses (credit card payments, pets, renting a home and purchasing a car), and how did you find your overall money was affected by your decision? For example, were you often left with lots of money after money was deducted, or did you run out of money each time?

Student Activities

This is an open-ended activity; upon entering the world, students must approach the Non-Player Character in front of them, who will give them the option to start. From here, students are free to explore the world and its various areas. There is a shopping plaza, an auto mall, a model home display, a bank, a park and a residential area. They can choose to take a camera at the beginning or can return to the same Non-Player Character to get one later. Using the camera, they can take pictures and document their experiences and decisions.

All of the purchases, income and expenses are calculated in-game, so they are free to explore the world and make decisions on their own. Once time is up, have them visit city hall, where they must speak to the Non-Player Character to go inside. This will end the passive income and expenses, and players can add up their remaining money. Players who bought their house and car can sell it to receive additional money. Once everyone has added up and recorded their income, they can discuss the above questions. Students may re-play this activity as many times as they like to compare decisions they make and how they affected the end results.

Performance Expectations

The assessment for this activity is based on the learning objectives and essential questions mentioned above, as well as the Book & Quill to document their decisions.