Money, Money, Money!

This week in maths we have been learning about money.  We started by brainstorming what we know about money - the notes and coins and what they are made from, how we get money, what we spend money on, where we keep money etc.

Then we talked about pocket money and surveyed our friends in class asking whether we got pocket money, whether we saved or spent it, how much we got, and whether we had to do chores to earn the money.

We have learned to identify the coins that are used in New Zealand and how we can use the different coins to make different amounts of money.  The Squares and Circles group worked with me to find all the different ways we could make $1.  Here are the ways we came up with.

Finally today I set each group a task.  They each had a different budget and a different scenario and had to come up with a menu to suit the occasion without going over.

The Triangle group had $40 to spend on food and drinks for a kids party.  The Squares group had $50 to spend on a picnic lunch for a family of 4.  The Circles group had $50 to spend on a romantic meal for 2 including a main course, pudding and dessert. The Hexagons group had $75 to spend on a family meal for 5 people, and the Diamonds group had $100 to spend on a fancy / special meal for 4 adults.

Each group was given 2 supermarket mailers, a big sheet with their scenario written on, glue sticks, scissors, a pen, and a calculator.  They had to cut out and stick on the sheet the food they wanted to include.

After 25 minutes I gathered the groups back together and we went over each menu and worked out whether they had come in on, under or over budget.  Each group did a great job and I was really impressed with how they worked together.