Classroom ideas: Finance is fun! Maths and money

Teaching the principles of finance can seem daunting, but it is something that students find extremely engaging. The fundamental features of money are both mathematical and social constructs, and hence can be usefully entwined with many areas of the curriculum as enrichment activities. While this proposal talks directly to the current Year 6 Australian Curriculum: Mathematics (Units of Measurement) and Australian Curriculum: History (Australia as a Nation) it is also forward looking to the curriculum around financial literacy outlined in the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA, 2012) report on The Shape of the Australian Curriculum: Economics and Business and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC, 2011) National Financial Literacy Strategy commissioned by the Government, with the expectation that a substream Money and Financial Literacy will be introduced into Mathematics in the near future (ASIC, 2013). While there are many programs aimed at primary school student financial literacy provided as downloadable resources from major financial institutions my experience is that these are not widely used, at least partly because they tend to rely on sheet based exercises. The advantage of the approach reported here is that it is interactive and involves hands-on learning engaging the entire class and attracts students and teachers to learning based around finance. This can be furthered with programs such as the MoneySmart teaching resources available at www. teaching.moneysmart.gov.au