2. Introduction to Financial Literacy 1.1

3. Objectives By the end of this lesson, you will be able to: Define “Financial Literacy” Relate financial literacy to your own life situation Define “Money, Medium of Exchange, Barter System, and Economy” Discuss the current economic state

4. “Financial…Literacy?!?” Who has a job? Who will have a job at some point? What do you need money for? Is your money supply unlimited?

5. Why Study Financial Literacy? Do people ever run out of money? What happens then? What is a recession? How does it affect you? How do recessions start?

6. What Do You Mean Financial Literacy? Well, what does it mean to be “literate”? So, financial literacy, is simply… “having the understanding of how money works”

7. If I Gave You All One of These…. What would you do with it?

8. $$$ Money $$$ What is money? What do I mean when I say money is “medium of exchange”? What do I mean when I say money is a “store of value”?

9. Why Do We Use Bills? What does it mean to barter? What then, does it mean to have a barter system? Let’s do a bartering activity…. So, why do we use bills, rather than say, seashells?

10. Characteristics of Money Durabilityto withstand “wear and tear” Portabilityto be carried with you Divisibilityto be divided into smaller denominations Uniformityeach unit is the same throughout an area Limited Supplythere is a finite number Acceptabilityeveryone recognizes its usage What are some examples of each characteristic?

11. What Was the First Thing Used As Money? Take a guess….

12. Other, Fun Money Facts Gold coins were used dating back to 600 BCE China invented the first paper money in 806 CE Other items have been used as money:

13. The Economy What do I mean by “the economy”? Goods and services? Cash flow? GDP, or Gross Domestic Product? What are people who study the economy called?

14. You Be An Economist Do research. Open up your computer and find articles, facts, and numbers to answer these four questions in a Google Doc. What can you tell me about the economy right now? Why were we in a recession from 2008-2011? How does a recession end? Was this the only recession in history? When was the last one? Is there a pattern?

15. Homework: Spending Log Keep track of your spending and income every day for a week. Log everything you make (or take), and everything you buy (or otherwise lose). Organize this list by day. At the end of the week, total up your net spending (either positive, or negative)

16. Closing Time! What would happen if people refused to pay prices that they consider are too high (would they: use less, buy something else, shop elsewhere and change buying habits)? Explain your answer in your Google Doc from earlier and move it into your FinLit Folder on Google Drive.