£20 note
Start thinking: Both of these are just paper.
Why is one worth £20?
Session 1: What is Money?
blank sheet of A4 paper
A £20 note is just paper, but it is worth £20 because billions of people agree that it is worth that.
It is that shared belief that gives it value.
This is the same for all money.
Today’s Big Question:
Why does money exist and why do we
use it at all?
PATHWAY 2
How Money Flows
Through Your Life
10 mins
PATHWAY 1
Life Without Money:
The Chaos Experiment
10 mins
Finished? Complete the Money Words Minigame
Why does money exist at all?
A Town Without Money
In this game, you live in a town without money. This means that you can only swap items for different items through bartering.
Your group earns its living by babysitting. Your task is to get a bike, by trading your babysitting hours for different things.
Can you find the way to get a bike for the fewest hours of babysitting possible?
A Town Without Money
The rules:
The group who gets the bike for the fewest total hours wins!
Current trading offers at the market:
| Offer |
Trader A | "I'll give you 2 pizzas for every hour of babysitting." |
Trader B | "I'll give you a pair of trainers for 16 pizzas." |
Trader C | "I'll give you a phone for 5 pairs of trainers." |
Trader D | "I'll give you a bike for a phone." |
Trader E | "I'll give you a bike for 3 pairs of trainers." |
Trader F | "I'll give you a pair of trainers for 6 hours of babysitting." |
Trader G | "I'll give you a bike for 30 hours of dog walking." |
Trader H | "I'll give you 4 jars of homemade jam for every hour of babysitting." |
A Town Without Money
Reveal your route:
A Town Without Money
There were four possible routes to getting a bike:
Route | Total hours |
A → B → C → D (hours → pizzas → trainers → phone → bike) | 40 |
F → C → D (hours → trainers → phone → bike) | 30 |
A → B → E (hours → pizzas → trainers → bike) | 24 |
F → E (hours → trainers → bike) | 18 |
A Town Without Money
Two offers were traps.
G wants dog walking, but you babysit. However good the deal, you have nothing this trader wants.
H gives you more stuff per hour than anything else on the board, but then you are stuck with a pile of jam because nobody in town will take jam.
That is the problem with swapping: a swap only works when the other person wants exactly what you have. Economists call it a double coincidence of wants.
Original offers |
A: 2 pizzas for every hour of babysitting |
B: a pair of trainers for 16 pizzas. |
C: a phone for 5 pairs of trainers |
D: a bike for a phone |
E: a bike for 3 pairs of trainers |
F: a pair of trainers for 6 hours of babysitting |
G: a bike for 30 hours of dog walking |
H: 4 jars of jam for an hour of babysitting |
New prices | |
An hour of babysitting | £10 |
A pizza | £5 |
A jar of jam | £3 |
A pair of trainers | £60 |
A phone | £300 |
A bike | £180 |
Now let’s add money:
The market has introduced money, with a set price for
each item. Work out which offers were fair and which were a rip-off.
Offer | You gave | You got | Fair or not? |
A | £10 of babysitting | £10 of pizza | Fair |
B | £80 of pizza | £60 of trainers | You lose £20 |
C | £300 of trainers | a £300 phone | Fair |
D | a £300 phone | a £180 bike | You lose £120 |
E | £180 of trainers | a £180 bike | Fair |
F | £60 of babysitting | £60 of trainers | Fair |
H | £10 of babysitting | £12 of jam | The best deal |
Let’s analyse the deals:
Discuss
|
A Town Without Money
WE HAVE COVERED:
Learner Journal
Part 1: Three Things I Learnt Today
Open your Learner Journal. Write down three things you learnt. These can be facts, ideas, or things that surprised you.
How do you think today’s session will change how you think about money?
Write your response in your Learner Journal, then finish sections 3-5.
Learner Journal
Part 2: Reflective Question
“Money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver.” Ayn Rand, author (1957)
Money isn't just something you spend. It is a system that gives you choices. From today onwards, those choices are yours to make.
Lock-In Quote
Extension Activities
Extension 1
Extension 2
T
The Story Of Zero
Who Invented Paper?