Basic Economics

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Basic Economics

• Learning about money

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Currency
Money comes in two forms paper and coins.
Are there other forms of currency?
Who is on the dollar bill?
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Paper Money
George Washington
Abraham Lincoln
Andrew Jackson
Alexander Hamilton
Ulysses S. Grant
Benjamin Franklin
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Money Math

1 cent
5 cents
10 cents
25 cents
1 dollar
Are there any other coins you can think of?
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Other Coins
Half-Dollar 50 cents
Gold Dollar 1 dollar
Silver Dollar 1 dollar
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Money Math
Are there any other combinations you can think of?
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Bartering
Before money was created, people used to barter,
or trade, to get all the things they needed. 
Here, the farmer is trading with the baker.  The
farmer has many items from the farm, but does not
have time to bake.  
The baker needs items from the farm, and so
trades baked goods, such as bread, for farm
goods, such as carrots.  Now both people can have
everything they need.
How do you decide how many breads equals one
carrot?
What if the baker only needs one carrot, but for
one bread gets four carrots?  Then those carrots
would be wasted. 
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Why was money created?
Money was created to solve the problems found in
the barter system.
What if the farmer does not want anything from
the baker?
What other things do you think people traded?
How does money solve the bartering problem?
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Spend, Save, or Share
There are three main things that we may do with
our money  spend money, save money, or share
money with others.
What is your favorite thing you like to do with
your money?
Why would you save money?
Why would you share money?
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Receiving Money
Before we can spend, save, or share our money, we
need to get money.  How do you think we can get
money?
Some ways we get money include doing work,
getting money as a gift, or getting an allowance
from your parents.
Where do you get money?
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Goods
One type of thing we can spend money on is called
goods.  Goods are what you can touch and feel,
like toys, food, clothes, and books.
What type of goods do you spend your money on?
What type of goods do your parents spend their
money on?
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Services
Things that you can buy that you can't touch or
feel are called services.  Services are such
things as getting your car washed, or seeing a
movie.
What other types of services can you think of?
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Supply
One of the most basic concepts of economics is
Supply and Demand. These are really two separate
things, but they are almost always talked about
together.
Supply is how much of something is available.
If you have 9 baseball cards, then your supply of
baseball cards is 9.
If you have 6 apples, then your supply of apples
is 6.
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Demand
Demand is how much of something people want.
Measuring demand is just like measuring supply .
If 8 people want baseball cards, then we can say
that the demand for baseball cards is 8.
If 6 people want apples, then we can say that the
demand for apples is 6.
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Supply and Demand
Generally speaking, the supply of something will
go up if the demand goes up. The price will go up
too.
Why? Because the seller thinks he or she can get
more money for whatever he or she is selling.
In the same way, the supply will go down when the
demand goes down. The price will go down too.
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Lesson Review
1. What are the two types of money?
2. Which coin is worth 1 cent? 5 cents? 10 cents?
25 cents?
3. What is bartering?
4. What are the three things we can do with
money?
5. How can you get money?
6. What is a good?
7. What is a service?
8. What does supply mean?
9. What does demand mean?
10. How do supply and demand work together?
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Lesson Review Answers
1. What are the two types of money?
Paper money and coins
2. Which coin is worth 1 cent? 5 cents? 10 cents?
25 cents?
Penny, Nickel, Dime, Quarter
3. What is bartering?
Trading items
4. What are the three things you can do with
money?
Spend it, save it, share it
5. How can you get money?
By doing work, getting money as a gift, or
getting an allowance from your parents.
6. What is a good?
Goods are what you can touch and feel, like toys,
food, clothes, and books
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Lesson Review Answers
7. What is a service?
Things that you can buy that you can't touch or
feel are called services
8. What does supply mean?
Supply is how much of something is available.
9. What does demand mean?
Demand is how much of something people want.
10. How do supply and demand work together?
When the demand for something is high the supply
goes up too. When the demand for something goes
down the supply goes down too.