Lesson plan · Money Fundamentals · Lesson 1
What Money Actually Is
Why money exists, the three jobs it does, and how to think about prices in hours of your time.
- 45 minutes
- Grades 9–12
- Beginner
- Activity: whole class
Objectives
Students will be able to:
- Explain the barter problem and how money solves it
- Identify money's three jobs: medium of exchange, unit of account, and store of value
- Convert a price into hours of work using take-home pay
Materials
- Slide deck and a projector
- Worksheet (one per student)
- The lesson's interactive (projected, or on student devices)
- Exit ticket slips (bottom of the worksheet)
Key vocabulary
- Money
- Anything people widely accept in exchange for goods and services. Its value comes from shared trust that others will accept it too.
45-minute agenda
- 0–5 min
Warm-up
Post: “You have 20 apples and need a pair of shoes — but there's no money. Write down every step it would take to get the shoes.”
- 5–12 min
Direct instruction
Present the lesson slides. Make sure students leave with these points:
- Money solves the barter problem — you don't need to find someone who wants exactly what you have.
- Money does three jobs: medium of exchange, unit of account, and store of value.
- Most money today is digital, not cash.
- Price ÷ hourly take-home pay = the real cost in hours of your time.
Use the “See it” slide (The three jobs of money) to make the idea visual.
- 12–17 min
Worked example
Walk through “Pricing things in hours” on the slides. Pause before the result and ask students to predict it.
- 17–22 min
Live demo
Project what does it cost in hours? from the slides. Change one input at a time and have students call out what they think will happen.
- 22–34 min
Barter Market
Format: whole class · 12 minutes
- Hand each student a card with one item they HAVE (e.g., bread, a bike repair, tutoring) and one item they WANT.
- Round 1 (4 minutes): students may only trade by barter — one item for another. No promises, no IOUs.
- Count how many students got what they wanted. Ask what made trades hard (finding someone who wants exactly what you have, right now).
- Round 2 (3 minutes): give everyone 10 paper 'class dollars' and let them sell and buy freely.
- Compare results and connect each difficulty from Round 1 to one of money's three jobs.
What to look for: Round 2 almost always produces more successful trades: money removes the need for a 'double coincidence of wants' (medium of exchange) and gives every item a price in the same units (unit of account).
- 34–39 min
Check for understanding
Use the question slides — or run them as a Four Corners game. Answers:
- How does money solve this problem? — B. You can sell the game to anyone, then buy the jacket with the money.
- Most money in the U.S. today exists as physical cash. — False
- Thinking in hours of work, what do the tickets really cost you? — C. 7.5 hours
- 39–42 min
Discussion
- If everyone suddenly stopped trusting the dollar, what would happen to its value? Why?
- Pick something you bought recently. Was it worth the hours of work it cost?
- 42–45 min
Exit ticket
Prompt: Name money's three jobs and give an everyday example of one.
Answer: Medium of exchange (paying for lunch), unit of account (comparing a $4 coffee to a $40 game), store of value (saving for later).
Differentiation
Common misconception
“Money is valuable because it's backed by gold.” The U.S. dollar isn't backed by gold. It works because people, businesses, and the government accept it — taxes must be paid in dollars.
Support
Give students a two-column table (price, hourly pay) and start with prices that divide evenly.
Extension
Research a historical form of money (salt, shells, or stone discs) and explain which of money's three jobs it did well and which it did poorly.
Homework or make-up work
Students can complete the full interactive lesson — including its knowledge check — at learnwithflc.org/courses/money-fundamentals/what-money-is. No account needed; progress saves on their device.