Pennies Make Cents

To help you with today's lesson, you will need to know the meanings of these words:

• money
• currency
• barter
• wampum
• trade
• exchange

Discuss these questions:

• Long ago, before America was a settled land, how did people get food?
• How did they get new clothing, tools, or supplies that they needed?

In this lesson you will review the history of trade before money, demonstrate how primitive forms of exchange were not always practical, investigate the history of money, and locate information about the first coin authorized by the United States.

Activity 1

Visit https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/moolah/history.html for a look into the past. It will show you a time line that will tell you about early trading.

Your teacher will divide you into two groups. Use role playing to show others how early trading might have looked and sounded.

Activity 2

Visit A Brief History of the U.S. Cent to learn about the first currency of any kind to be made in the United States.  Did you know it was the first currency of any kind to be made in America? 

• Have you ever looked really closely at a penny or examined one under a magnifying glass? Your teacher will give you some coins. Investigate the details of the penny. Be ready to tell your classmates what you have discovered.

In a small group, sort the pennies in a creative way. Try sorting by dates–which is recent? which is older? Sort by condition–which is newest?, which is worn? You think of others.

Activity 3

The last web site, Penny Details, gives students further details about the common penny that are not well known.

Share these ideas in discussion.

 Activity 4

Your teacher has a story to tell you called, "The Hundred Penny Box."

Could you share the event in school with classmates like Aunt Dew did with Michael?

Pennies do make cents.

At home tonight try to find a penny that was minted during your life time.

Can your family remember a special happening for you that occurred in the year the penny was made?