Inquiry
Frame Questions
How do people manage their money?
Students begin by gathering information from their parents.
Take students' circumstances into account. It is important to set this up in a
way that is sensitive to them and their families.
Open and Closed Questions
Prepare a set of questions that show the difference between open and closed
questions.
Five Ws and an H
Draw up a chart showing possible question starters. Who, What, Where, Why,
When and How.
The class works in pairs. They think of five suitable questions to ask their
parents (or some other adult) about how they use a bank to manage their
money.
They write these questions on strips of card.
Come together as a class to sort and group these questions.
Decide on a set of questions for the children to take home to ask and record
responses.
This is best done with the children sitting in a circle on the floor. Each
pair reads out their questions - making groups of similar questions on the
floor.
Gathering Information
The set of questions my class came up with were:
- Why do you use a bank?
- Do you have a credit card? Why?
- Do you have an ATM/EFTPOS card? Why?
- Which bank do you use? Why?
- How do you bank your money?
- How do you get your money out?
- What kind of bank account do you use? Why?
- What does the bank do with your money?
Make up charts with each question as a heading.
Once all responses are complete, children to write down their parents'
responses on charts.
For easier organisation, record responses throughout the day
(depending on the number of questions).
Gathering information
Use a variety of sources (bank Web sites, bank pamphlets, leaflets and books) to gather
information on how people manage their
financial resources.
Possible subjects for the inquiry could include: cash, credit cards,
cheques, ATMs, EFTPOS, telephone banking,
Internet banking.
Find out more about money and banking by visiting
Kidsbank or
The Reserve Bank Education Page.
Note: Kidsbank is a US site so you will need to explain some of the
differences in terminology and systems between countries.
Present the information in bubble
charts.
Field Trip to Local Business Area
Organise a visit to a bank. This could also provide an opportunity to
identify which buildings in your community are banks, which buildings were
banks but have now closed, and which banks currently operate in your area.
Use the
Internet Yellow Pages
to identify which banks have branches in the local area.
Interview a Bank Employee
In pairs, children come up with questions they would like to ask about ways
people manage their financial resources, and why people use banks to manage
their financial resources.
Either visit a bank, or use the fax or an
audio conference
to interview a bank employee.
Possible themes could include:
- Why do people use banks?
- How do banks help people manage their financial resources?
- How have changes in technology changed banking?
Presenting information
Immediately after the interview, ask children to jot down three important
things they learned from the interview. Then they select one point each and
write it in a large speech bubble for a wall display.
Cartoon
Assessment Activity
Draw a cartoon strip or an electronic comic
showing three ways people manage their money.
One cartoon character must explain why people use banks
to manage their money.
Select and adapt these learning activities to best meet the needs of your
students, and to fit the time available: