Ditch Your Textbook and Try This Creative Way to Teach What Financial Literacy is All About.

Looking for a fun, creative way to introduce high school students to what financial literacy means? This real world math project does just that.

How many times have your students asked, “When are we ever going to need this in life?” Talk to them about money, and all of a sudden you’ve got their full attention. Teaching students the basics of what financial literacy means before they even graduate high school is essential.

Having taught high school math in Florida for over 20 years, I am excited to see how the Florida Financial Literacy Bill that passed in 2022 will impact our future generation’s personal financial outlook.

By using this real world math project with your students, you’ll have a creative and fun way to get them to understand what financial literacy is all about and how important it is for their everyday life.

This post is all about the best way to introduce what financial literacy means to high school students.

Best Way to Teach What Financial Literacy is All About

Is Financial Literacy Important

Short answer: ABSOLUTELY! According to this Ramsey post, check out these scary statistics:

• 78% of Americans feel like they live paycheck to paycheck.⁴
• 1 in 4 workers never save any money from month to month.⁵
• 36% of Americans said they wouldn’t be able to cover a $400 emergency.⁶
• 62% of college graduates in 2019 owed an average of $28,950 in student loans.⁷

Many students go through their entire math classes and never really talk about the basic concepts of money that they will soon have to deal with and often times learn about the hard way. These include opening up a bank account, using a credit card, buying a car, buying a house, credit scores, investing for retirement, and more.

When I introduce my students to exponential functions and compound interest, I always talk to them about money and teach them that if there’s nothing else they learn from my class, to remember that money needs time to grow. The power of compound interest is real and the sooner they start to invest, the more money they have.

I usually start the class with an activity where I give them the option to choose between receiving $1000 a day for the next 30 days or getting a penny on the first day and then doubling it the next day and so on for 30 days ($0.01 day 1, $0.02 day 2, $0.04 day 3, $0.08 day 4, $0.16 day 5, etc.). I have them do the calculations in ten day increments. So for those that choose the $1000, they’ll have $10,000 by day 10. For those that chose the penny, they’ll have $10.23 in total by the end of day 10. Obviously, choosing the $1000 a day is the better option if this goes on for 10 days.

Then we do it for 20 days and finally for 30 days.

This is a great way to get them to understand the concept of exponential growth and it leads to conversations on compound interest problems.

The students every time I do this brief activity and introduction to money always tell me, “See, this is the stuff we should be learning about in school.” And they’re right.

Financial literacy for my students in Miami, FL is especially important because many of them and/or their parents are first-generation immigrants and they don’t really understand the way money works in this country. So their parents really can’t educate them on opening a 401k or getting a Roth IRA.

So yes, financial literacy is very important.

What’s Financial Literacy?

Financial literacy is building good money habits. It’s knowing about how save enough for a rainy day and what investment tools can be helpful in providing financial stability for the future.

Many banks offer blog posts, articles and other resources to educate consumers on financial literacy. One of them, TD Ameritrade goes over investing, trading, retirement, personal finance, and tools. In its Personal Finance section, it covers college savings plans and taxes among other important financial decisions many high schoolers will face sooner rather than later.

In that same Ramsey post, they answer this question of What’s Financial Literacy:

“Financial literacy means having the knowledge and skills to make smart decisions with your money. This includes knowing things like how to budget, save for emergencies, invest for the future, and avoid debt.

And the Florida financial literacy bill is helpful because it’s an important step in solving Florida’s financial literacy gap. The goal behind teaching financial literacy is to help students develop a strong understanding of basic money concepts so they have the skills they need to win with money.”

Financial Literacy Vocab

It’s really important for students to understand financial literacy vocab. These terms should include credit, credit report, credit card, APR (annual percentage rate), creditworthiness, debit card, bank checking vs savings account, and budget. Students should also be familiar with bankruptcy, asset, liability, investment, stock, and other retirement tools that they will probably have to choose from once they get their first “real” job post high school.

Math in the Real World Project

By far, one of my FAVORITE projects to do with my class is the Math in the Real world Project. This is one of the best ways to introduce financial literacy to your students.

Math in the Real World Project not only helps you answer the question, “When are we ever going to need this in life?” This math in the real world project is the perfect way to get your students to work collaboratively, use their creativity, practice their math skills, and learn what it’s like to live in The Real World. You can use this project during ANY time of the school year, you can use it in ANY math, business or life-skills class. And it’s perfect for introducing financial literacy. 

Everything is ready for you to use, including a completely EDITABLE PowerPoint presentation to teach the basics of banking, credit cards, writing a check, and balancing a register. There’s even a 5.5 minute Excel tutorial video that you can play for your students explaining how to use Excel to fill out their register (***I usually like them to go through the math by hand and have them fill out the register on Word first – then I teach them Excel so they can check their work). If you’re looking for math in the real world project ideas, look no further.

You can share the PowerPoint presentation with the instructions and all other materials SECURELY using your Google classroom or Microsoft Teams. DO NOT POST on YouTube or the Internet.

Through this math in the real world project students will have to develop a fictitious character. You can make it even more fun by having students create a Bitmoji avatar for their character that they can use in their presentation. They will have to follow this person’s life for 21 days on a calendar that you can completely edit if desired, write checks, and keep up with their register. Students will practice calculating percent and working with positive and negative rational numbers.

The character is created by the student. There is a calendar where daily they have to react to something that’s happening, like they got a flat tire, got paid, went out with friends, etc. It’s a glimpse into the reality of how much money they really earn versus what expenditures they encounter.

Math in the Real World Project Objectives:

• Students will understand the basic elements of a check

• Students will be able to balance their register, write a check, and pay bills

• Students will accurately calculate percentages, including finding sales tax

• Practice spelling out numbers

• Use their analytical and reasoning skills in determining reasonable prices for items purchased

• Students will work collaboratively with their team members and reach a consensus by communicating their ideas to each other

• Students will learn how to complete their register through Microsoft Excel

Math in the Real World Project Materials:

• Copies of the checks worksheet (at least 3 sheets per group) – you can share a copy of the check that they can fill out on Word using their electronic device; they can also download the checks, fill them out, sign using a pen, and then scan them back to their project

• Register/Balance Sheet (about 2 per group should be sufficient) – you can give students the Word document to complete the register manually, then share the Excel spreadsheet where they can check their work

• 1 VITA Sheet per group – they can be as creative as they want and incorporate this information into their presentation

• 1 Project Info packet per group – you can post the information securely using the classroom platform of your choice

• 1 calendar per group – you should give them the PDF version so that they cannot alter it but there is a Word version of the calendar included so that you can edit as needed (***remember to update the provided grading rubric if you do change anything)

• Scissors to cut the checks – only if in a physical setting and they want to create a tangible checkbook

• White paper for the groups to paste their support documentation (newspaper ad clippings, magazine photos, etc.) – not needed if completing their documentation digitally

• Newspaper sales ads/magazines – they can search for images online to include in their presentation

Math in the Real World Project Duration:

• At least one week depending on your class

Math in the Real World Project Grading:

• Use attached EDITABLE rubric; the project is divided into 4 grades. The first one is for the accuracy of the register to check that the math is correct. The second and third goes day by day as to what should be included in the register and their documentation for each day. The last one is for neatness and presentation. You can adjust the rubric as needed

I love when the students run into an unforeseen circumstance in their calendars and realize that they have to dip into their savings. Or better yet, when it’s someone’s birthday and they have to spend money taking them out and buying them a present. You should see how they just want to get them a $5 Starbucks gift card or something else that’s inexpensive.

This project is a great way to have your students explore the idea of having a budget and sticking to it. You can definitely customize it to fit your students’ needs and levels.

Feedback from Buyers:

• This is one of the only projects I have done and received nothing but positive feedback from the students. Thank You! I definitely recommend.
• As the seller indicates, my students ultimately found this project very realistic and parents were very supportive. Now that I have ironed out the details, I will definitely be using this project in the future!
• I loooooove this. There are times that I can’t think of any activity for my Consumer Math class. Thanks to you!

So there you have it! If you’re looking for a fun way to kickstart your lessons on financial literacy, this weeklong project will peak your students’ creativity and curiosity and get them talking about basic money concepts. It’s completely editable, easy to grade, and you can change it as needed to fit your students’ needs.

This blog post was all about the best way to introduce what financial literacy is to your high school students in a hands-on creative way to improve their understanding of basic money concepts.