Goals:
To convert amounts of U.S. dollars to other currencies.
Content Areas:
Social Studies - world geography
Language Arts - group discussion, decision making, writing skills
Materials:
Writing materials
Calculators
Procedure: (1 hour)
2) The teacher will explain to the students that they have been assigned the duty of "counting the loot" that their pirate ship has acquired by raiding other ships.
3) The teacher should assign each student group a different amount of gold and silver. An example would be 328.25 pounds of gold, 445.0 pounds of silver.
4) Student groups will convert their amounts of gold and silver to ounces; 1 pound = 16 ounces.
5) Students will use the daily paper to find the current value of gold and silver from the stock pages. The teacher can either point out where this can be found or allow students to discover it on their own.
6) Students will calculate the value of their gold and silver in U.S. dollars. Students will be responsible for showing the steps in their calculations.
7) Students must calculate the value of their gold in at least three different currencies around the world. This information can be found as exchange rates in the financial section of the newspaper.
8) Students must locate the country that the foreign currency on a world map.
9) Students will exchange their calculated amounts with another group. Each group will check the calculated answers and methods before the project is handed in to the teacher.
Assessment:
Student calculations and answers will be checked by the teacher.
Extensions:
Investigate the carat system of gold jewelry.
Making Waves - written by Jennifer Cannistra, Jamie Hanna, Michael LeRoy, & Kim Mongoven
This page was submitted by St. Norbert College Ocean Voyagers Program