Currency Exchange Activity | Middle School Economics

Money, Money, Money!

This is a simple and quick way to either teach or review currency exchange.

• Page 1 asks the students to read a short passage on what currency exchange is and the importance of it for trading. After they read the passage there are 5 tiered questions for them to answer. The questions range from recall to illustration to infer.
• Page 2, is an extension activity that lets the students pretend that they are traveling to another country and will need to exchange their U.S. dollars for whatever country they choose. Once they choose their country with a different currency they will need a device to look up the currency exchange rates. They will choose an item that they would purchase in that country (ex. food), next there will be a set price (ex. $45), and then they will have to see what they are $45 converts to. This is an engaging way that lets them play around with currency exchange.

Possible ways of using this worksheet:

• Activating or starter worksheet for the first 10 minutes of class
• Station activity- students can independently work on this worksheet in a station
• Homework assignment- students can work with family members to figure out the currency exchange
• Extension activity to ensure that students fully understand currency exchange
• Whole class- read aloud and answer the questions as a group and decide one country that everyone will convert their U.S. money to.

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