'Money' tutor notes

This module is about calculating with amounts of money. It is aimed at Level 1 of the Basic Skills Curriculum in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and covers material in MSS1/L1.1.

We'd love to hear your comments on the module; do you like the games and the factsheets? What do you think of the worksheets and quiz? Send in your own and your students' feedback to skillswise.feedback@bbc.co.uk.

How does this tie in with the new curriculums?

• England
  MSS1/L1.1 - Add, subtract, multiply and divide sums of money and record.
  
• Wales
  As England.
• Northern Ireland
  As England.
• Scotland
  See www.aloscotland.com for details of the Scottish curriculum.

In the Skillswise module you'll find:

Money games
There are eight games for practising mental addition and subtraction.

Game 1: The Change Game - without timer
In this game you are working on a till serving customers. You get 5 customers to serve. There is no time limit.
The till shows the cost of the items the customer is buying, and the customer's hand appears with a note, £5, £10 or £20. You must give the correct change, by dragging coins and notes from the cash drawer into the customer's hand. You have 3 chances each time.

There are 3 levels to choose from.
Level 1: Customer pays with a £5 or £10 note. Giving correct change requires whole pounds and 50p pieces only.
Level 2: Customer pays with a £5 or £10 note. Giving correct change requires whole pounds and multiples of 10p only.
Level 3: Customer pays with a £5, £10 or £20 note. Any price can come up so all coins and notes may be needed in giving change.

This game has sound effects. (Listen out for when you give too much change!)

Game 2: The Change Game - with timer
Same game as above but with a timer. The object is to serve as many customers as you can before the time runs out.

Game 3: The Wedding Planner
This game takes you through costing the various parts of a wedding. For each category, such as transport, you have 4 or 5 options to choose between. Sometimes you'll need a pen and paper to work out how much you need of something - e.g. how many cases of wine - because the planner software will not let you scrimp!

You get a budget plan page at the end, which you can also view at any time during the game. Any overspend and it will show up in your budget, and you can go back and choose some less expensive options. The budget can be printed out at the end with the player's name on it.

Game 4: Bargain Hunt
This is a mental addition game which is based on the BBC Bargain Hunt programme and features David Dickinson. The student has to add up the prices of the antiques on the cards. The student can select to add up two or three numbers. There are 3 levels, A, B and C with A being the easiest and C the hardest. At level A the numbers are easier to add up as the units don't carry over and there is more time to calculate the sum. At level C units and tens carry over and there is less time to calculate the sum.

Games 5, 6, 7 and 8: Mental Maths Conveyor Belt Games
In these games, the learner can practice mental addition, subtraction, multiplication and division skills by answering questions relating to items which appear on a conveyor belt.

At the start of the game, the learner can choose whether to answer questions by clicking on one of three choices, or by typing in their answers and clicking 'check' or hitting the return key. If they answer any question incorrectly, they get the choice of a second chance or just to see the correct answer. At the end they are given a summary of the questions, the answers they gave and their score.

If the learner answers more than 8 out of 10 questions correctly, they will be given the option of a bonus 'tennis' game, which is played using the mouse.

TOP TIP! To see any of the games completely full screen, press the F11 key on the keyboard. This takes away the distraction of the top browser bar. To bring the browser bar back, just press F11 again!

Money factsheets
You'll find curriculum references in the top right-hand corner of the factsheets.
There are six factsheets for this module, each on 'print-out-and-keep' sheets:

• Factsheet 1 - Recording money.
• Factsheet 2 - Adding and subtracting money.
• Factsheet 3 - Multiplying money.
• Factsheet 4 - Dividing money.
• Factsheet 5 - Forms.
• Factsheet 6 - Buying on credit.

Money worksheets
There are six worksheets. You'll find curriculum references in the top right-hand corner of the worksheets. They are printable resources to carry on the work learners have done online.

• Worksheet 1 - Writing money.
• Worksheet 2 - Cafe bills.
• Worksheet 3 - Multiplying money.
• Worksheet 4 - Dividing money.
• Worksheet 5 - Forms and payslips.
• Worksheet 6 - Paying installments.

Money quiz
The learner can choose their level. Level A is the easiest, level C the hardest.
Students can print out a certificate if they score 50% or more in the quiz. This will appear as a link on the results page - click on the link and the certificate will appear in a new window. Students can write their name on the certificate once it's printed.

Technical help:

To get the most out of this topic area you need the following 'plug-ins':

• Flash
  The game in this topic section uses Flash. This is free to download and should only take a few minutes. You can follow the BBC WebWise instructions to download it to your machine.
  Find out more.

If you don't have Flash the same learning points are covered in the quiz and in the worksheets and factsheets.
If you are new to the web, why not try the BBC WebWise online course, Becoming WebWise? It's free, you can do it in your own time from any computer and it will take you through everything you need to know to use the web successfully in your teaching.
Get WebWise.

You can find out more about the technical requirements for Skillswise in our Help - Technical Information section.

Taking it further:

With Skillswise

• Introduction to decimals
  Factsheets may be particularly useful as they are about writing and reading decimals, place value and ordering decimals.
  
• Arithmetic methods
  There are lots of modules in the 'Whole numbers' section of Skillswise which cover mental and written techniques for arithmetic. They may be useful revision for understanding methods used in examples in the Money module.
  

On the web
Here are some places on the web you might find useful for teaching money:

• www.moneymatterstome.co.uk
  This site, developed by NIACE, contains information, activities, hints and advice on money and financial literacy.
• www.moneymatterstome.co.uk/Interactive-Workshops/ATM.htm
  This easy-to-use activity simulates a visit to a cash machine. It takes you through all the different functions and uses of a cash machine - including how to use your card, your PIN, check your statement and collect your cash.

Please note that the BBC is not responsible for the content of other websites.

Do you know of any great online resources for 'money.' Tell us about them!