Exchanging Money

We do a lot of traveling in other countries and we try to use the local currency or our credit card. As we walk around the new town, it is interesting to hear people very confused about trying to figure out the cost of items in their own currency.

I think this would be fun to do with students. You never know when they might be in this situation.

First I would have students decide what country they would want to visit. Then find out what the local currency is. Once they know this, find out how much local currency is equivalent to a US dollar. For example, there are 125 Icelandic Krona to $1.

Then I would have them find out the price of some items they would like to buy in the country they are visiting. If the price is in US dollars, I would have them multiply that by the exchange rate. For example, a $5 magnet would be 625 Icelandic Krona.

If they were told, the magnet was 625 Icelandic Krona, how would they figure out how much it would cost in US dollars? They would have to divide 625 by 125 which would be $5.

I would give students index cards and they would glue pictures of items on each card. Then they would write the country and the price of the item in that country’s money. Then students could exchange cards and figure out how much it would cost in US dollars. After everyone has finished their card, they would share with the class how they figured out the amount. They would have to tell what country, the exchange rate, and how they calculated the amount.

I think students would enjoy this activity because it is something they might use in real life.

How would you teach students how to do this? Please share.

Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash