June 13, 2007: How Banks Work

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Activities:

1. Draw a picture of an unusual piggy bank you would like to have. Decorate it with colored markers or crayons. Draw pictures of dollar bills and coins around the outside of your piggy bank. Write a sentence telling why you want to save money.

2. Find three comic strip characters who would make good bank workers. Choose a character who would be good at organizing the money in the bank, someone who would be good at working with customers, and one who would be a good bank guard. Paste pictures of your characters on a piece of paper and write a sentence about each one.

3. Use newspaper ads to find three items that are so valuable you might want to keep them in a safe deposit box. Remember, they must be small enough to fit in a box.

4. Look at newspaper display ads and classified ads to find prices for these items: (a) a piece of jewelry, (b) a house, (c) a car, (d) a piece of electronic equipment, and (d) a toy. Now list the items according to their prices, from lowest to highest. Put a star next to the items you could buy only if you had a loan from a bank.

5. Write a paragraph discussing the benefits of having banks in your community. Include at least three reasons that support your position.

This week's standards:

• Banks, labor unions, corporations, legal systems and not-for-profit organizations are examples of important institutions. Banks are institutions where people save money and earn interest, and where other people borrow money and pay interest. (Economics: Role of Institutions)
• Money makes it easier to trade, borrow, save, invest, and compare the value of goods and services. (Economics: Role of Money)
  
  

(standards by Dr. Sherrye D. Garrett, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)