Middle School Resource: Where Does It Come From? Where Does It Go?
Middle School Resource
Where Does It Come From? Where Does It Go?
Objectives:
In this activity, students will
- Gain an awareness of how work relates to providing for the needs and wants of a family.
- Be able to prepare a balanced monthly budget that provides for the needs and wants of the individual.
Activity:
- Students brainstorm how people support themselves financially.
- Teacher explains the purpose and basic components of budgets.
- Food
- Housing
- Clothing
- Utilities
- Students brainstorm other expenses they might need or want to include in a monthly budget.
- Students are divided into small groups to work on budgets. Each group is given a different situation (e.g., number of children, if any; amount of monthly paycheck after taxes) to use in creating a monthly budget.
- Students are provided with resources to use in determining their budgets.
- Grocery ads
- Clothing ads
- Classified ads indicating various rents or mortgages
- Cost information from local utilities
- Internet sites with prices for various items (e.g., Peapod for groceries, clothing companies)
- Groups work to create monthly budgets based upon their resources and personal situations.
- Students present their budgets to the class, discussing each component.
- The class discusses the reasons for any variations. Teacher instructs students on how individual banking accounts, both checking and savings, work.
- Teacher explains how to write a check.
- Students are given blank, mock checks to use in “making their monthly payments.”
Related NY State Academic Standards: W.7.7, W.7.11, CDOS.I.1.1.A, and more!
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