Lesson Plans

Fantastic Fractions

Students will develop an understanding of fractions as parts of a whole.
Grades: 2nd, 3rd
Subjects: History & Government, Math

Change Mixer

Students will use their abilities to recognize coins and their values in this game that focuses on locomotor skills (skip, slide, gallop, run, jump). This game also requires students to add coin values.
Grades: K, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th
Subject: Math

The Density of Coins

Students will conduct a science experiment where they will learn that the different denominations have characteristic densities that can be used to help identify the type of coin being used.
Grades: 6th, 7th, 8th
Subject: Coins & Mint

Getting Better at Guessing

Students will work in groups to examine a jar of coins to make both "guesstimations" and more precise estimations.
Grades: K, 1st, 2nd
Subject: Math

How Much for Your Name?

Students will create different coin combinations for a single amount.
Grades: K, 1st, 2nd
Subject: Math

Do You Like to Spend or Save?

After briefly discussing spending and saving habits, the class takes a poll to see how their peers like to manage money. Then students graph their findings and discuss the survey results.
Grades: K, 1st, 2nd
Subject: Coins & Mint

The Alphabet of Coins

Students will use letter and sound relationships of initial consonants to complete sentences that follow a given repeating pattern. These sentences will be based on coin terms found on the U.S. Mint Coin Classroom website.
Grades: K, 1st, 2nd
Subject: History & Government

How Do I Make Change for a Dollar?

Students will apply mathematics strategies of counting, adding, and subtracting decimal amounts to create change for a dollar.
Grades: K, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th
Subject: Math

Penny Race

Students will play a game where they determine the value of different coin combinations.
Grades: K, 1st, 2nd
Subject: Math

How Change Has Changed

Students will create a timeline to show the sequence of change that the "tails" side of a quarter has gone through.
Grades: K, 1st
Subjects: Coins & Mint, History & Government, Math