GEEM - Learning Situation

F1. Money and Finances

Demonstrate the knowledge and skills needed to make informed financial decisions.

Learning Situation: I Want to Go on a Humanitarian Trip!

Duration: approximately 200 minutes

Overview

In this learning situation, students will create a plan to achieve a long-term financial goal. They will describe various methods of payment that can be used to make foreign currency payments in another country, as well as the different exchange rates and fees that apply. Students will compare the interest rates, annual fees, bonuses, and incentives that two financial institutions offer to determine the best choice.

Overall Expectation

Specific Expectations

F1. Money and Finances

Demonstrate the knowledge and skills needed to make informed financial decisions.

F1.1 Describe some advantages and disadvantages of various methods of payment that can be used when dealing with multiple currencies and exchange rates.

F1.2 Create a financial plan to reach a long-term financial goal, accounting for income, expenses, and tax implications.

F1.6 Compare interest rates, annual fees, and rewards and other incentives offered by various credit card companies and consumer contracts to determine the best value and the best choice for different scenarios.

Preferred High-Impact Instructional Practices in Mathematics	Description
Learning Goals, Success Criteria and Descriptive Feedback	Before beginning this learning situation, it is essential to make the learning goals, based on the curriculum expectations and content, explicit so that they are known and understood by all students. This will ensure that students are aware of the learning goals of the lesson. The success criteria can then be developed and understood through a variety of instructional strategies, such as using examples of student work, co-constructing the success criteria or self-assessing how the criteria have been met. These strategies allow for student engagement and a shared understanding of the steps needed to achieve the learning goals. It is important to make the learning goals and success criteria visible by posting them in the classroom for students to refer to throughout the lesson. Descriptive feedback related to the criteria provides the specific information students need to achieve the intended learning goals. By providing descriptive feedback on multiple occasions, educators help students develop the skills to assess their own learning and reflect on the criteria. In this learning situation, a good time for descriptive feedback is during the Active Learning phase. Students should develop a budget to achieve a long-term financial goal, choose a credit card that best suits the situation, and analyze various methods of payment for foreign currency transactions. Students work and communicate in small groups, and, with thoughtful questioning, educators check for understanding and direct students to the criteria to adjust or justify their work. During the Review phase, some solutions may require descriptive feedback from the educator to ensure that the student has the necessary support to revise their thinking to apply to a new context.
Problem-Solving Tasks and Experiences	This learning situation, where the student must make several combinations of Canadian currency, is a problem-solving experience, as it gives students the opportunity to reason, communicate, represent, make connections and justify thinking. This learning situation has many entry points, and all students will be able to participate and propose solutions using their strategies, as well as their critical and creative thinking. This approach promotes accessibility for all students and the exchange of a variety of mathematical strategies and ideas. This learning situation can be differentiated by using different numbers for the work teams (smaller numbers for a less complex exercise or larger numbers for a more complex exercise), making the task accessible yet challenging for the students.
Direct Instruction	Direct instruction consists of modelling, specifying and deepening mathematical concepts and can be used throughout the learning process. Being a flexible pedagogical practice that meets the diverse needs of students, direct instruction is required given the complexity of the learning situation, which addresses several concepts of financial literacy (advantages and disadvantages of various methods of payment abroad, long-term financial goals, analysis of interest rates, etc.). Educators are encouraged to take advantage of direct instruction to assess for learning and adapt interventions based on student input and feedback. Educators can identify appropriate times to explicitly teach certain concepts to make it easier for the student to solve the problem.

Preferred High-Impact Instructional Practices in Mathematics

Description

Learning Goals, Success Criteria and Descriptive Feedback

Before beginning this learning situation, it is essential to make the learning goals, based on the curriculum expectations and content, explicit so that they are known and understood by all students. This will ensure that students are aware of the learning goals of the lesson. The success criteria can then be developed and understood through a variety of instructional strategies, such as using examples of student work, co-constructing the success criteria or self-assessing how the criteria have been met. These strategies allow for student engagement and a shared understanding of the steps needed to achieve the learning goals.

It is important to make the learning goals and success criteria visible by posting them in the classroom for students to refer to throughout the lesson. Descriptive feedback related to the criteria provides the specific information students need to achieve the intended learning goals.

By providing descriptive feedback on multiple occasions, educators help students develop the skills to assess their own learning and reflect on the criteria. In this learning situation, a good time for descriptive feedback is during the Active Learning phase. Students should develop a budget to achieve a long-term financial goal, choose a credit card that best suits the situation, and analyze various methods of payment for foreign currency transactions. Students work and communicate in small groups, and, with thoughtful questioning, educators check for understanding and direct students to the criteria to adjust or justify their work.

During the Review phase, some solutions may require descriptive feedback from the educator to ensure that the student has the necessary support to revise their thinking to apply to a new context.

Problem-Solving Tasks and Experiences

This learning situation, where the student must make several combinations of Canadian currency, is a problem-solving experience, as it gives students the opportunity to reason, communicate, represent, make connections and justify thinking. This learning situation has many entry points, and all students will be able to participate and propose solutions using their strategies, as well as their critical and creative thinking. This approach promotes accessibility for all students and the exchange of a variety of mathematical strategies and ideas. This learning situation can be differentiated by using different numbers for the work teams (smaller numbers for a less complex exercise or larger numbers for a more complex exercise), making the task accessible yet challenging for the students.

Direct Instruction

Direct instruction consists of modelling, specifying and deepening mathematical concepts and can be used throughout the learning process. Being a flexible pedagogical practice that meets the diverse needs of students, direct instruction is required given the complexity of the learning situation, which addresses several concepts of financial literacy (advantages and disadvantages of various methods of payment abroad, long-term financial goals, analysis of interest rates, etc.). Educators are encouraged to take advantage of direct instruction to assess for learning and adapt interventions based on student input and feedback. Educators can identify appropriate times to explicitly teach certain concepts to make it easier for the student to solve the problem.

Prior Knowledge and Skills

To be able to complete this learning situation, students must be able to:

Identify and compare exchange rates, and convert foreign currencies to Canadian dollars and vice versa.
Explain how interest rates can impact savings, investments, and the cost of borrowing to pay for goods and services over time.
Understand and recall commonly used percents, fractions and equivalent decimal numbers.
Use mental math strategies to increase and decrease a whole number by 1%, 5%, 10%, 25%, 50%, and 100%, and explain the strategies used.
Solve equations that include multiple terms, whole numbers, and decimal numbers, in a variety of contexts, and verify the solutions.

Learning Goals

At the end of this learning situation, the student will be able to:

Develop a plan to achieve a long-term financial goal, taking into account income, expenses and tax implications.
Describe the advantages and disadvantages of various methods of payment that can be used to deal with a foreign currency and exchange rate.
Compare interest rates, annual fees, bonuses and other incentives that various credit card agencies offer to determine the best choice.

Possible Success Criteria According to the Achievement Chart

Skill	Success Criteria
Knowledge and Understanding	The student demonstrates an understanding of a budget to achieve a long-term financial goal by considering income, expenses, and tax implications. The student demonstrates an understanding of the interest rates, annual fees, rewards, and incentives of various credit cards offered by different financial institutions and compares them.
Thinking	The student selects strategies for calculating the exchange rate from one currency to another as well as interest rates. The student evaluates the advantages and disadvantages of various methods of payment with a country's currency and exchange rate. The student selects relevant data to formulate persuasive arguments and make informed decisions.
Communication	The student justifies their choices and do so using mathematical evidence, while using mathematical terminology related to financial literacy.
Application	The student calculates the exchange rates of different currencies. The student calculates rewards interest rates, fees, rewards, and incentives for various credit cards offered by different financial institutions. The student creates a budget to meet the financial goal.

Materials

calculators
paper
Internet access for research

Mathematical Vocabulary

method of payment, currency, exchange rate, gross income, net income, fixed expense, variable expense, tax implications, interest rate, premium, credit card

Before Learning (Warm-Up)

Duration: 40 minutes

Assessment can be carried out through… Evaluation can be done through conversations or observations.

Facilitate a discussion by asking questions such as:

What does it mean to have a long-term financial goal?
What does the word "plan" mean? What might a plan look like?
Why do people have a plan to achieve a financial goal?
Do you think it is important to have a plan? Why?
Do you think most people find it easy or difficult to stick to a plan? Why?
What could happen if you don't make a plan to achieve a financial goal?
What is an income? What would be sources of income for you?
Why is it necessary to have an income?
When someone is paid for their work, are there any payroll deductions? Are these fixed amounts or percents?
What is the difference between a savings account, a chequing account and a credit card? Why is it important to understand the difference between these accounts?
How can the exchange rate between foreign currencies be determined?
Can all methods of payment be used when making transactions involving foreign currencies?

Active Learning (Exploration)

Duration: 100 minutes

Assessment can be carried out through… Evaluation can be done through the conversations, observations and productions.

Present the scenario below to the students:

During the Grade 8 students' visit to the neighbourhood high school, a group of Grade 12 students presented a slide show of their recent humanitarian trip. Mia is very impressed to see all the work they have accomplished during their stay and the impact on the community in which the group has lived.

Back home, Mia shared with her parents/guardians her hope to participate when she is in grade 12, in 4 years. Her parents/guardians thought it would be a great experience. However, they told her that she needed to start saving her money if she wanted to go on the humanitarian trip, which costs around $5000.

Mia plans to have a summer job throughout her high school years. She will work 40 hours for 8 weeks at a salary of $15/hour. Prepare a budget that will allow her to reach her financial goal. Don't forget to include any expenses Mia might incur!
Four years later, Mia has a good amount of money in her bank account. Her parents/guardians decide she should have her own credit card. Mia compares the interest rates, fees and incentives offered by two financial institutions in order to make an informed decision. Which institution should she choose?
Mia is preparing for her trip. She has $500 to spend on souvenirs for herself, her family and her loved ones while abroad. What are her payment options? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?

Make sure that students understand the task by asking questions such as:

Who can describe the task in their own words?
What data is relevant in this situation?
Ask students to present and justify their solutions during the mathematical exchange.

Form teams of two or three students.

Provide students with the necessary materials.

Allow enough time for students to complete the task.

Circulate around the classroom and observe the strategies used by the students. Provide support as needed, by providing scaffolding questions, such as:

Possible Observations	Possible Interventions
The team has difficulty recognizing useful information.	Can you explain, in your own words, the task at hand? What important information and data will help you solve the problem? Can you relate this problem to your daily life? How did you solve that problem?
The student has difficulty recognizing the information to be sought.	Have you searched the Internet for the necessary data? Do you have enough evidence to support your reasoning? Do you need to collect more? Have you talked to another person or your team to clarify your question?

Possible Answers

Mia wants to do the humanitarian trip in 4 years. I have to prepare a plan for her.

I start by calculating her salary for one summer.

$40 \ \mathrm{hours}\ / \ \mathrm{week} \times 8 \ \mathrm{weeks} = 320 \ \mathrm{hours}$

$\displaylines{\begin{align} 320 \ \mathrm{hours} \ \times \ $15 \ / \ \mathrm{hour} &= (320 \times 10) + (320 \times 5) \\ &= 3200 + 1600 \\ &= \ $4800 \end{align}}$

Mia will have a gross income of $4800 per summer. However, you have to take into consideration the expenses. I don't think Mia will have all that money at the end of her 3 high school summers. She will surely have expenses. Also, you have to take into consideration the tax implications, namely what is deducted from the gross income. Mia will only have 2 deductions, taxes and Employment Insurance (EI) which are deducted with each pay cheque. The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) is deducted only for those who are 18 years of age or older. When those amounts are deducted, she will have her net income. That would give her a better idea of how much money she will really have.

I calculate her net income.

The applicable tax rate is 15%.

$\ $4800\\\times 15\% \ = \ $720$

The EI premium rate is $1.58 per $100.

$\ $4800 \ \div 100 = 48 $

$48 \ \times \ $1.58 \ = \ $75.84 $

I subtract these 2 amounts from $4800.

$4800 \ - \ 720 \ - \ 75.84 = \ $4004.16 $

Mia's net income would be $4004.16 per summer.

Here is a sample budget for the summer following Grade 9.

Budget (Grade 9 Summer)
Income
Salary	$4004.16

Fixed Expenses*
Bus pass to work ($70 × 2 months)	$140.00
Variable Expenses
Hobbies	$100.00
Other	$75.00
Total Expenses:	$315.00

Difference Between Income and Expenses:	$3689.16

*If students include annual fixed expenses, such as cell phone charges, encourage them to consider these expenses throughout the year, not just during the summer. This will then have an effect on the budget in the long run.

In this case, Mia has a balanced budget because the difference between her income and expenses is positive. If she follows this budget, she will have $11 067.48 at the beginning of Grade 12.

$\ $3689.16 \ \times 3 = \ $11 067.48 $

Mia compares the student credit card of two financial institutions.

Ishpatina Ridge Bank	Mont Tip Top Alliance Fund
Annual fee $0 Foreign currency conversion fee 2% Purchases 20% Cash advances 22% Points offer: Welcome bonus of 12 000 points. 1 point for every $1 in travel purchases. 1 point for every dollar spent at eligible gas stations, grocery stores, and drug stores. 1 point for every $2 spent on all other purchases. 100 points = $1 Travel accident insurance covered up to $100 000	Annual fee $0 Foreign currency conversion fee 2% Purchases 19% Cash advances 23% Offer: Get a 5% cash back rate for the first 3 months. Then get: a 4% cash back rate on grocery purchases a 2% cash back rate on recurring bill payments a 1% cash back rate on all other purchases. No travel accident insurance coverage

Ishpatina Ridge Bank

Mont Tip Top Alliance Fund

Annual fee $0

Foreign currency conversion fee 2%

Purchases 20%

Cash advances 22%

Points offer:

Welcome bonus of 12 000 points.
1 point for every $1 in travel purchases.
1 point for every dollar spent at eligible gas stations, grocery stores, and drug stores.
1 point for every $2 spent on all other purchases.
100 points = $1

Travel accident insurance covered up to $100 000

Annual fee $0

Foreign currency conversion fee 2%

Purchases 19%

Cash advances 23%

Offer:

Get a 5% cash back rate for the first 3 months.
Then get:
- a 4% cash back rate on grocery purchases
- a 2% cash back rate on recurring bill payments
- a 1% cash back rate on all other purchases.

No travel accident insurance coverage

Since Mia is going on a trip, the credit card from Ishpatina Ridge Bank is more advantageous since it offers travel accident insurance and the rates are very comparable to those of the Alliance.

Mia has $500 to spend on souvenirs for herself, her family, and her loved ones while she is away.

She could get some money in the local currency before leaving on her trip.

If, for example, her humanitarian trip is to Jamaica, she considers the exchange rate of that country before she leaves. The exchange rate today, according to the Bank of Canada, is 1 Jamaican dollar (JMD) for 0.0085 Canadian dollar (CAD). I calculate how much Jamaican money she would have for $500 Canadian.

$\displaylines{\begin{align} \frac{0.0085 \ \mathrm{CAD}}{1 \ \mathrm{JMD}} &= \frac{500 \ \mathrm{CAD}}{?} \\ 500 \div 0.0085 &= 58 983.29 \ \mathrm{JMD} \end{align}}$

Advantages: She can check exchange rates and convert her money when the rate is lower. She won't need to search for a currency exchange booth once abroad. She can make purchases immediately from various merchants in local currency.

Disadvantages: She will have a considerable amount of cash with her when she travels. She could lose it or have it stolen.

She could exchange money when she arrives.

Advantages: Currency exchange kiosks can be very competitive and therefore can offer a good exchange rate. In addition, there is no commission.

Disadvantages: It is not always easy to find currency exchange kiosks that are open at convenient hours. Airport kiosks have higher rates. And finally, if the rate is not to her advantage, she still has to exchange money.

She could use her credit card.

Advantages: It will have the same exchange rate as the Bank of Canada. She would earn loyalty points. She would not have much cash in her possession.

Disadvantages: There is a fee per foreign transaction, in addition to a percentage of the purchase price once the exchange rate has been applied, at the same exchange rate as the Bank of Canada. Some merchants may not accept credit cards.

She could use her debit card to make purchases or withdraw cash from an ATM in the foreign country.

Advantages: Many countries now accept debit cards and she would not have much cash in her possession.

Disadvantages: There are fees to access the foreign network. The company that owns the local ATMs often charges a fee in addition to the Bank of Canada exchange rate. Her debit card must be part of an approved international network. Also, while on humanitarian travel, she may not have easy access to an ATM due to limited services in some environments.
She would make the change before leaving on the trip. This way, there will be no extra charges. She can store her money in more than one place in her luggage, so if she misplaces her money, it won't be the full amount. Once she arrives, she won't have to look for the kiosk with the best exchange rate. She would also avoid the additional costs of using credit or debit cards abroad.

Ask the teams to compare their results with those of another team.

Invite teams to post their work.

Review

Duration: 60 minutes

Assessment can be carried out through… Evaluation can be done through conversations or observations.

Have students share their solution with the class and explain the strategies they used to determine income, budget, best credit card option, and best method of payment on humanitarian travel.

The other students contribute to the discussion and enrich the mathematical conversation by asking questions to check their understanding.

If necessary, ask questions based on the content of the posted work:

Do you think you have represented the problem correctly?
Is your solution logical? Does your solution make sense? Why?
Do all groups have the same answer? Why?
Do you feel you have met the learning goals?
How did you feel during the learning situation? Do you know of any strategies that helped you deal with the different emotions you experienced?

Following the discussions, ensure that the student:

Demonstrates an understanding of strategies for developing a plan to achieve a long-term financial goal.
Recognizes the influence of income and expenses on the achievement of a financial goal.
Recognizes that there are tax implications and taxable benefits to consider when setting a financial goal.
Analyses different situations and makes recommendations adapted to the situation.
Demonstrates an understanding of the various methods of payment used for foreign currency transactions.
Selects a method of payment according to the situation presented and justifies their choice using arguments and calculations.
Calculates the total cost of converting Canadian money into another currency.

Consolidation of Learning

Create an infographic to appropriately represent the features of various credit cards offered by different financial institutions.
Create an infographic to appropriately represent the currencies of various countries and the exchange rate in CAD.

Links to Other Curriculum Expectations

Number

B2.3 Use mental math strategies to multiply and divide whole numbers and decimal numbers up to thousandths by powers of ten, and explain the strategies used.

B2.8 Compare proportional situations and determine unknown values in proportional situations, and apply proportional reasoning to solve problems in various contexts.

Differentiated Instruction and Universal Design for Learning

With a group of students, develop the sequence of important steps in the learning situation to understand where to start; for example, find Mia's total income per summer, subtract payroll deductions, subtract her expenses, calculate the net amount for one month.
Provide websites to compare credit cards in Canada, for example: Top 10 Best Credit Cards for Canadian Students.

For an Extra Challenge

Have students incorporate annual expenses into the budget.
To cover certain annual expenses, ask them to find other solutions to maintain a balanced budget and increase the chances that Mia will reach her financial goal (for example, find other sources of income than a summer job or reduce certain bills by comparing offers from various companies).