Lesson sheet · Module 1 # History of money ## The aim of the lesson > **Money is a promise. Before you take, hold or give money — ask who is making the promise and what will happen if they do not keep it.** - 👧 Child: "Whose promise is it?" — Mum's, the bank's, the game's. - 🧑 Teenager: before you buy crypto or "points" in a game — who issues them and can they switch them off? - 🧔 Adult: how much of your money is a claim on one bank (over €100,000?), how much rests on one single promise. **Your step in Pecuvo:** in "Net worth", split your accounts by **who makes the promise**: cash box (nobody — you hold it), bank (the bank + the guarantee), fund, crypto (who?). See how much depends on one promise. ## The topic (chapters of the module) 1. Chapter 1 · Before coins: debt and trust 2. Chapter 2 · Things everybody wants 3. Chapter 3 · The coin 4. Chapter 4 · Paper 5. Chapter 5 · Banks and banknotes 6. Chapter 6 · The gold anchor 7. Chapter 7 · 1971 — the anchor is lifted 8. Chapter 8 · Plastic, screen, code ## For the youngest · ages 6–7 🐣 **The youngest:** A long time ago people had no coins. They gave each other things and remembered who owed what. They wrote it down so they would not forget. Money is like a promise: "I will give it back to you." The coin in your hand is also a promise that everybody believes. **Play together (5 minutes):** Swap toys without money: "the car for two books". Then give the toys a price in coins and try again. Ask your child which was easier and why. **A question for the evening:** "If there were no money, what would you give for an apple?" **A game from the catalogue:** RZ-02 "Market without money" — [https://pecuvo.eu/igri/katalog/#rz-02](https://pecuvo.eu/igri/katalog/#rz-02) (in Bulgarian) ## Questions for the class — 3 per level - 👧 1. What did the scribe in Ur write on the tablet? 2. Why is salt not good money? 3. What does the stamp on the coin say? - 🧑 1. Is there evidence of a society that lived on barter alone? 2. What happens when the issuer prints too many notes? 3. What changed on 15.08.1971? - 🧔 1. How do commodity, backed and fiat money differ? 2. Why did Stockholms Banco fail? 3. Whose liability is the money in your bank account? ## A 45-minute plan - **5 min:** The question for the evening or one from “Check yourself” — what do the pupils think? No right or wrong answers. - **15 min:** One or two chapters of the module at the level of the class (the “child · teenager · adult” buttons on the page). - **10 min:** The game or the calculator for the topic — in pairs or on the board. - **10 min:** The questions for the class. If you like, the open test — everyone writes down only their code. - **5 min:** The iron principle in the pupils' own words and one small step for home. ## Tools for the lesson - [The whole module on the website](https://pecuvo.eu/en/modules/history-of-money/) pecuvo.eu/en/modules/history-of-money/ - [The open test (9 questions) — pupils write down only their code (e.g. K4B11), no names; the class distribution is shown on the same page](https://pecuvo.eu/en/test/) pecuvo.eu/en/test/ - [The Glossary — terms explained simply](https://pecuvo.eu/en/glossary/) pecuvo.eu/en/glossary/ No personal data of pupils. Children under 14 — with a teacher or a parent. Do not compare individual pupils. Knowledge, not financial advice. The sheets may be freely printed and copied for lessons, clubs and families, with the source pecuvo.eu. They may not be sold.