Have you ever wondered how to engage your Intermediate, Grade 8 Students with the topic of Social Studies and Financial Literacy? Working with a few of my colleagues, we have discovered one simple lesson to do just that!Below, you will see our lesson formatted specifically for students that are in our Geographic Region of Ontario: it is so important to have our students relate to the material that we're teaching them, and bringing the material and information close to home will allow them to experience the reality behind our topic:
- Divide the class into four different groups.
- There are four different profiles that describe a living and financial situation. Each group will receive their own profile.
- After reading your case profile, you are expected to determine which of these four cities would be the best for you to live in: Barrie, Hamilton, St. Catharines/Niagara, and Toronto. The question you are expected to answer is:
Which of these four cities best accommodates your budget?
- Go to the google doc https://goo.gl/AKyh5p and you will find your own profile along with a list of various living expenses for these four cities: housing costs, gas, cellphone, food and leisurely activities.
- After comparing your total monthly income to the listed living expenses for each of the four cities, determine which city would best accommodate your budget.
- After determining which city would be best to live in, you can use the chart provided to input the cost of each of these necessities and how your budget allows for it.
- Finally, group by group, we will review why each city was chosen and your justification.
Our point of the lesson is:
- As demonstrated through this activity, you can all see how difficult budgeting can be, especially when there are a variety of economic, social and other limitations involved.
- You can also see how being financial stable and secure is a real concern for families.
- Global economies impact everyone, and depending on a variety of economic and social factors, you can see how various human settlement patterns are formed when people feel stuck in their situations. This is how we get areas of low and high socioeconomic status, depending on cost of living and total expenditure.
Remember: Financial literacy is more than just money, it's about geographic, social, physical and environmental factors. This is something we will get into next lesson!
Our link to our presentation is included in this post here.
I hope everyone finds this useful, testing it on our colleagues they were very much engaged with the task at hand. Please feel free to post any comments or questions below.
Married Family Profile
You and your spouse have two children and are expecting your third. You both work full time jobs and make a combined monthly income of $12,500. You both have your own vehicle and your kids are active in extracurriculars therefore you eat out about three days a week. You both own your own cellphones to keep in contact with the grandparents who live out East, and you both have gym memberships. Since you’re expecting your third child, you are looking for a more spacious place to provide for your family. Your costs will have to go towards rent money, cell phone bills, food and leisurely activities. Which of the four cities would be the most ideal to live in based off of this information? Do you have extra expenses to put towards other costs such as college funds or family vacations? Justify your answer.
Expenses
|
Actual Cost
|
Your Budget
|
Housing
| ||
Gas
| ||
Cellphone
| ||
Food
| ||
Leisurely
|
Total Monthly Income:_____________________
Extra Money for Expenses:_________________
Which city did you feel was accommodating with your budget?
What other important expenses could your extra money be used for? How would debt affect your decision?
Student Profile
You’re currently enrolled in your second year of University with a full course load. You’re working part time at a retail store minimum 16 hours a week, making $12.00 an hour. At the end of each week, you’re taking home $192.00 per week. Based off of this information, how much do you earn per month? You don’t have to worry about the cost of transportation as your bus fare is included in tuition and you don’t have a vehicle. Your costs will have to go towards rent money, cell phone bill, food and leisurely activities. Which of the four cities would be the most ideal to live in based off of this information? Do you have extra expenses to put towards other costs? Justify your answer.
Expenses
|
Actual Cost
|
Your Budget
|
Housing
| ||
Gas
| ||
Cellphone
| ||
Food
| ||
Leisurely
|
Total Monthly Income:_____________________
Extra Money for Expenses:_________________
Which city did you feel was accommodating with your budget?
What other important expenses could your extra money be used for? How would debt affect your decision?
Single Parent Profile
You are a single dad to two young boys. The mother of your children was incarcerated after conspiracy to drug trafficking charges. You work two jobs, earning $9,000 per month. You have your own vehicle to travel to your job as well as a cellphone to keep in contact with your parents. Your boys are too young to be involved in extracurriculars, however this is something that you would like for them to do once they are older. Your costs will have to go towards rent money, cell phone bill, food and leisurely activities. Which of the four cities would be the most ideal to live in based off of this information? Do you have extra expenses to put towards other costs such as extracurricular activities for your boys or their college funds? Justify your answer.
Expenses
|
Actual Cost
|
Your Budget
|
Housing
| ||
Gas
| ||
Cellphone
| ||
Food
| ||
Leisurely
|
Total Monthly Income:_____________________
Extra Money for Expenses:_________________
Which city did you feel was accommodating with your budget?
What other important expenses could your extra money be used for? How would debt affect your decision?
Retiring Couple Profile
You and your spouse have been retired for just over a month now. Combined you both receive $3000 monthly from your retirement fund. You share a vehicle and a cell phone plan as you are looking to cut costs so that you can start travelling. Your costs will have to go towards rent money, cell phone bill and food. Which of the four cities would be most ideal to live in? Do you have extra expenses to put towards other costs such as grandchildren’s birthdays or vacations? Justify your answer.
Expenses
|
Actual Cost
|
Your Budget
|
Housing
| ||
Gas
| ||
Cellphone
| ||
Food
| ||
Leisurely
|
Total Monthly Income:_____________________
Extra Money for Expenses:_________________
Which city did you feel was accommodating with your budget?
What other important expenses could your extra money be used for? How would debt affect your decision?
Housing Costs
Private Row (Townhouse) and Apartment Average Rents Per Month $
| ||||
Bachelor
|
1 Bedroom
|
2 Bedroom
|
3 Bedroom
| |
Barrie
|
$ 749
|
$ 983
|
$ 1,116
|
$ 1,261
|
Hamilton
|
$ 643
|
$ 810
|
$ 1,003
|
$ 1,119
|
St. Catharines/
Niagara
|
$ 585
|
$ 763
|
$ 910
|
$ 1,006
|
Toronto
|
$ 902
|
$ 1,085
|
$ 1,267
|
$ 1,495
|
Gas Costs Average
Regular
|
Midgrade
|
Premium
|
Diesel
| |
Barrie
|
85.0 cents/litre
|
96.6 cents/litre
|
99.6 cents/litre
|
85.0 cents/litre
|
Hamilton
|
86.6 cents/litre
|
97.6 cents/litre
|
104.6 cents/litre
|
86.6 cents/litre
|
St. Catharines/
Niagara
|
87.8 cents/litre
|
97.9 cents/litre
|
102.9 cents/litre
|
87.8 cents/litre
|
Toronto
|
86.9 cents/litre
|
94.4 cents/litre
|
101.9 cents/litre
|
87.5 cents/litre
|
Average Food Cost
Walmart
|
Sobeys
| |
Barrie
|
$55.00 per week
|
$90.00 per week
|
Hamilton
|
$52.00 per week
|
$87.00 per week
|
St. Catharine’s /Niagara
|
$45.00 per week
|
$80.00 per week
|
Toronto
|
$65.00 per week
|
$100.00 per week
|
Cell Phone Costs
Monthly Cell Phone Costs
| ||||
Rogers
|
$80.00
1 GB of Data
Unlimited Messaging
Canada Wide Calling
|
$90.00
2.5 GB of Data
Unlimited Messaging
Canada Wide Calling
PLUS 1 Choice of the following for 24 Months
Spotify, Shomi, Texture
|
$105
5 GB of Data Unlimited Messaging
Canada Wide Calling
PLUS 1 Choice of the following for 24 Months
Spotify, Shomi, Texture
|
$125
9 GB of Data
Unlimited Messaging
Canada Wide Calling
PLUS 1 Choice of the following for 24 Months
Spotify, Shomi, Texture
|
Bell
|
$70.00
300 Anytime Local Minutes
Unlimited Local Nights (6 pm-7 am) and Weekends (6pm Friday-7 am Monday)
1 GB of Data
|
$80.00
300 Anytime Local Minutes
Unlimited Local Nights (6 pm-7 am) and Weekends (6pm Friday-7 am Monday)
2.5 GB of Data
|
$95.00
300 Anytime Local Minutes
Unlimited Local Nights (6 pm-7 am) and Weekends (6pm Friday-7 am Monday)
5 GB of Data
|
300 Anytime
Local Minutes
Unlimited Local Nights (6 pm-7 am) and Weekends (6pm Friday-7 am Monday)
9 GB of Data
|
Koodo
|
$35.00
200 Minutes
100 MB of Data
Unlimited Message
Unlimited Evenings and Weekends
Call Display, Voicemail, Call Waiting, Conference Calling and Unlimited Canada Wide Family Calling
|
$40.00
300 Minutes
300 MB of Data
Unlimited Message
Unlimited Evenings and Weekends
Call Display, Voicemail, Call Waiting, Conference Calling and Unlimited Canada Wide Family Calling
|
$80.00
Unlimited Minutes
3 GB of Data
Unlimited Message
Unlimited Evenings and Weekends
Call Display, Voicemail, Call Waiting, Conference Calling and Unlimited Canada Wide Family Calling
|
$95.00
Unlimited Minutes
5 GB of Data
Unlimited Message
Unlimited Evenings and Weekends
Call Display, Voicemail, Call Waiting, Conference Calling and Unlimited Canada Wide Family Calling
|
Telus
|
$25.75
For 30 Days
50 Anytime Local Minutes
Unlimited Canadian and International Messaging
100 MB of Data
|
$35.75
For 30 Days
100 Anytime Local Minutes
Unlimited Canadian and International Messaging
250 MB of Data
350 SCENE points towards FREE movies
|
$45.75
For 30 Days
150 Anytime Local Minutes
Unlimited Canadian and International Messaging
500 MB of Data
450 SCENE points towards FREE movies
|
$65.75
For 30 Days
300 Anytime Local Minutes
Unlimited Canadian and International Messaging
1 GB of Data
600 SCENE points towards FREE movies
|
Leisurely Activities
Movies
Based off General Admission for one person at Cineplex Theaters
|
Gym (Goodlife)
Based off Multi Club Membership
Per one person biweekly
|
Restaurants / Bars
Based off Trip Advisor’s Top 10, We Averaged the Cost per one meal per person
| |
Barrie
|
Average Rate: $10.50
Senior’s Rate: $7.99
|
Student Rate: $15.00
Average Rate: $30.00
|
$24.70
|
Hamilton
|
Average Rate: $11.99
Senior’s Rate: $9.50
|
Student Rate: $15.00
Average Rate: $30.00
|
$24.50
|
St. Catharine’s /Niagara
|
Average Rate: $9.50
Senior’s Rate: $8.25
|
Student Rate: $15.00
Average Rate: $30.00
|
$17.10
|
Toronto
|
Average Rate: $12.99
Senior’s Rate: $9.50
|
Student Rate: $15.00
Average Rate: $30.00
|
$45.80
|
PowerPoint Presentation:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1EWomJnO6UePzzc0dP-u983m8YMRjhxi0B8VEV6kQxp8/edit#slide=id.p
References: See Document.
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