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Lesson 11 Social Studies · Trade · Economics

Money, Trade & Exchange

Imagine money disappeared tomorrow. How would you get what you need? Trade your way through a barter chain, meet strange currencies from history, and discover why humans needed to invent money in the first place.

🕐 ~45 min total
📋 5 activities
🪙 Barter Chain game
🏅 DigComp badge
✦ Start Activity 1 ↓ See all activities
The Mystery
"If money disappeared tomorrow — how would you get what you need?" This question drives the entire lesson.
5
Phases
5
Activities
~45m
Duration
9-10
Ages
DigComp competences
1.2 - Evaluating digital content 1.3 - Managing digital content 3.1 - Developing digital content Badge: Money Master L1
Lesson overview
Students discover why money was invented by first trying to solve a trade problem without it. Through a playful barter chain, strange historical currencies (shells, salt, giant stone coins), and the design of their own imaginary money, students learn what money actually does, and why humans needed to invent it.

The lesson follows the 5-phase Wonder Learning approach in a compact format - one platform activity per phase - with full no-tech and SEN alternatives throughout, and a single summative quiz at the very end of the lesson.
Your learning journey - 5 activities
🪙
Phase 1 · Anticipation
Could You Survive Without Money?
1 activity
🪙
Activity 1 · Phase 1
Could You Survive Without Money?
A gallery of six strange historical "moneys", a wonder question, a quick poll, and a 30-second silent trade challenge.
⏱ 6 min 💬 Discussion
▶ Start here
🐟
Phase 2 · Encounter
The Big Trade Problem
1 activity
🐟
Activity 2 · Phase 2
The Big Trade Problem
Meet Mira the fisherwoman in a 3-slide illustrated story, tap key terms to learn their meaning, then complete a quick picture check.
⏱ 10 min 🎥 Audio/Visual
🔒 Locked
🔗
Phase 3 · Investigation
The Barter Chain Challenge
1 activity
🔗
Activity 3 · Phase 3
The Barter Chain Challenge
Start with an apple and trade your way to a bicycle - meet six trading characters, avoid the dead end, and reflect on what would make it easier.
⏱ 12 min 🔗 Interactive
🔒 Locked
💡
Phase 4 · Discovery
What Have I Discovered About Money?
1 activity
💡
Activity 4 · Phase 4
What Have I Discovered About Money?
A narrated summary of what you've learned, a private three-statement self-check, and a short reflection - no test here.
⏱ 7 min 💡 Reflection
🔒 Locked
🎨
Phase 5 · Propagation
Design Your Own Currency
1 activity
🎨
Activity 5 · Phase 5
Design Your Own Currency
Design and name a currency for a made-up place, then complete the lesson's one and only 5-question graded quiz.
⏱ 10 min 🏁 Creative + Quiz
🔒 Locked

Ready to discover why we use money?

Start Activity 1 and work through the journey at your own pace. Each activity unlocks the next - from a world with no money at all to designing a currency of your own.

🏅 Complete all 5 activities and pass the quiz to earn the Money Master - Level 1 DigComp badge

🪙 Start the journey