What is money?

• Mathematics
• Primary Education

Learning objective: To understand what money is and why it is needed

Discuss with your learning 

partner what you think money

is and why it is needed.

How many 'money related' words do you know?

What do you think is happening in this image?

Who is in this image and what do you think is happening?

What do you think is happening in this image?

We have a butcher and a fishmonger. The butcher has meat that the fishmonger does not.  The fishmonger has fish that that butcher does not. They both want each other's produce, so they can swap. This is called barter. 

Can you think of any drawbacks of barter?

What do you think is happening in this image?

Barter is great if two people have something each other wants. Barter soon becomes problematic when the person you want to exchange your produce with doesn't want what you have! Barter can become complicated when lots of people are trying to find other people that might want what they have. It takes up a lot of time and energy!

We have identified one major problem with bartering. What could be the solution?

Share your ideas. 

Historical solutions

The solution was to use a tangible item known as 'a token' that was accepted by all people in the community as having value. People in the community could then swap this token for products they wanted or needed. In modern times, we call this 'purchasing or buying'.

Over the course of human history, many items have been accepted by communities as having a particular value. These items were then accepted as payment for products that people wanted to trade.

Why is bartering problematic?

1. People may find it hard to find someone who wants what they have.
2. Bartering is not very fun to do.
3. Bartering can take a lot of time and energy.
4. Bartering is boring.