Introduction
Imagine a world without money – would you be better or worse off? Before money, people traded goods and services. In this lesson students learn about the concept of barter, which is a system for exchanging/trading goods and services without using money.
Resources
Time: Single class period
Material:
Activity 1: What is barter?
- Ask the class if anyone has ever swapped one thing for something else or swapped anything with family members or friends? Note their responses on the white/blackboard.
- Explain that ‘barter’ is the correct term for these types of transactions or deals.
- Ask the students if anyone has ever heard of this term before and if so, in what context?
- Write the following definition of barter on the white/blackboard: "Barter is the exchange of goods or services, without the use of money."
Note: Depending on your class you may wish to provide the following definitions of 'goods and services':
- Goods are physical items that can be seen and touched such as food, books, pens, clothes, shoes and computers.
- Services are best described as actions e.g. grass-cutting, car repairs, medical check-ups etc.
Activity 2: The ‘pros’ and ‘cons’ of barter
- Divide the class into pairs of students.
- Distribute one copy of student worksheet: the pros and cons of barter to each pair.
- Invite students to work together to complete the worksheet.
- Write ‘Pros’ and ‘Cons’ as headings on the white/blackboard.
- Invite students to consult their completed student worksheet: The pros and cons of barter and call out what they have written in the ‘pro’ and ‘con’ columns. Record their responses under the appropriate heading on the white/blackboard.
