Introduction
Most people will have a bank account at some stage in their lives. Sometimes parents open accounts for their children when they are very young. In other cases young people go through the application process themselves, for example, when they start college or get their first job. In this lesson, students will work together to research the application process and the services they will have available to them once their account is open.
Resources
Time: Single class period
Activity 1: Review of lesson one homework task
Step-by-step instructions
1. Facilitate a whole class discussion about accounts using student feedback from Lesson 1: Homework task. Prompt questions may include:
- What financial institution did you research?
- What did you learn about the account in general?
- Did anyone research an account that is accessible to young people?
- What does the account you researched allow people to do?
- What types of fees and charges can be applied to the account?
Note: Depending on your class you may also wish to share the detail provided in Teacher resource sheet: Current account information.
Activity 2: Opening a bank account
1. Divide the class into small groups.
2. Invite groups to brainstorm the types of questions they would need to ask a bank if they wanted to open a bank account.
3. Take feedback from a sample of groups, recording their responses on the white/blackboard.
4. Distribute one copy of to each group.
Note: Read the worksheet aloud to ensure that all students understand the terminology used.
8. Invite each group to divide up their FAQs so that each person in the group takes an equal share.
Homework taskInvite each student to get answers to their set of FAQs, either by researching online, over the phone or in person.
Encourage groups to come together before the next class and make the FAQ responses as clear and user-friendly as possible.
The steps for reviewing this homework task are given at the start of Lesson 3.
