The activities below focus on how to become a knowledgeable consumer and investor. They are about choosing a bank; protecting your credit; paying for college; and understanding wages, salaries, and careers. Each activity is provided as a lesson plan that can span a full math period.
Materials:
- An answer sheet provides solutions for all problems in the lessons below.
- Each activity includes a student sheet that can be printed and completed by the student, or the student can write the answers on a separate document.
Are You Ready?
This introductory activity titled “Are You Ready?” provides exercise to review skills related to fractions, decimals, and percents that are needed to complete the remaining activities.
Activity 1: Choosing a bank
In this activity, students explore a variety of real-world aspects to banking, including writing checks and understanding the difference between debit cards and credit cards.
Activity 2: Protecting Your credit
This activity introduces students to credit reports and credit history and why these are important to pay attention to.
Activity 3: Paying for college
Students consider why it’s important to begin thinking about paying for college now and explore ways to do so, such as with grants, savings, and scholarships.
Activity 4: Wages, salaries, and careers
With this activity, students research different career paths, including calculating the effects of lifetime income.
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View more math teaching resources for middle school here. Or check out our free learning activities for all grades and subjects.
This blog, originally published in 2020, has been updated for 2025.
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