This is a post from awhile ago, but I thought I would repost it now. Children are at home, and sorting through coins is a great activity that can be done at home and can involve lots of authentic learning:
While searching for information on the United States Mint, I accidentally ended up on a site that sold coins. (Don’t you love how companies set up domain names with one different letter from another domain, hoping you will type a wrong letter and end up at their site – and maybe not even notice.) Once I realized I was on the wrong site, I was fascinated by the price of coins. What makes a coin extra valuable? Some of the current coins were still in circulation, why would anyone pay more for a coin that they could still get for face value in circulation? What is a “proof” coin? Do the pictures a country places on its coins (and/or paper currency) tell you something about that country?
I was then reminded of the coin collection I had as a child, and how much fun it was to collect coins. I learned so much about geography and was constantly using math without even realizing it. (Value of foreign currency, exchange rates, saving my allowance to buy a coin I really wanted…)
So many questions, so many possible authentic teaching moments, and maybe even an authentic project…
The Educational Journey 