68 customizable lessons, aligned with National Standards, exams and more.
Read NGPF's school-by-school analysis of financial education in America today
Activities
Advocacy
Behavioral Economics
Best Of
Budgeting
Buying a Car
Career
Checking
Consumer Skills
Credit
Cryptocurrencies
Current Events
Curriculum Announcements
Economics
Entrepreneurship
Edpuzzle
ELL Resources
FinCap Friday
Gambling and Sports Betting
Insurance
Interactive
Investing
Math
Paying for College
Philanthropy
Podcasts
Press Releases
Professional Development
Question of the Day
Savings
So Expensive Series
Taxes
Teacher Talk
Thanks to Kerri Herrild of DePere High School (WI) (NGPF podcast guest) for passing along this activity created by Kate Kaster of Stevens Point Area High (WI). We love to get ideas from teachers that we can share with our community so thanks to Kate and Kerri for sharing!!! Kate credited the FEFE Business teacher website for the core activity which she then tweaked.
This all started when Kerri inquired whether NGPF had resources that link potential earning power to educational attainment (go to the bottom of the post to see what I found). Kerri then came across Kate’s activity on a WI teacher listserv. It is a hands-on activity that demonstrates the power of education through a tower-building exercise and follow-up discussion. Enjoy and better yet let us know how it goes in the classroom!
Education vs. Income Tower
Directions:
Divide the class into groups of 2
Hand out building materials (25 toothpicks, 25 small marshmallows)
Hand education sentences to each group
Have each group read their education statement
Give groups 10 minutes to build the tallest free-standing tower using supplies given
Discuss the success of each group after the activity.
Education Statements:
____________
Here are a few questions that I thought could help drive the discussion:
__________
Here are NGPF Resources that link income potential to education:
Blog posts (may require some work to be used in classroom)
Update: Just found this WSJ chart showing how income has changed since 1991 based on educational attainment. Only pay increases on real basis went to those with 4-year degree or more!
Maureen Neuner (NGPF Fellow) featured in the Beacon Times
A Few Good Resources and Inspiration...
4 Thanksgiving Ideas for Your Classroom
Decorate Your Classroom by Harvesting Financial Wisdom
Activity Ideas for Spooky Season
Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.
Join the more than 12,000 teachers who get the NGPF daily blog delivered to their inbox:
MOST POPULAR POSTS
1
Question of the Day: What are the top 3 fastest growing careers that don't need a 4-year degree?
2
Fall 2024 Updates to Paying for College Resources
3
Useful Personal Finance Movies and Documentaries with Worksheets
4
FinCap Friday: FAFSA Fiasco
5
New Fall PD Badges are Here
Before your subscription to our newsletter is active, you need to confirm your email address by clicking the link in the email we just sent you. It may take a couple minutes to arrive, and we suggest checking your spam folders just in case!
Great! Success message here
New to NGPF?
Save time, increase engagement, and teach life-changing financial skills with NGPF’s free curriculum
1.Register for a free TeacherAccount
2.ExploreSemester Course
3.Findstudent favorites
4.LeverageNGPF Academy
Your new account will provide you with access to NGPF Assessments and Answer Keys. It may take up to 1 business day for your Teacher Account to be activated; we will notify you once the process is complete.
Thanks for joining our community!
The NGPF Team
Complete the form below to access exclusive resources for teachers. Our team will review your account and send you a follow up email within 24 hours.
To speed up your verification process, please submit proof of status to gain access to answer keys & assessments.
Acceptable information includes:
Acceptable file types: .png, .jpg, .pdf.
Once you submit this form, our team will review your account and send you a follow up email within 24 hours. We may need additional information to verify your teacher status before you have full access to NGPF.
Take the quiz to quickly find the best resources for you!