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Money Characteristics Evaluator

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About This MicroSim

This MicroSim lets students evaluate how well different objects function as money by rating them across six essential characteristics: Durability, Portability, Divisibility, Uniformity, Limited Supply, and Acceptability. Students can click through eight historical and modern items -- from gold coins and cattle to Bitcoin and Yap Island stone discs -- and see how each scores on a 0-to-10 scale. A comparison mode allows side-by-side evaluation, and each item includes historical context and a thought-provoking discussion question.

How to Use

  1. Select an Item: Click any of the eight item buttons at the top (Gold Coins, Paper Dollars, Cigarettes, Seashells, Cattle, Bitcoin, Salt, or Stone Discs) to see its ratings.
  2. Read the Characteristic Bars: Six horizontal bars show how the selected item scores on each money characteristic, from 0 (worst) to 10 (best).
  3. Check the Overall Money Score: The summary bar at the bottom shows the total score out of 60, with color coding from red (poor money) to green (excellent money).
  4. Enable Comparison Mode: Check the "Compare Two Items" box, then select a second item from the dropdown to see both items' scores side by side on the same chart.
  5. Read the Historical Context: Each item includes a brief history explaining why it was used as money, plus a "Think about it" discussion prompt.

Iframe Embed Code

You can add this MicroSim to any web page by adding this to your HTML:

<iframe src="https://dmccreary.github.io/economics-course/sims/money-evaluator/main.html"
        height="572px"
        width="100%"
        scrolling="no"></iframe>

Lesson Plan

Grade Level

9-12 (High School Economics)

Duration

10-15 minutes

Prerequisites

  • Basic understanding of what money is and why we use it
  • Familiarity with the concept of barter and its limitations
  • Knowledge of at least one historical form of money

Activities

  1. Exploration (5 min): Click through all eight items and rank them from best to worst as money based on their overall scores. Identify which characteristic is the biggest weakness for each item. Discuss whether any single characteristic is a "deal-breaker."
  2. Guided Practice (5 min): Use comparison mode to compare Gold Coins with Paper Dollars, then Bitcoin with Paper Dollars. For each pair, identify the characteristics where one clearly wins. Discuss why paper money replaced gold as everyday currency despite gold's higher durability.
  3. Assessment (5 min): Choose the item you think is the worst form of money and write a paragraph explaining which characteristics disqualify it. Then propose an item not in the simulation (e.g., water bottles, trading cards) and predict how it would score on each characteristic.

Assessment

  • Students can name and define the six characteristics of good money
  • Students can explain why no single item scores perfectly on all characteristics
  • Students can apply the characteristics framework to evaluate a novel item as potential money

References

  1. Money - Wikipedia - History and functions of money including the characteristics that make something useful as currency
  2. Functions of Money - Khan Academy - Video explanation of money's roles and characteristics
  3. Rai Stones - Wikipedia - Fascinating history of the giant stone discs used as money on Yap Island