Money Knowledge Check

Overview

This first lesson in the six-lesson unit establishes what students already know about Australian coins, notes, dollars and cents. Students complete a short individual diagnostic supported by a brief practical sorting task, allowing the teacher to identify misconceptions and form groups for targeted support or extension.

Learning intentions

• Students will identify common Australian coins and notes.
• Students will recognise that $1 equals 100 cents and match equivalent money values.
• Students will count collections of coins and notes accurately.
• Students will represent a money amount in more than one way.
• Students will explain the strategy they used to solve a money problem.

Success criteria

• I can name and order Australian coins and notes.
• I can match dollars with the same value in cents.
• I can count a collection and record its total value.
• I can show an amount using different combinations of coins and notes.
• I can explain how I know my answer is correct.

Curriculum links

• Measurement — relationships between dollars and cents and representing money values in different ways.
• Number — following and creating sequences of steps and decisions to investigate numbers and describe patterns.
• Number — adding and subtracting two- and three-digit numbers using place value, partitioning and regrouping.
• Number — modelling and solving practical additive and multiplicative problems, including financial contexts.

Lesson structure (45 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Hook and confidence check. Open with the hook and lesson introduction slides showing a mixed Australian coin and note collection and ask, “How could we work out its value without guessing?” Students silently write or draw one thing they know about Australian money, then share with a partner. Explain that this is a diagnostic, not a test, and that mistakes help the teacher plan the next lessons.

2. 5–12 min · Practical identification sort. Display the visual prompts in the coin and note sorting instructions and provide small groups with the visual coin and note cut-outs. Students sort the cut-outs into coins and notes, arrange each type from least to greatest value, and discuss how they identified each item. The teacher listens for confusion between size, colour and value, and records student names beside observed strengths or misconceptions.

3. 12–27 min · Individual diagnostic task. Distribute the individual money diagnostic worksheet and remind students to work independently so responses show their current understanding. Students complete tasks involving:

• naming or matching Australian coins and notes;
• matching dollar amounts to equivalent cents, including $1 = 100c and $2 = 200c;
• counting collections of coins and notes;
• representing amounts such as $1.85 in two different ways;
• solving one practical purchase or change problem using a number sentence or jotting.

Students may use drawings or physical materials, but the teacher should avoid explaining the method or correcting answers. Circulate, noting whether students count by value, confuse dollars and cents, rely on visual size, or can regroup and partition amounts.

4. 27–34 min · Strategy conference and error analysis. Pause the class with the diagnostic discussion prompts. Show two anonymous examples, such as a collection incorrectly counted by coin number and $1.40 incorrectly matched with 140 dollars. Students think-pair-share: “What might the person have misunderstood?” and “What could they do to check?” Emphasise respectful mathematical talk; do not reveal whether any student produced the examples.

5. 34–41 min · Choice challenge and teacher observations. Students who finish the worksheet choose one amount from the slide, such as $2.35 or $3.60, and show it in three different ways using drawings, equations or the cut-outs. Students needing more time complete the core questions only and may use the practical materials. The teacher briefly conferences with selected students, asking them to explain their counting or matching strategy rather than supplying an answer.

6. 41–45 min · Exit response and collection. Use the reflection and exit prompt. Students complete the final box on the worksheet: “One money idea I understand is…” and “One money idea I want to practise is…”. Collect all worksheets and the teacher’s observation notes before students pack away.

Resources

• the complete money diagnostic slide deck
• the individual money diagnostic worksheet
• the visual coin and note cut-outs
• Sets of Australian play coins and notes, if available
• Pencils, erasers and coloured pencils
• Whiteboard and markers
• Teacher observation checklist
• Class list for recording grouping information

Assessment

• During the practical sort, observe whether students identify currency by denomination and can order values rather than relying on size or colour.
• Analyse worksheet responses for accuracy in coin and note identification, dollar–cent equivalence, counting, representation and additive reasoning. Record the strategy used as well as the answer.
• Use the reflection response and observation notes to create flexible groups for Lesson 2: support with identifying and counting, consolidation of dollars and cents, or extension through multiple representations and change.

Differentiation

• Support students with enlarged visual currency, access to play money, a quiet workspace and permission to draw or use materials. Read instructions aloud without rephrasing the mathematical content.
• Provide sentence starters such as “I know this is worth ___ because…” and “___ cents is the same as ___ dollars.”
• For EAL learners, pair each key term with a clear visual and model the difference between the symbols $ and c; accept oral explanations where writing is a barrier.
• Extend early finishers by requiring three representations of an amount and an explanation of which representation is most efficient and why. Do not use this extension to judge students who need the full diagnostic time.