Lesson sheet · Module 4
The mechanics of money
The aim of the lesson
Every loan is money that appears today and disappears when you repay it — with interest. Borrow from your future self only if that future self would agree.
- 👧 Child: "If I borrow now, what will I have to give back, and when?"
- 🧑 Teenager: "Buy now, pay later" is also credit. How much will you pay in total?
- 🧔 Adult: what will the thing you are borrowing for give back to you? More than it costs with the interest (Module 7 — the APR)?
Your step in Pecuvo: record every loan as a "debt" account and set a "repayment" goal. See how many months it stays in your life and how much interest it costs.
The topic (chapters of the module)
- Chapter 1 · Who makes money
- Chapter 2 · Lending creates money
- Chapter 3 · Two myths
- Chapter 4 · What holds banks back
- Chapter 5 · Interest — the price of money
- Chapter 6 · Inflation
- Chapter 7 · Hyperinflation
For the youngest · ages 6–7
🐣 The youngest: Most money today cannot be seen. It is written in a big notebook at the bank. When someone borrows, a new line is written there. What is borrowed is given back — often with a little extra.
Play together (5 minutes): Make a "bank notebook" from a sheet of paper. The child lends 5 buttons to a teddy bear and writes: "Teddy owes 5." When Teddy gives them back, cross out the line together.
A question for the evening: "Why do you think people believe what is written down?"
Questions for the class — 3 per level
- 👧 1. Who makes banknotes? 2. What does the bank write in its notebook when it makes a loan? 3. What is inflation?
- 🧑 1. What happens to the money when you repay a loan? 2. Which two myths does the Bank of England reject? 3. Why is the ECB's target "symmetric"?
- 🧔 1. What limits banks' lending? 2. Why did the huge reserves after 2008 not produce huge lending? 3. What do Germany 1923, Zimbabwe 2008 and Bulgaria 1997 have in common?
A 45-minute plan
- 5 min
- The question for the evening or one from “Check yourself” — what do the pupils think? No right or wrong answers.
- 15 min
- One or two chapters of the module at the level of the class (the “child · teenager · adult” buttons on the page).
- 10 min
- The game or the calculator for the topic — in pairs or on the board.
- 10 min
- The questions for the class. If you like, the open test — everyone writes down only their code.
- 5 min
- The iron principle in the pupils' own words and one small step for home.
Tools for the lesson
- The whole module on the website pecuvo.eu/en/modules/the-mechanics-of-money/
- Calculator: Inflation pecuvo.eu/en/calculators/inflation/
- The open test (9 questions) — pupils write down only their code (e.g. K4B11), no names; the class distribution is shown on the same page pecuvo.eu/en/test/
- The Glossary — terms explained simply pecuvo.eu/en/glossary/