Problem-Based Lesson Plan Analysis: Money: Kids and Cash This lesson plan is really supper cool.

I really like how it teaches kids real like applications for math in a way that is fun and challenging. This lesson plans strengths include: good organization, clear instructions, creativity, clear learning objectives, and a good evaluation standard. Overall, this lesson plan is really awesome. The aspects of this lesson plan that connect to the problem-based model are: content, the learning objectives, problem-solving, and the assessment piece. The content of this lesson is on interest in banking. The problem of the lesson is for the students to take the information from three different banks and decide which bank would be the best place to invest their money. I really like how the teacher chose an ill-defined problem because it reflects real world problems. Also the students learning through this activity that there is not always a clear cut answer, and that factors such as convenience and personal needs are also a factor in making financial decisions. The learning objectives for this lesson are for students to understand: 1) A bank pays interest to people who put money in the bank. 2) The bank charges interest to people who borrow money. 3.) A bank charges higher interest to borrows, than it pays to savers. Even though this lesson plan does not explicitly state the developmental learning objectives (self-direction and problem-solving) they are implicitly stated in the evaluation piece. The evaluation for this lesson plan grades students according to these aspects of their work: arithmetic, considering other factors such as convenience, and writing. I would tweak this lesson plan to make it even stronger by implementing a banking system in the classroom. I could pair this lesson plan with STAD and let the students

improvement points be used as currency that they could invest in the class bank and earn interest. The students could also opt to borrow money and pay interest.