Year 4 · Money and pocket money

Needs, wants and saving up

Measure and calculate the perimeter of a rectilinear figure, including squares, in centimetres and metres

20 minutes4 checks6 exit questionsNational curriculum objective

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Measure and calculate the perimeter of a rectilinear figure, including squares, in centimetres and metres

Key learning points

• Needs come first
• The wait-a-week rule
• Saving is maths
• A money jar you can see

This lesson at a glance

20 minutes
18 parts to scroll through
4 quick checks
No marked quiz yet
Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

measurecalculateperimeterrectilinearfigure

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 18 · Intro6%

Introduction

Part 1 of 18

Visual introduction

Picture this

Needs, wants and saving up

Money runs out. Choosing between what you need and what you want — and saving towards the big things — is the most useful money skill there is.

In a nutshell

Measure and calculate the perimeter of a rectilinear figure, including squares, in centimetres and metres

What you already know

Part 2 of 18

Before we start

What you already know

You can add and subtract money amounts.

Key words

Part 3 of 18

Key words

Words you'll need today

need: Something you must have, like food or school shoes.
want: Something nice to have that you could manage without.
saving: Keeping some money back now for something later.

Learning cycle

Part 4 of 18

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Part 1 — Needs and wants

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

Explore the idea

Part 5 of 18

Learn

Needs come first

A need keeps you safe, healthy or able to learn: food, water, a warm coat, the bus fare to school. A want is everything else: the game, the magazine, the sweets. Wants are fine — but money for needs has to be spoken for before money for wants.

Explore the idea

Part 6 of 18

Learn

The wait-a-week rule

Most wants shrink if you wait. See something for £4? Wait a week. If you still want it just as much, it is a real want and you can plan for it. Half the time you will have forgotten about it — and kept your £4.

Quick check

Part 7 of 18

Quick check

Which of these is a need?

Reset break

Part 8 of 18

Pause

That's sitting 1 of 2 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now

Quick check

Part 9 of 18

Quick check

You save £1.50 a week towards a £9 book. How many weeks?

Learning cycle

Part 10 of 18

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Part 2 — Saving for something

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

Explore the idea

Part 11 of 18

Learn

Saving is maths

Say you get £2 pocket money a week and want a £9 book. Save £1 a week and the book takes nine weeks. Save £1.50 and it takes six. Divide the price by what you can save each week and you have the waiting time — a real division problem with a prize at the end.

Explore the idea

Part 12 of 18

Learn

A money jar you can see

Saving works better when you can watch it grow. A jar, a money box or a line on paper with the running total all work. Watching £1 become £4.50 is what keeps you going when the corner shop calls.

Quick check

Part 13 of 18

Quick check

What is the wait-a-week rule for?

Quick check

Part 14 of 18

Quick check

Saving works best when you can...

Common mix-ups

Part 15 of 18

Common mix-ups

Things people often get wrong

Calling everything a need — then the money is gone before real needs appear.
Saving with no goal, so the money leaks away on small things.
Thinking saving means never having anything fun — it means planning the fun.

Challenge round

Part 16 of 18

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

Mastery quiz

Part 17 of 18

No quiz for this one

This lesson has no marked quiz attached yet.

Lesson round-up

Part 18 of 18

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

Not sat

Games

Not played

Points this lesson

Best run

0 in a row

Luna: 0 out of 4 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?

Ask Luna

Do the work

Your written work for this lesson

This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.

Article

The cost of a school trip

A school is planning a trip to a wildlife park. The coach costs £480 however many people go. Entry costs £9.50 for each pupil and each adult goes free. The school says every pupil must pay the same amount, and the trip must not lose money.

If 60 pupils go, the coach works out at £8 each, so the total for each pupil is £17.50. If only 40 pupils go, the coach works out at £12 each, so the price rises to £21.50. The teacher explains that the coach is a fixed cost and the entry is a cost per person — which is why the price per pupil changes when the number changes.

The school decides to charge £20 and to use anything left over for a second trip later in the year.

Written for Good Learning Co.

Reading questions

Work out the total cost of the trip if 50 pupils go.
Show why the price per pupil falls when more pupils go, using numbers.
At £20 each, how many pupils must go before the trip makes money? Show your working.

Working out
Working out
Do the practice questions on paper, showing every step — not just the answer. Mark them yourself and circle anything you got wrong.
10–15 questions
Worked example, explained
Writing
Copy one question out and write underneath, in words, why each step works.
1 question, 4–5 sentences
Problem in words
Working out
Write your own real-life problem that uses today's method, then solve it.
1 problem + solution

Write your answer, notes or working here

Saved as you type.

Photos of paper work, diagrams or working outHow many minutes did the written work take?

Part 1 of 18 · Introduction

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Back to your Year 4 units, or a few minutes of quick practice.

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