The Farmstand Coin Vault: Counting, Combining & Making Change
Shared by A STEM Educator
Students will identify coin and dollar-bill denominations, efficiently count mixed collections by starting with the highest-value coin, find equivalent combinations, use the fewest coins, and calculate change from 100 cents or 1 dollar using counting-on strategies.
Lesson Overview
Students work in random groups at vertical surfaces to build fluency with mixed coin collections, equivalent combinations, least-coin strategies, and making change — all framed inside a lively farmer's market context. The lesson moves from skip-counting a sorted coin tray to managing a multi-item farmstand budget.
Materials
- Vertical whiteboards or large chart paper taped to walls
- Dry-erase markers (one per group)
- Erasers or paper towels
- Random grouping cards or name sticks
- Printed coin reference card (optional anchor chart)
- Projector or display for Desmos interactive tool
Scaffolded Task Progression
A customer dumps these coins on your counter:
- quarters
- dimes
- nickel
- pennies
Step 1: Write the coins in order from HIGHEST value to LOWEST value.
Step 2: Skip-count to find the total. Show each step on your board.
Step 3: Write the total in cents.
Look at these two coin groups:
- Group A: nickel and dime
- Group B: nickels
The nickel is physically BIGGER than the dime.
1. Which group is worth more?
2. How much more is it worth?
3. Write a number sentence to prove it.
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