Are credit cards good or bad? What is the true cost of owning a pet? How can you make money on YouTube?
These are just some of the burning questions today’s youth have about money and some of the topics the Canadian Foundation for Economic Education (CFEE) and Scotiabank have seen presented in their National Money Fair.
Like a science fair, the Money Fair encourages students to pick a topic about money they are interested in, research the topic and prepare a presentation of their findings. The Fair helps students learn about money and improve their financial literacy and capability.
The Fair will receive submissions of three-minute long video presentations from across the country, posting them online and announcing the winners. The top submission will win $2,000, the second place will win $1,000 and the third place will win $500.
Ms. Senior’s Grade 7 and 8 students have put together presentations to submit and will be competing!
“The Virtual Money Fair is an important learning opportunity as it helps students research a topic of their own interest but also pushes them to think about money in a real-world scenario,” says Ms. Senior. “As a cross-curricular tool, the Fair teaches them research skills and technology while incorporating financial and media literacies.”
Here are just a few of the submission summaries our students will be entering:
The Gender Pay Gap
Anika, Grade 7
“I chose to do my presentation on the gender pay gap because I am passionate about gender biases and social justice,” says Anika. “I want to make a difference with this issue and try to stop the inequality. In my research, I found it surprising how deep the bias goes and how much the gap widens for women in marginalized groups. If I were to win the Fair, I would put some money into a savings account, donate some to a worthwhile cause and spend a little on myself.”
How do I Get to Venice… A Savings Story
Clara, Grade 7
“I chose to explore how kids can make money and how to set rates, all with the goal of trying to get to Venice,” says Clara. “I really want to go to Venice, but it’s too much money. So I looked at ways kids can make the most money for the least amount of work and discovered rates. I was surprised in my research that dog walking and lawn mowing are actually the jobs that generate the most money, not babysitting or raking leaves like I originally thought. If I were to win the Fair, I would probably save it for university, but I would also use some to buy Reese’s Pieces and Sour Patch Kids.”
How Banks Make Money
Sayde and Sahithi, Grade 8
“We chose to look at how banks make money because we were both curious about the ins and outs of the money-making process,” says Sayde. “The main surprise we learned was that they don’t make money from the government, when we genuinely thought they did. With our prize money, we would save half and put the rest away for college.”
How Doctors in Canada Make Money
Rihanat, Grade 8
“I chose to talk about how doctors make money in Canada because I have always been curious about the ‘free’ healthcare system in Canada,” says Rihanat. “I am also interested in information regarding medical workers since I want to go into the medical field. I learned how Canadians pay a substantial amount of money for healthcare even though there is not an actual healthcare tax. I also learned that sometimes money from lotteries goes toward hospitals and research. With the prize money, I would probably save it for school and the future and use some of it toward a charity.”
How TikTok’ers Make Money
Esther & Amy, Grade 7
“Because so many people use the app, we thought it would be interesting to dig deeper into the different ways TikTok users make money, other than just going viral,” says Amy. “What we learned was that one of the most famous TikTok users could become a billionaire by the age of 28 just by posting 15-second daily dance videos. With brand deals and donations, TikTok users were able to accumulate all these nice things too. If we win, we would donate 15% of the earnings to help children with disabilities. We are so lucky to be able to have the education we receive and we want to try and equalize all children as much as we can.”