The "Pass the Buck" Internet project can be integrated into your classroom curriculum in many ways. The ideas below offer suggestions for using the project to teach geography, math, history, language arts, and more.

Track a Buck (Geography)
The most obvious way in which to integrate this activity is by using maps to track the locations of the "Pass the Buck" dollar bills as they circulate from person to person, community to community, and state to state. The "Pass the Buck" Track a Buck Page makes it easy for you and your students to do that.

• If you teach the primary grades... Choose a few -- or as many as 10 -- of the "Pass the Buck" dollar bills to track. (We anticipate getting reports about a handful of dollar bills each week, so tracking ten of the Pass the Buck dollar bills should ensure that you will have some new information to post from time to time.) Check the "Pass the Buck" Track a Buck Page once a week. Look up the dollar bills that you are tracking to see which ones have been "spotted" in the past week. Post a large U.S. map on a classroom wall or bulletin board. Use pins to mark any new locations of the dollar bills. Then string yarn between the pins (you probably want to use a different-colored yarn for each bill tracked) to show clearly the journey the dollar has taken. Talk with students about the movement of the money. How many of the bills were spotted in the past week? Which dollar traveled the farthest that week?
• If you teach the intermediate grades... Assign to each student one or two (or more) of the dollar bills. Once each week, have students check the "Pass the Buck" Track a Buck Page to see if a new location was reported for their bill(s). Students might track the journey of their "Pass the Buck" dollar bills on an outline map of the United States. (See this alternate map source.)
• If you teach the upper grades... Have students track their bills as in the activity above. In addition, have them use the map's "scale of miles" to estimate the number of miles their dollar bill(s) travels.

MORE ACTIVITIES

Can You Make A Dollar? (Math)
Begin this activity by reviewing, if necessary, the value of pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and a dollar bill. You might photocopy a bunch of coins onto an overhead transparency. Then cut them out and place them on the overhead projector. Use the transparent coins to illustrate how combinations of coins (such as 4 quarters; 2 quarters and 5 dimes; and 3 quarters, 2 dimes, and 1 nickel) can be used to add up to $1. Ask students to identify a few more ways in which they can use coins to add up to a value of $1. Invite them to use the transparency coins to present those combinations to the class. Then provide students with the Can You Make a Dollar? printable work sheet. Have them work on their own or in pairs to complete the work sheet. Then ask them to share some of the new combinations they came up with. Did you know that there are 243 different combinations of coins that can make a dollar? (If you include half dollars, there are 293 possible combinations.) You can see all of the combinations at Change for a Dollar. For additional fun activities that reinforce the value of coins, you might use the Money Combinations Math Games or the Counting Coins Game.

Money Trivia Things you probably did not know about U.S. $1 bills... The composition of the paper and ink on U.S. currency is a state secret. Newly printed bills stack 233 to an inch; and 490 bills weigh a pound. It costs the U.S. government $8.02 to print 1,000 bills. There are more than 2 billion bills in circulation. Each bill has an average life span of 18 months. At the base of the pyramid are the Roman numerals "MDCCLXXVI." They represent the number "1776," which is the year in which our country was formed.

Design a Dollar (Art)
Introduce students to the image of a dollar bill. (You might copy a dollar bill onto a transparency and use an overhead projector to share that image of the dollar with the class.) Share with students that all money has certain characteristics that make it unique, recognizable, and legal. Explain that the dollar bill is a pictorial representation, or symbol, of our country. Provide a rectangular template in the same dimensions as a dollar bill; since the dimensions of a dollar bill are approximately 2-1/2 inches by 6 inches, your template might measure (depending on the size paper used)

• 3-3/4 inches by 9 inches,
• 5 inches by 12 inches, or
• 7-1/2 inches by 15 inches.

Have students design a dollar bill that they would like to see used as U.S. currency. You might share some examples of student created dollar bills on the Dollar Art page of the PBS Web site. Students should be prepared to explain the reasons behind their choice of symbols on the bills they design. If you teach young students, you might brainstorm ideas about the kinds of images and symbols that might appear on a new U.S. dollar bill. Write their ideas on a board, chart, or overhead transparency so they will be able to refer to them as they design their bills.

Design a Dollar (Technology)
Turn the "Design a Dollar" project above into a technology project. Instead of having students design a new U.S. currency, have them develop a dollar bill that can be used as a class or school currency. Students might use programs such as Paint Shop Pro or PhotoShop to create a new "class dollar bill." They might import from the school Web site a photograph of students or their school to use on their bills; or they might use a digital camera to take photos for the new bill. Students will present their designs to classmates. They should be prepared to explain why their bill should be accepted as the new class/school dollar bill. Students can vote to determine the bill(s) that will be used as their classroom or school currency. The currency can be used as "reward dollars," which can be traded for special privileges.

Money Facts (History)
Display U.S. $1, $5, $10, and $20 bill (or photocopies of them) for students. Talk about the president who appears on each bill and the symbols that are seen on the front and reverse sides of the bills. Make a chart. Record the value of each bill, the name of the president who appears on it, and the symbols that appear on it. Students will learn some more interesting facts about our paper currency as they answer the questions on the Money Facts work sheet. You might share additional facts about U.S. currency that are found on Fact Monster's Facts About U.S. Money or the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta's Dollar and Cents: Faces and Backs of Currency.

"Money Facts" Worksheet Answers
1. The eagle holds an olive branch, which symbolizes peace. The olive branch has 13 leaves and 13 berries on it. The 13 leaves represent the United States' 13 original colonies. In its left talon the eagle holds 13 arrows, which represent war. The eagle's head is turned toward the olive branch, which symbolizes a desire for peace. 2. a. $10 bill, b. $20 bill, c. $5 bill, d. $1 bill. 3. a. Great Seal of the United States, b. Lincoln Memorial, c. Treasury Building, d. White House.

A Magnetic Experience (Language Arts)
Share the poem "Smart" by Shel Silverstein (from his best-selling book Where the Sidewalk Ends). Attach magnets (the kind with adhesive on one side; you can get them at craft stores) to a $1 bill, 2 quarters, 3 dimes, 4 nickels, and five pennies. Attach your magnetic money to a cookie sheet or magnetic board. As you read the poem, illustrate the money exchanges made by the child in the poem. Then let students take turns playing the role of poem reader and "money illustrator."

MORE MATH ACTIVITIES

Can You Afford It?
For this activity you will need two copies of a store catalog or flyer. Choose an activity below that is appropriate for your grade level.

• Cut out pictures of five products that sell for different prices. Then create five price tags; on each price tag write the price for one of the products. Set the activity up as a matching activity. In the left column number the random pictures 1 to 5, and in the right column label the random price tags a to e. Have students use the other copy of the catalog/flyer to match the products and prices. You might set this up as a classroom math center.
• Provide paper photocopies of bills and coins. Select several pictures (with prices next to them) cut from the flyer or catalog. Have students cut out the combination of bills and coins they would use to pay for each item.
• Cut out pictures of several items from a catalog. Have students calculate the total cost of those items. You might also have them calculate the amount of change they would get if they paid for the items with a $20 bill.

Making Change
Prepare in advance paper bags full of play money or photocopied money. You should prepare a bag for each student or team of students. Each bag must have the exact same amount of money in it. Present a picture with its price cut from the catalog. Have the student or student teams count out the correct amount of money from their bag. Then they should record how much money is left after their purchase. How many students or student teams have the correct response? After purchasing several items as a class, you might let each student/student team solve a handful of problems on their own. If this is a skill students should master at your grade level, you might record an assessment grade for this activity.

Lemonade Stand
If you have Internet access, play the Lemonade Stand Game. If you do not have Internet access, see detailed instructions.

MORE GEOGRAPHY ACTIVITIES

Longitude and Latitude Journal
As students track the travels of some of the Pass the Buck dollar bills, have them keep a record of the longitude and latitude of those places. First, they will need to locate those places a map of the state where they have been tracked. Then students can use Look-Up Latitude and Longitude -- USA to find the coordinates for that location. Choose the coordinates for the city closest to the dollar bill's actual location.

How Far Is It to...?
Have students use MapQuest's "Driving Directions" Tool to figure out how many miles the dollar bill has traveled in all. Or you might have students

• figure out how many miles the dollar bill is from its original starting point.
• figure out how many miles the dollar bill is from your school.
• create a chart and find the dollar bill's distance from a series of national landmarks such as the White House, Empire State Building, Golden Gate Bridge, Sears Towers, St. Louis Arch, and Alamo. Keep track of the dollar bill that is farthest from each of those landmarks.

MORE FUN!

Check out these sites...

In the Money: U.S. Currency Trivia
Do you know where the term greenback came from? Do you know who was the only woman to grace U.S. currency? You'll find those answers and more in this resource.

Collectors' Fact Sheets: Small Denominations
A very close-up look at our currency from the Bureau of Engraving. Click "Large Denominations" in the left nav bar to view large images of the bills.

Dollar Bill Origami
This page is dedicated to origami made from dollar bills.

Understanding the Design and Symbolism of the U.S. One Dollar Bill
Take out a dollar bill and study it...

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