Drawing on Texas: A State of the Arts Coin Science Lesson: Grades K-Three Quarter Coin Cookies: Changing the Consistency of Matter to Make Coins

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1 Drawing on Texas: A State of the Arts Coin Science Lesson: Grades K-Three Quarter Coin Cookies: Changing the Consistency of Matter to Make Coins Overview In this lesson, students will learn about the historical figures and symbols of U.S. patriotism depicted on the penny, nickel, dime, and quarter coins. and about the processes involved in making coins, and how metal will change in consistency from the temperature changes. However, the chemical nature of the metal remains unchanged. Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), Science, Grades Four - Six Scientific processes. The student utilizes inquiry methods during field and laboratory investigations. The student is expected to: (a) plan and implement descriptive investigations including asking well-defined questions, formulating testable hypotheses, and selecting and using equipment and selecting and using equipment and technology; (b) collect information by observing and measuring; (c) analyze and interpret information to construct reasonable explanations from direct and indirect evidence; (D) communication valid conclusions; and (e) construct simple graphs, tables, maps, and charts to organize, examine, and evaluate information. Objectives - General Students will: Communicate interpretations of the meaning, symbolism, and value of U.S. coins, supported with compelling reasons. Demonstrate an understanding of how coins reflect the time, place, culture, materials and/or process in which they were created. Objectives for this Lesson Students will: Learn about the nature of metal and how it is made into coins by temporarily changing its properties, but not the actual composition of the matter. Demonstrate an understanding of how matter can go through various stages and still remain the same substance. Materials and Resources for this Project Cookie Dough for early primary Cookie cutter rounds, or biscuit cutter Oven dryed clay An assortment of 50 States Commemorative quarters Classroom access to the Internet Generous supply of real quarters

2 Drawing on Texas: Science K-3: 2 Recommended Books Barabas, Kathy. Let's Find Out About Money. New York: Scholastic, Maestro, Betsy and Giulio. The Story of Money. New York: Clarion Books, Cribb, Joe, and Keenes, Thomas. Eyewitness: Money. DK Publishing, Otfinoski, Steve, and Graham, Jack. Coin Collecting for Kids. Innovative Kids, Russell, Margo. Start Collecting Coins. Philadelphia: Running Press, Parker, Nancy W. Money, Money, Money: The Meaning of the Art and Symbols on United States Paper Currency. New York: Harper Collins, Web Sites H.I.P. Pocket Change, The U.S. Mint s Site for Kids, The 50 State Quarters Program, Institute of Texan Cultures, Just the Facts, Kid s Stuff, Institute of Texan Cultures, Lone Star Junction, Money of the Republic of Texas, State Seal of Texas, Student Guide Handbook of Texas Online, Texas Almanac, Texas Best Online, Texas History and Social Studies, Texas Icons and GIF Images, Texas State Symbols and Emblems, Texas Symbols, Texas Symbols Homepage, TravelTex.com, Vocabulary Blanking: punching out the coin shapes Annealing: to heat and cool. Blanks are heated in a special oven and run through a washer and dryer

3 Drawing on Texas: Science K-3: 3 Upsetting: the coins go through the mill, which makes a rim Striking: the design is pressed onto the metal Inspecting: press operators use a magnifying glass to check for imperfections Counting and bagging-machines count the money and put the money into bags, which are then sealed. Vocabulary Culture: sum total of ways of living built up by a group of human beings Symbol: an image, idea, or object that stands for or represents something else Patriotism: devoted love, support, and defense of one s country, national loyalty Money/currency: gold, silver, or other metal in pieces of convenient form stamped and by government authority and issued as a medium of exchange and measure of value. Coin: a piece of metal stamped and issued by the authority of the government for use as money. Obverse: the side of a coin that bears the principal design; heads. Reverse: the side of a coin that bears the secondary design; tails. Quarter: a silver U.S. coin equivalent in value to one-fourth of a dollar; 25 cents. Penny: a U.S. coin equivalent in value to one-hundredth of a dollar; 1 cent. Nickel: a U.S. coin equivalent in value to one-twentieth of a dollar; 5 cents. Dime: a silver U.S. coin equivalent in value to one tenth of a dollar; 10 cents. Numismatics: the study or collection of coins, tokens, medals, or similar objects. Numismatist: person who collects coins or similar objects. Portrait: picture of a person. Profile: the outline of a head as viewed from one side Planning and Preparation Become familiar with the Background Information for Teachers. Assemble materials for students use. Arrange students in small groups and pass out materials. Assign a captain for each team to count quarters when they are passed and again when they are returned to the teacher. Instruction Teacher will demonstrate how heat will melt metal and then allow it to cool and harden without altering the chemical composition. Actual quarters are made with strips of metal 13 inches wide and 1500 feet long. The metal is fed through the blanking press, which punches out the coins. This is kind of like a cookie cutter on a sheet of dough making various shapes. Procedures: Blanking or punching out the coins begins the process for making coins Annealing is the next process. Blanks are heated in a special furnace and then run through the washer and dryer. Next the blanks go through the upsetting mill. The mill raises the edges around the coin. This process makes a nice little rim on each coin. Striking is the process where the coins are actually stamped with the designs to make them actual coins. Now the coins will really start to look like quarters. Next, the inspectors will use magnifying glasses to check each struck coin. To be genuine, they will have to all look alike

4 Drawing on Texas: Science K-3: 4 Finally, an automatic counting machine will drop the coins in bags, which are taken to the vaults for safe keeping and storage. Later they will be delivered to the Federal Reserve Bank and then to your local bank. Class Activity: Teacher will have students participate in making Quarter Dollar Cookies with either rolled cookie dough or an oven-fired clay medium. Compare the material to a sheet of metal. The students will blank out their basic shapes. Use round cookie cutters with crinkled edges to blank or stamp out the cookies. The striking process can be demonstrated by pressing a quarter (cleaned with alcohol or bleach) into the dough. If working with cookie dough or oven firing clay the medium will harden with the heat of the oven, but will not change the actual matter. Students will want to act as inspectors and use a magnifying glass to examine out how well the striking process went on their coins. Assessment: Did the properties of the cookie dough or oven firing clay change? Did you produce any new kind of matter? Did the magnifying glass make it easier to see the design in the quarter? Extensions Show the interactive web site H.I.P. Pocket Change, The U.S. Mint s Site for Kids, Show real balance scales and/or picture of Justice Allegory with blindfold and scales. Explain that in 1873 the U.S. Mint changed the quarter because it was not heavy enough. Why might that be important? What was a quarter made out of in the 19th Century? Have students explore ancient coins through the School Coins Program for Grade 6 from Reading the Image: A Visual Literacy Project, available at Background Information for Teachers Portraits on U.S. Coins Denominations Portraits One cent: Abraham Lincoln Five cents: Thomas Jefferson Ten cents: Franklin Delano Roosevelt Quarter: George Washington Half dollar: Benjamin Franklin, John F. Kennedy Dollar: Dwight D. Eisenhower, Susan B. Anthony, Sacagawea A Short History of the Quarter Two hundred years ago, one of the most widely used coins throughout the United States and the Western hemisphere was the Spanish 8-reale or Piece of Eight. It was often split into eight bits or pieces to make change; each part was worth twelveand-a-half cents. Half a reale was four bits and a quarter reale was two bits, a term we still use today for the U.S. quarter-dollar coin. Initially the quarter was made of

5 Drawing on Texas: Science K-3: 5 silver but it was changed to a combination of nickel and copper in Last year the United States Mint produced nearly two billion quarter dollars. The quarter-dollar was one of the first coin denominations authorized by Congress in 1792, though it wasn t produced until The Mint Act of 1792 decreed that one side of the quarter had to include the year in which it was minted, an image that symbolized liberty, and the actual word Liberty. The model for the first Lady Liberty may have been a socialite named Ann Bingham. Around her portrait on the front or obverse side were fifteen stars, one for each state in the Union at the time. The back or reverse of the quarter featured a young eagle and the words "United States of America." Interestingly, the numerical indication of the quarter s value was somehow overlooked. For more than 115 years, liberty was symbolized on the obverse side of the coin by allegorical female figures of Lady Liberty in the form of a bust or a full-length figure. The depictions of Lady Liberty and the eagle were changed many times during the late 18th and early 19th centuries to keep up with the varying designs of other coins. Over time, the eagle was altered to become grander and more patriotic. In 1932, in honor of the bicentennial of George Washington's birthday, Lady Liberty was replaced by a silhouette of Washington's head. In 1976, a colonial drummer replaced the eagle on the back of the coin for the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Over the next decade, the quarter will now undergo fifty changes to acknowledge each state in the U.S. Each state will be honored on an individual coin to generate the public's interest in coin design and State history. Hopefully this program will encourage people to take more careful notice of the design of their pocket change.

Drawing on Texas: A State of the Arts Coin What are Quarters Made of? Science Lesson: Middle School

Drawing on Texas: A State of the Arts Coin What are Quarters Made of? Science Lesson: Middle School Overview Students will be introduced to the meaning, symbolism, and value of U.S. coins, especially the