Visualising Decimals (Investigation)

Money is made up of whole numbers (e.g. dollars, pounds) and decimals (e.g. cents, pence).

Class Activity: Let's go to lunch!

Pretend you're going out to lunch at a cafe.

Materials

• A menu: you can make your own or print this one
• An order form: you can make your own or print this one
• Money: you can use plastic money or print some off here (you'll need to cut it out)
• A pen

Method

1. Split up into groups of 2 or 3 people. Choose one person to be the cafe owner. The other people will be the customers. (Don't worry- you can take turns switching roles later.)
2. Customers choose what they want for lunch and the cafe owner writes it on the order form with the prices.
3. Once customers finish their lunch (this part is just pretending), work out as a group:
   • The least number of notes and coins needed to pay the total amount.
   • The notes and coins needed for change if the customer pays with a larger amount 
4. Discuss your results as a class.