Examples
Example: An item costs $1.84. If you give the cashier $2.00, how much change should you receive? What coins could be used to give the change?Example: At the grocery store you spend $14.56. If you do not want any pennies in change, how much money could you give the cashier?
Benchmark Instructional Guide
Connecting Benchmarks/Horizontal Alignment
Terms from the K-12 Glossary
- NA
Vertical Alignment
Previous Benchmarks
Next Benchmarks
Purpose and Instructional Strategies
The purpose of this benchmark is to connect money concepts to adding and subtracting decimals. This benchmark can be taught in tandem with the addition and subtraction of decimals to the hundredths (MA.4.NSO.2.7). Students solve problems within a real-world context using money (MTR.7.1).- For instruction, students should have opportunities using multiplication to count collections of coins (e.g., How much money is 50 nickels?).
- When students solve problems, invite flexible strategies that students learned with whole number addition and subtraction. For example, when finding the change for $2.00 on an item that costs $1.84, students may count up $0.16 instead of subtracting $2.00 - $1.84.
- Students need to understand how different coins and bills relate to each other.
Common Misconceptions or Errors
- Students can add and subtract incorrectly when they do not add or subtract like place values.
Strategies to Support Tiered Instruction
- Instruction includes connecting place value to addition and subtraction of whole numbers, utilizing place value charts so that students can see where to line up values for the computation.
- For example, $20.20 – $9.75 is going to require some regrouping. By placing the problem in a place value chart, students can line up the decimal and subtract like place values.

- Instruction includes relating decimal place values. Working with base ten blocks, students can build decimals and their equivalents.
- For example, building 0.2 “two tenths” and 0.20 “twenty hundredths” with base ten blocks. Students will notice that the numbers have the same value.

Instructional Tasks
Instructional Task 1
Jordan was saving his money to buy a remote control motorcycle. He saved $45.00 from his allowance and received two checks worth $10.00 each for his birthday. Jordan also has a half dollar coin collection with 30 coins in it. If the motorcycle costs $73.00, does Jordan have enough money to buy the motorcycle?
Instructional Items
Instructional Item 1
Maria went to the comic bookstore and bought a comic book for $5.34 and a comic book for $9.55. If she paid with a $20 bill, how much change would she get back?*The strategies, tasks and items included in the B1G-M are examples and should not be considered comprehensive.
Related Courses
Related Access Points
Related Resources
Formative Assessment
Lesson Plans
Original Student Tutorial
Problem-Solving Task
Tutorial
STEM Lessons - Model Eliciting Activity
Fourth graders will help Cookies and Treats find cost-effective and eco-friendly packaging for its cookies. Students will organize data and compare prices using decimal notation in order to develop a procedure for choosing packaging for cookies. Students will use multiplication and division of whole numbers to plan for how many packages to order.
Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.
Students will use a real-world problem solving situation to determine the best types of light bulbs to maintain an appropriate environment for a captive lizard.
Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.
Students are asked to plan a playground for a new park within a given budget and area limit. They will analyze the best use of playground equipment using a data table of area requirements and cost. Students will convert units within a single measurement system, calculate the area of a rectangle, and perform addition/subtraction calculations involving money using decimal notation.
This MEA will ask students to work in teams to help their client, The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, to decide which Burmese python traps manufacturing company to buy traps from. The traps will be placed along the Florida Keys and the Everglades to help prevent the growth of invasive Burmese Python population. The students will implement their knowledge of how plants, animals, and humans impact the environment, use mathematical and analytical problem-solving strategies, and be able report their finding in an organized, descriptive manner.
MFAS Formative Assessments
Students are asked to solve a multi-step word problem involving money and unit conversions.
Student Resources
Original Student Tutorial
Learn about sales tax as Malik tries to buy his favorite candy from the store in this short video.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Problem-Solving Task
This task is designed to help students focus on the whole that a fraction refers. It provides a context where there are two natural ways to view the coins. While the intent is to deepen a student's understanding of fractions, it does go outside the requirements of the standard.
Type: Problem-Solving Task
Tutorial
This Khan Academy tutorial video presents a strategy for computing the amount of change to be received after making a purchase.
Type: Tutorial
Parent Resources
Problem-Solving Task
This task is designed to help students focus on the whole that a fraction refers. It provides a context where there are two natural ways to view the coins. While the intent is to deepen a student's understanding of fractions, it does go outside the requirements of the standard.
Type: Problem-Solving Task