Our Money, Our Community

You need: your council's annual report or rates summary (printed or online) · a pie chart template or protractor · coloured pencils · a calculator

1. Find the page that shows how the council spends its money, by activity.
2. Round each amount to show how much of every $100 goes to roads, water, waste, parks, libraries and other services.
3. Draw and label a pie chart.
4. Circle the service you use most and the one you knew least about.
5. Write two questions to ask a councillor about the spending.

How you'll know: Your pie chart adds up to $100, every slice is labelled, and you can explain the largest slice.

Go further: Compare your council's spending with a neighbouring council's. Why might they be different?

You need: today's exchange rates (from a bank or news website) · price cards for the same item in NZD, AUD, USD, FJD and TOP · a calculator

1. Record today's exchange rate for four currencies against the NZ dollar.
2. Convert each price card into NZ dollars.
3. Add shipping and GST for items bought from overseas.
4. Decide which option is really cheapest once everything is added.
5. Write one reason why a New Zealand family sending money to relatives in Tonga or Sāmoa would care about exchange rates.

How you'll know: Your conversions are accurate, and you can explain why the cheapest sticker price is not always the cheapest option.

Go further: Find the exchange rate for the Australian dollar a year ago and work out whether your item would have cost more or less then.

You need: counters or paper tokens · cards for a 'community project' (a shared garden, a van, a water tank) · a rules sheet

1. Each group member receives a different number of tokens. Check: can anyone afford the project alone?
2. Discuss whether to pool your tokens. What would each person get in return?
3. Write three rules for your pool: who decides, how the benefit is shared, and what happens if someone leaves.
4. Play two rounds, with a surprise cost card in round two.
5. Compare your rules with how papakāinga, clubs or co-ops manage shared resources.

How you'll know: Your group can explain why pooling let you do something none of you could do alone, and how your rules kept it fair.

Go further: Interview someone involved in a club, church, marae or co-op about how they decide to spend shared money.

You need: three printed sources about the live decision · highlighters in two colours · the source-detective card

1. Read each source and fill in who wrote it, when and why.
2. Highlight facts in one colour and opinions in the other.
3. Pick one number or claim and check it against the council's own document.
4. Note any source that shares information unfairly, for example by leaving out an important option.
5. Choose the two sources you would use in your submission and explain why.

How you'll know: You can show at least three facts and three opinions correctly sorted, and you have checked one claim against another source.

Go further: Write a short, fair summary of the decision that a younger student could understand, with no opinions in it.

You need: three adverts (print, an influencer post and an in-game shop screenshot) · sticky notes · the pressure-tricks list

1. For each advert, write who made it and what they want you to do.
2. Label every pressure trick you can find: urgency, scarcity, celebrity, free trials, hidden costs, bright buttons, loot boxes.
3. Check: is the influencer post clearly labelled as an ad?
4. Rate how strong the pressure is on a scale you agree as a class.
5. Rewrite one advert so it is honest and gives the buyer the information they need.

How you'll know: You have found at least four tricks and can explain how one of them works on people's feelings.

Go further: Design a 'think before you buy' pop-up for a game that would help players make calmer choices.

You need: a calculator or spreadsheet · graph paper · the interest table template

1. Start with $100 borrowed on a credit card at about 20% a year. Work out the balance after each year for three years if nothing is paid back.
2. Start with $100 saved at 5% a year. Work out the balance after each year for three years.
3. Graph both lines on the same axes.
4. Compare cash, debit and credit: which one uses your own money and which one is borrowing?
5. Write a tip for the Money Smarts guide based on your graph.

How you'll know: Your table and graph show that interest is added to interest, and you can explain why debt can grow faster than savings.

Go further: Use the Sorted savings calculator to find out how long it takes to save $500 with a small weekly amount.

You need: scenario cards (faulty headphones, a jacket that doesn't match its photo, a change of mind, a phone broken after a drop, a gig ticket for a cancelled show) · a Consumer Guarantees Act summary · role cards (customer, shop worker)

1. Read your scenario and decide: is this covered by the Consumer Guarantees Act?
2. Role-play the conversation: the customer explains calmly, the shop worker responds.
3. Decide what should happen: repair, replace, refund, or nothing because it is not covered.
4. If the shop says no, choose the next step on the resolution ladder.
5. Write a 'Know your rights' box for the Money Smarts guide.

How you'll know: You can explain which scenarios are covered and why, and name the next step if a business will not fix a problem.

Go further: Find out how the Disputes Tribunal works and what kinds of problems it can decide.

You need: the council consultation document · a budget sheet with real price quotes · the submission template

1. Decide what your class wants the council to do and why.
2. List every cost, including set-up, running costs and upkeep over five years.
3. Stress-test it: swap with another group to find hidden costs or inflated quotes.
4. Write the submission: your request, your reasons, your evidence and the costs.
5. Present it to a council representative and send it before the closing date.

How you'll know: Your proposal includes every cost with a source, explains trade-offs, and has been submitted to the council.

Safety: Submissions become public. Use the class or school name, not students' home addresses or personal details.

Go further: Write a short speech for the council hearing, if the council holds one, and practise it.

You need: a set of invented messages (texts, emails, game chat and social media offers), clearly marked as made up · a warning-signs checklist

1. Sort the messages into 'probably safe' and 'probably a scam'.
2. For each scam, circle the warning signs: urgency, a prize you did not enter, requests for passwords or bank details, payment by gift card, strange links or spelling.
3. Agree three steps to take: stop, check with a trusted adult, report to Netsafe or Scamwatch.
4. Write a scam you might meet in a game and how you would respond.
5. Turn your steps into a poster for the Money Smarts guide.

How you'll know: You can name at least four warning signs and the steps to take if you are unsure.

Safety: Never click links or reply to real suspicious messages, and never share passwords or codes, even with friends.

Go further: Interview an adult at home about a scam they have heard of, and add their tip (without names) to the guide.