Money, Money, Money

Materials: calculator, two index cards

Work in a group of two or three.

The table below shows the total amount of paper money in circulation in the United States as of March 31, 2000.

Denomination	Number of Bills in Circulation	Percent of Total Number of Bills in Circulation	Value of Money in Circulation	Percent of Total Value of Money in Circulation
$1 bills	7,043,813,463		$7,043,813,463
$2 bills	604,748,958
$5 bills	1,600,787,162
$10 bills	1,358,201,322
$20 bills	4,522,108,535
$50 bills	1,061,068,146
$100 bills	3,616,997,926
$500 bills	286,880
$1000 bills	166,764
$5000 bills	351
$10,000 bills	344
Totals

Source: The World Almanac for Kids

Procedure for the Activity

Step 1 Copy or print out the table shown above.
Step 2 Find the total number of bills in circulation. Place this total in the second column cell in the Totals row.
Step 3 Use the percent proportion to find the percent of the total number of bills in circulation for each denomination of money. Round to the nearest tenth of a percent and place the answers in the third column.
Step 4 Find the value of money in circulation for each denomination of money. For example, since a $1 bill is valued at $1, the value is $1 · 7,043,813,463 or $7,043,813,463. Fill in all of Column 4.
Step 5 Find the total value of the money in circulation. Place this total in the last row of the fourth column.
Step 6 Use the percent proportion to find the percent of the total money in circulation for each denomination of money. Round to the nearest tenth of a percent and place the answers in the fifth column.
Step 7 How do your results compare with what you expected them to be?

Wrapping Up the Activity

Get two index cards. On one card, write a mathematics problem using the data in the table. You can find additional information from the Internet or books to use in your problem. On the second card, show the entire solution to your problem. When you have completed your problem, trade cards with another student or group. Have them solve your problem.

Here is a sample problem for you to solve.

Suppose the amount of money in circulation on March 31, 2000, was the same as the amount of money on April 1, 2000. On April 1, 2000, there were 281,421,906 people in the U.S. If each person in the United States was given an equal share of the paper money in circulation, how much money would each receive?