Adding Coins

Freddie and Zuri are so excited! "I can't believe we found three piggy banks in the dump today we're going to be millionaires!" "I'm going to get a racecar with my coins!" "Well, I'm going to get a diamond ring with mine!" Hold on just one second, Zuri and Freddie. Don't you think you should learn about "Counting Coins" before you go spending that money? Remember, coins are little, flat, circular pieces of money made from metal. Each coin has a different face, a different size, and a different value. In the United States, coins are usually worth cents, or less than a dollar. We use THIS symbol, which looks like a ‘c’ with a line through it, it represents cents. A penny is worth one cent, a nickel is worth five cents, a dime is worth ten cents, and a quarter is worth twenty-five cents. Let's use the first piggy bank to review the steps for counting coins. First, order the coins from greatest to least by writing the value of each one below it. How could we order the amount here from greatest to least? Two quarters, one dime, three nickels and one penny. Next, set up an equation by adding all the values together. Then, solve the equation by adding up the values. Finally, put a cent symbol next to the answer since this represents money. Now that the first piggy bank is sorted, let's count the coins in Freddie's bank. First, order the coins from greatest to least by writing the value of each one below it. Freddie's order is one quarter, five dimes, one nickel and one penny. Next, set up an equation by adding all the values together. Then, solve the equation by adding up the all the numbers. Finally, put a cent symbol next to the answer since this represents money. Freddie has ninety cents to spend! Let's help Zuri count her coins! What is her first step? First, she must order her coins from greatest to least by writing the value of each one below. Zuri's order is one quarter, one dime, one nickel, and penny. What will Zuri do next? Next, she'll set up an addition equation to add the values of each coin together. How can Zuri solve the problem? She can add up the all the values to get forty-one. There's one last step Zuri needs to remember, what is it? She must remember to put a cent symbol next to forty-one. Zuri has forty-one cents! Before we see what Freddie and Zuri can afford, let's remember! Today we learned about counting coins in the United States. Coin are usually worth cents, an amount of money that is less than one dollar. A penny is worth one cent, a nickel is worth five cents, a dime is worth ten cents, and a quarter is worth twenty-five cents. To count coins, first, order them from greatest to least by writing their values beneath. Second, set up an addition equation to add the values of each coin together. Third, solve by totaling the values. Don't forget to write the cent symbol after your total! "Well...we might not have had enough for EXACTLY what we wanted ... " Yeah, but we got pretty close!"