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The Children's Museum of Atlanta to Welcome Moneyville September 28-January 12

Experiencing the latest exhibit at The Children’s Museum of Atlanta will be time well spent! Moneyville, an educational traveling exhibit developed by the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, allows guests to explore the history, science, math and economics behind the fascinating subject of money. Through highly interactive activities, games and simulations, families can build math skills and problem-solving strategies in a fun, immersive environment. The exhibit will be featured in Atlanta Sept. 28 – Jan. 12 as part of a multi-year tour to children’s museums and science centers across the nation.

 

Moneyville is a smart investment for adults and children alike,” said Jane Turner, executive director of The Children’s Museum of Atlanta. “This interactive exhibit highlights the Museum’s central focus on imaginative, creative play by engaging visitors in real-life situations and role-play to build financial literacy. Money management is so important, and this exhibit provides children with the skills needed to succeed in school and in life.”

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In the exhibit, children will enter the vibrant “city” of Moneyville and embark on an interactive, hands-on tour through a money factory, an anti-counterfeiting lab, a bank, a shopping district, a stock market and an international shipping dock. As participants engage in the multiple activities of this imaginary city, they discover economic concepts, math skills and problem-solving strategies that can help them in their real-life decision making.

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The 2,000 square feet exhibit meets national math and economics standards, making Moneyville ideal for school groups (grades K-8). A variety of interactive activities present opportunities for visitors to learn how money is made, earned, saved and spent as well as the history, science and culture behind monetary systems.

 

There are five major exhibition components: The Money Factory; The Bank; To Market, To Market; Dollars and Sense; and Global Trade.

 

 

THE MONEY FACTORY

Explore the history, science and technology behind money. Examine hands-on examples of things used as money in the past, make your own money and discover security measures used in U.S. currency as you work with high-tech tools to distinguish real money from counterfeit.

 

Anti-Counterfeiting Lab

Train to become a special agent and stay one step ahead of counterfeiters as you learn all about security features found on U.S. currency. Visitors can examine genuine bills under a microscope and a black light to check for signs of counterfeiting. After the training is complete, kids can try to catch a counterfeiter by investigating money to determine which bills are real and which one is fake.

 

Face Value

Make money with your face on it! Visitors can use digital technology to explore the messages that money communicates through the symbols chosen to appear on it. You can even print it out and take it home with you! Why are portraits often used on money? It prevents counterfeiting because people will notice subtle variations in a human face.

 

The History of Money – Money Mysteries Artifact Cases

Check out what’s playing at the local movie theater and discover fascinating facts about the global evolution of money—what is money, why did it develop, who invented it and what makes it valuable? You can touch, examine and smell some of the many forms money has taken over time as you uncover such artifacts as stones, shells, feathers, fur, chocolate, silver coils and gold coins.

 

Making Money

Design your own money using crayons and an assortment of rubbings at this station, which resembles an engraver’s desk. Decide on the value of your bill and create borders and backgrounds from a variety of symbols, numerals, patterns, portraits and textures.

 

THE BANK

Examine the math behind money and take a look at a see-through safe to discover what a million dollars looks like!  At the Kids Bank, younger visitors learn to identify coins, recognize their values, and learn how to save, borrow or lend money.

 

Kids Bank

With side-by-side teller windows, phones, calculators and oversized coins, children can explore counting, addition, subtraction and value while role-playing as bank tellers and customers. At activity tables, kids can play games involving money such as recognizing, sorting, adding, matching coins and their values, putting together money puzzles and guessing the identities of hidden coins inside “safes.” Younger visitors discover what banks do, find out that money is useful, learn about lending, borrowing and saving and realize that math is fun!

 

Make a Million

In this computer simulation you are challenged to predict which savings account will end up with the biggest balance. Discover how compounding makes money grow and that it’s important to start early; the longer you let an investment grow, the better off you’ll be

 

Million Dollars

Have you ever wondered what a million dollars looks like in one-dollar bills? Now’s your chance to see the sheer magnitude of this amount of “money” dramatically displayed inside a see-through “safe.” Discover what “a million” means through fun facts and thought-provoking questions: How much does a million dollars weigh?; If you start with a penny, then double it each day, how long until you’re a millionaire?; How would you donate a million dollars if you were a millionaire?

 

TO MARKET, TO MARKET

Gain an understanding of markets, prices, supply and demand. Run a “lemonade stand” and see how long you can stay in business and test your skills as an investor in the “stock market.” In the Kids Market, younger children can sort, count, group, weigh and “buy” market goods using play money, cash registers and produce scales.

 

Kids Market

Children open shop in a farmers’ market with stalls, shopping baskets, carts, produce, flowers and other goods as they take on the roles of buyers and sellers in a marketplace. By using play money, produce scales, price signs, cash registers and calculators, young visitors learn about market interaction, exchange, values, sorting, counting, measuring and grouping Kids discover that math is not only practical, but fun!

 

Lemonade Stand

Set up a virtual lemonade stand and learn about profit, loss, supply, demand, price and what it takes to run a small business. In this computer simulation, your challenge is to stay in business as you make daily decisions. Discover that running a successful enterprise depends on making choices about your available resources, and that good decisions involve anticipating demand and calculating your costs.

 

Quick Change (You’re The Cashier)

At this giant “cash register,” become a check-out clerk and sharpen your computational skills as you try to make change for customers in a virtual market. In this computer simulation, virtual customers initiate purchases and you are challenged to make change by pressing the coin and currency buttons in your cash register drawer. Discover that math is useful in daily life, especially when dealing with money, and that it can even be fun!

 

Stock Market

Test your skills as an investor and see how well you play the market! Learn how buyers and sellers interact in the stock market through a computer simulation. Learn how markets establish prices, what causes market fluctuation and that when you buy a stock, you own a piece of a company!

 

DOLLARS AND SENSE

Discover strategies for making sound economic decisions in the context of everyday life utilizing such math skills and concepts as estimation, calculation and problem solving. Explore money management, learn the real cost of credit, make your own financial choices and balance a household budget.

 

Balancing Your Budget

Consider economic choices and trade-offs as you try to balance your monthly household budget using weighted “expense” icons against a “fixed income” weight. You may have to make some tough decisions as you “weigh” your choices, trying to meet your “needs” (groceries, housing, clothing, transportation, health care and education) and your “wants” (vacations, movies, savings, donations, eating out, toys, etc.).

 

Get Real

Living in the real world means making choices—about earning, spending and saving money. Imagine you are living on your own for the first time. You’ve got a job and your own apartment.  What choices will you make? Develop skills in economic decision-making as you compare alternatives, make choices and experience the consequences of your actions in this engaging computer game.

 

The Real Cost of Credit

How much will you pay if you buy an item that costs $1,000 using a credit card and make the minimum monthly payment? Find out by watching a ball whiz up a clear vertical air chute to indicate the total amount paid, including interest. Compare the consequences of different payment rate choices by placing your hand over the base of three other tubes and watching the balls form a graph in the air. Learn why paying “the minimum” can add a surprising amount to the original cost.

 

GLOBAL TRADE

Explore the interdependence of international trade and markets, and how wealth is distributed around the world. View a display of families and their possessions from around the world, and guess the mystery imports inside shipping crates.

 

From Around the World

Can you guess the identities of the “mystery imports” when given certain manufacturing clues? You’ll learn about where the products were produced, and how it was manufactured and shipped.  Gain an understanding of the unexpected origins of everyday items and why nations trade with each other.

 

Material World

Imagine if a photographer knocked on your door and asked to take a picture of your family in front of your house with everything you owned spread out in your front yard. What would your family’s photo look like? You can view just such a display of families and their possessions from around the world and discover how culture, values and available resources affect a family’s economic decisions. Thought provoking questions encourage you to take a closer look and explore the standard of living and distribution of wealth and resources throughout the world.

 

 

Entrance to the exhibit is included in each regular admission to The Children’s Museum of Atlanta. Admission for ages 1 – 100 is $12.75 (+tax). Children under 1 are free.

Museum hours: Monday through Friday 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Admission is $12.75 plus tax for ages 1 – 100. The Children’s Museum is located in the Downtown Luckie Marietta District at 275 Centennial Olympic Park Drive NW.

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