Financial Jeopardy Game

Topics: savings, assets/liabilities, income/expenses, fixed/variable cost, supply/demand, gross/net business income, interest, investing, banking, spending habits, taxes, philanthropy, secondary education planning.

Targeted Age: Grades 9-12. NOTE: Play this game with students only AFTER you have covered a lot of the topics listed above. We would recommend that you play it only after you complete all the mandatory lessons in the Ele:Vate curriculum – and preferably a number of the optional lessons as well. If you play the game too early with your students, they might get discouraged about not knowing the answers to a lot of the questions.

Objectives: This game is designed as a reviewing exercise for the above-listed topics. It will assess students’ knowledge of the subjects.

NOTE: Ideally, this game is designed to be played using Power Point and an LCD projector and screen. If you do not have these available, there is an alternative. Directions about playing the game with and without a projector are given below.

(A) Playing the Game WITH a Projector

Materials Required

  1. Computer
  2. Financial Jeopardy PowerPoint document
  3. Financial Jeopardy Answer Key
  4. LCD Projector and screen
  5. Blackboard or large poster paper (optional)

How to Play
Teacher Preparation:

  1. Connect computer to projector so that the computer screen is displayed on projector screen.
  2. Download and open “Financial Jeopardy.ppt”  Under the “View” menu at the top of the screen, choose “Slide Show.”
  3. Download “Financial Jeopardy Answer Key” and it print out.
  4. Arrange classroom seating into two separate teams facing the screen.
  5. Create a scoreboard: Use the blackboard or poster paper to write the names of each team. You will use this to keep a tally of the score. If neither a blackboard/whiteboard or poster paper is available, just keep the score on a smaller sheet of paper.

Play Financial Jeopardy:

  1. Choose a scorekeeper who will not be on either team, but will keep a tally of the score.
  2. Split the rest of the students into two teams and have them sit in their designated team sections.
  3. Click the mouse once to go to Slide Two in the PowerPoint document – the slide that lists each category and the point options of 100-1000.
  4. Choose which team will go first (let’s say it’s Team 1). Have one student from Team 1 choose any category and number (for example, “Banking for 400”), and when she makes the choice, click on the category and number with the cursor.
  5. A new screen will come up with the question. The student has 5 seconds to individually answer the question. If the answer is correct, the team receives the full amount of points for the question. (Keep the answer sheet on hand and refer to it for answers.)
    1. If she cannot come up with the answer in 5 seconds, she can go to the rest of the team member, who have 15 seconds to answer the question for half the amount that the question is worth.
    2. If Team 1 cannot answer the question in 15 seconds, Team 2 has 10 seconds to answer for half the amount.
    3. Have the scorekeeper write in whatever amount was received by the teams.
    4. After either the answer is given or the time is up, click on the “Home” button on the top left-hand corner of the screen, and it will take you back to Slide Two.
  6. It is now Team 2’s turn to choose a category. Repeat steps 4-5 for Team 2.
    1. Note: After a category and number is chosen, it will change color, so you will be able to see which categories have already been chosen.
  7. Continue having the teams select and answer the questions until you’ve used every question in all the categories.

(B) Playing the Game WITHOUT a Projector

Materials Required:

  1. large sheet
  2. 60 large note cards
  3. construction paper and/or blank white paper
  4. tape
  5. blackboard or large poster paper (optional)

How to Play:
Teacher Preparation:

  1. Download, open and print out the file, “Financial Jeopardy.ppt” (If you do not own the power point software, you can print out this file which is a PDF version of the power point: Financial Jeopardy.pdf)
  2. Download and print out the “Financial Jeopardy Answer Key.”
  3. In the “Financial Jeopardy” documents, there are 60 total questions, each one having a category and number (for example “Banking for 600”). Put each question on a large note card. On one side of the card write the category and points amount (such as “Banking $400”), and on the other side write the corresponding question.
  4. Hand-copy all the questions with charts and graphs onto the construction paper or blank white paper. Make sure that you still have a designated large note card with the category and points amount for these questions.
  5. On the construction paper or blank white paper write each of the category titles in large letters.
  6. Prepare your large sheet — arrange it to be like the “Jeopardy Board” displayed on Slide Two of the PowerPoint. Have six columns – at the top of each column tape your construction paper with the category names. Below each category name, tape the corresponding large note cards from 100-1000. Hang the “Jeopardy Board” sheet at the front of the room.
  7. Arrange the classroom seating into two separate teams facing the “Jeopardy Board.”
  8. Create a scoreboard: Use the blackboard or poster paper to write the names of each team. If neither is available, just use a smaller sheet of paper. You will use this to keep a tally of the score.

Play Financial Jeopardy:

  1. Choose a scorekeeper who will not be on either team, but will keep a tally of the score.
  2. Split the rest of the students into two teams and have them sit in their designated team sections.
  3. Choose which team will go first (let’s say it’s Team 1). Have one student from Team 1 choose any category and number (for example, “Banking for 400”), and when she makes the choice, pull the card off the sheet and read the question. If the question contains a graph or chart, find the corresponding sheet that was made and show it to the student as you ask the question.
  4. The student has 5 seconds to individually answer the question. If the answer is correct, the team receives the full amount of points for the question. (Keep the answer sheet on hand and refer to it for answers.)
      1. If she cannot come up with the answer in 5 seconds, she can go to the rest of the team, who has 20 seconds to answer the question for half the amount that the question is worth.
      2. If Team 1 cannot answer the question in 20 seconds, Team 2 has 20 seconds to answer for half the amount.
      3. Have the scorekeeper write in whatever amount was received by the teams.
  5. It is now Team 2’s turn to choose a category. Repeat steps 3-4 for Team 2.
  6. Continue having the teams select and answer the questions until the end of class you’ve used every all the categories.