General Information

What Is Currency? Lessons from Historic Africa is adapted from Smithsonian in Your Classroom, a publication of the Smithsonian Office of Education, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Smithsonian in Your Classroom is made possible through the generous support of the Pacific Life Foundation.

Smithsonian in Your Classroom's purpose is to help teachers bring into their classrooms the educational power of museums and other community resources. Smithsonian in Your Classroom draws on the Smithsonian's hundreds of exhibitions and programs-from art, history, and science to aviation and folklife-to create classroom-ready materials for grades 3-8. Each of the four annual issues explores a single topic through an interdisciplinary, multicultural approach. The Smithsonian invites teachers to duplicate Smithsonian in Your Classroom materials for educational use.

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Educational Standards

What Is Currency?: Lessons from Historic Africa meets the following Mid-Continent Regional Educational Laboratory (McREL) educational standards.

Economics Standard 4

Understands basic features of market structures and exchanges

Economics Standard 10

Understands basic concepts about international economics

Geography Standard 5

Understands the concept of regions

Geography Standard 11

Understands the patterns and networks of economic interdependence on the Earth's surface

Geography Standard 16

Understands the changes that occur in the meaning, use, distribution, and importance of resources

World History Standard 22

Understands the growth of states, towns, and trade in Sub-Saharan Africa between the eleventh and fifteenth centuries

Mathematics Standard 9

Understands the general nature and uses of mathematics

 

Photographs

All photographs are copyright Smithsonian Institution. For all questions about use of photos from the National Museum of African Art, please visit the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives Web page. You can also view a list of images that appear in this Website.

Writer Linda Andre Editor Erin Miller Educational Standards Consultant Judith Olson	Translator Sarita Rodriguez Publications Director Michelle Knovic Smith Illustrator Karlic Design Associates, LLC
Acknowledgments Veronika Jenke, National Museum of African Art Bryna Freyer, National Museum of African Art Dedicated to the memory of Philip L. Ravenhill

The Smithsonian Office of Education appreciates comments on its online material. Please send any comments to educate@si.edu.