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published on 01/25/2008
Moneyville Exhibit is at Creative Discovery Museum
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Where can you play the stock market, run your own lemonade stand, or put your face on a million dollar bill? In Moneyville, that’s where! This brand new traveling exhibit is at Creative Discovery Museum Jan. 19 - May 8, 2008.
"Money is a great way to make math skills and economic literacy a lot of fun," said Henry Schulson, Executive Director of Creative Discovery Museum. "Kids love to play with money from very early ages, as soon as they figure out what's happening when their parents buy things in stores. This exhibit builds on that fascination with money to teach some very important concepts in an engaging, fun way."
Moneyville is sponsored jointly by First Tennessee Bank, SunTrust, Tennessee Valley Federal Credit Union, Bank of America, and First Volunteer Bank.
"It's unusual for competing financial institutions to work together in this way," said Mr. Schulson. "Financial literacy is so important for them that they are collaborating with each other and with the Museum to sponsor Moneyville. Over the 16-week run of the exhibit, they are all using Moneyville as an opportunity to educate families about money, credit, and other financial issues."
The world of Moneyville is an immersive urban landscape that includes a bank, store, anti-counterfeiting lab, stock market, and shipping dock. Hands-on activities range from creating your own “money” to exploring anti-counterfeiting measures to seeing what a million dollars looks like.
The exhibit is designed to help visitors of all ages discover how money is made, spent, earned, and saved, and how it connects people around the world. They explore the history, science and culture behind monetary systems and start to see money in a whole new way.
"Money gets people's attention and offers a great way to teach math concepts," said Creative Discovery Museum Education Director Dr. Jayne Griffin. "Many kids don’t have the basic background information they need to move forward with confidence in their math skills. Kids need strong math skills to succeed in college and in the workplace, and plenty of adults could use some help with financial literacy, too."
That’s where Moneyville comes in. Computer games, a multitude of video screens, and eye-popping graphics help kids (and their parents) understand that economics is really about making choices and learning from the consequences of those choices. They leave the exhibit with valuable problem-solving skills they can use every day.
The overall look of the exhibit is cartoon-like, with playful facades, multi-hued panels, and colorful graphics. The exhibit has over 15 hands-on activities in five main thematic areas. Here are some examples of the fun you’ll have in Moneyville:
The Money Factory -- Find out how money is made, explore the history of money, put your face on a million dollar bill, explore security measures used in U.S. currency, and use high-tech equipment to find fake bills in an anti-counterfeiting lab.
The Bank -- Discover how compound interest can really add up, and see what a million dollars looks like. At the Kids Bank, children learn math basics and role-play with oversized coins in a kid-sized teller window.
To Market, To Market -- Learn about supply and demand as you run a “lemonade stand” and see how long you can stay in business. Take the floor of a simulated stock market and compete with other day traders as you watch for breaking news that can affect stock prices. Younger visitors open shop at the Kids Market, complete with play money, fruit and vegetables, and produce scales.
Dollars and Sense -- Try your hand at balancing your budget between needs and wants. Learn about the real cost of credit and discover how your budget savvy can help you in the real world.
Global Trade -- Explore the interdependence of international trade and markets, the role of trade in world cultures, and how wealth is distributed around the world. Guess the mystery imports inside shipping crates and view a display of families and their possessions from around the world.
Creative Discovery Museum is open Monday through Saturday (except Wednesday): 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Sunday: noon - 5 p.m.; Wednesday: Closed. Tickets are $8.95 for children and adults. Creative Discovery Museum is located at 321 Chestnut Street in downtown Chattanooga. For more information, call , or visit www.cdmfun.org.
Moneyville was made possible by the generous support of the National Science Foundation, the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation and The NASDAQ Stock Market Educational Foundation, Inc. The exhibit was created and is toured by the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.
MONEYOPOLIS is a registered trademark of Ernst & Young. The MONEYVILLE trademark is used under license.
Creative Discovery Museum is recognized as one of the top children’s museums in the nation. It is a non-profit educational organization dedicated to educational enrichment for children ages 4-months to 12-years-old through interactive, hands-on experiences that foster creative and critical thinking. CDM focuses on a broad range of areas encompassed by Visual Arts, Performing Arts, Technology and the Sciences. In addition to its exhibits, CDM provides local residents and visitors with special events, educational programming, teacher resources for the classroom, field trips, after school programming, early childhood education classes, artist residencies, camps, art lessons, science demonstrations, and a branch of the local library. Creative Discovery Museum is a funded agency of Allied Arts and Tennessee Arts Commission.
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