How is the Federal Reserve like your body's circulatory system? A short video explains the ways the Fed keeps money moving through the economy much like blood passes through veins and arteries. Focusing on retail payments, the video explains how the most common payment method from the 20th century — paper checks — has shifted into online payments, and how the Fed makes sure that the money still goes exactly where it should.

Concepts

the federal reserve system, banking, consumer finance, personal finance, financial literacy, the united states economy, the economy

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Additional Tags

social studies

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Instructional Ideas

• Incorporate into a lesson on currency types and government regulation
• Organize a tour of a local bank or credit union, or invite a bank employee to your classroom to discuss the flow of payments

Classroom Considerations

• Even though it was published by a specific branch of the Federal Reserve, the video is applicable to any state's lesson on the Fed
• The third of nine videos in a series on the Federal Reserve

• This video is hosted on YouTube

Pros

• Provides a complete transcript
• Short length makes the video versatile for use in multiple lessons

Cons

• None

Common Core

RH.9-10.1 RH.9-10.3 RH.9-10.9 RH.11-12.1 RH.11-12.3 RH.11-12.9