Educational Standards

View the educational standards for the U.S. Mint Coin Classroom lesson plans, activities, and games. If you are looking for something specific or would like to request materials for your students, email us.

Lesson Plans Educational Standards

The lesson plans on our site are designed to meet Common Core standards wherever possible. Each lesson indicates the standards to which it aligns in the “Standards” section of the lesson.

In some cases, our lessons also map to other standards, such as the National Curriculum Standards of Social Studies (NCSS), Next Generation Science Standards, or Jump$tart’s National Standards K-12 Personal Finance Education.


Coin Activities Educational Standards

Listed below are the activities that map to standards and standards to which they align.

Coin Combination Riddles (Grades 2-4)

Common Core Standards

Flip Out for Coins (Grades 3+)

Common Core Standards

Grade 6

Grade 7

High School

Money Patterns (Grades Pre-K+)

Common Core Standards

Cents-able Shopping (Grades 2+)

Common Core Standards

Coin Weight Investigation (Grades 2+)

NextGen Science Standards


Games Educational Standards

Listed below are the games that map to standards and the standards to which they align.

Counting With Coins (Grades K-6)

Common Core Standards

Plinky’s Presidential Challenge (Grades K+)

National Standards for History

  • NSS-USH.K-4.3: The history of the United States: Democratic principles and values and the people from many cultures who contributed to its cultural, economic, and political heritage.

Math Jam (Grades 2-5)

Common Core Standards

Grade 2

Grade 3

Grade 4

Textile Tales (Grades 3+)

National Standards for History

  • NSS-USH.K-4.3: The history of the United States: Democratic principles and values and the people from many cultures who contributed to its cultural, economic, and political heritage.
  • NSS-G.K-12.2: Places and Regions

Coin Flip (Grades 4+)

Common Core Standards

Grade 6

Grade 7

High School

Word Quest (Grades 2-6)

Common Core Standards

Hoop and Darts (Grades 3+)

National Standards for History

  • NSS-USH.K-4.3: The history of the United States: Democratic principles and values and the people from many cultures who contributed to its cultural, economic, and political heritage.
  • NSS-G.K-12.2: Places and Regions

Gold Rush (Grades 2+)

National Standards for History

National Geography Standards

Map Mania (Grades 2+)

C3 Framework for Social Studies Standards

Grades 2, 5, and 8

  • Dimension 2: Geographic Representations
  • Dimension 2: Human-Environment Interaction

Coin Stamper (Grades 4+)

Voluntary National Content Standards – Council for Economic Education

Standard 2 – Decision Making

  • Grade 4: At the completion of Grade 4, students will know that: 2. A cost is what you give up when you decide to do something. A benefit is what satisfies your wants.
  • Grade 8: At the completion of Grade 8, students will know the Grade 4 benchmarks for this standard, and also that: 2. Marginal benefit is the change in total benefit resulting from an action. Marginal cost is the change in total cost resulting from an action.
  • Grade 12: At the completion of Grade 12, students will know the Grade 4 and Grade 8 benchmarks for this standard, and also that: 1. To produce the profit-maximizing level of output and hire the optimal number of workers, and other resources, producers must compare the marginal benefits and marginal costs of producing a little more with the marginal benefits and marginal costs of producing a little less.

Standard 15 – Economic Growth

  • Grade 4: At the completion of Grade 4, students will know that: 2. Workers can improve their productivity by using physical capital such as tools and machinery.
  • Grade 8: At the completion of Grade 8, students will know the Grade 4 benchmarks for this standard, and also that: 3. Technological change results from an advance in knowledge leading to new and improved goods and services and better ways of producing them; and 4. 4. Increases in productivity can result from advances in technology or increases in physical or human capital.
  • Grade 12: At the completion of Grade 12, students will know the Grade 4 and Grade 8 benchmarks for this standard, and also that: 3. Investing in new physical or human capital can increase future productivity and consumption, but such investments require the sacrifice of current consumption and entail economic risks.