Grades 3–5 · Lesson 4 · 45 minutes
Don’t put all your coins in one place
Students explain diversification in kid-friendly language.
StockSt uses fictional currency and simulated shares for education only. This is not investment advice.
Warm-up
Ask, “Would you carry all your toys in one backpack?” Talk through what would happen if that one backpack tore open, and what would happen if the toys were spread across three bags.
Mini-lesson
- Teach the key sentence: “Diversification means spreading your choices so one bad outcome does not ruin everything.”
- Show how StockSt shares come in different categories, such as music, sports, movies, and gaming, and explain that choosing from different categories is one way to spread out.
StockSt activity
- Students build a mini-portfolio of three celebrity shares from different categories.
- Reveal one negative event that affects only one category (for example, a sports team has a losing streak).
- Students compare what would happen to a one-share portfolio versus their three-share portfolio, and record which one lost less value.
Discussion
Ask, “Which portfolio felt safer? Why?” Help students notice that spreading out did not prevent the bad news, but it reduced how much the bad news hurt overall.
Exit ticket
Students draw three shares and label the portfolio “spread out.”
Assessment
Students explain that owning different kinds of shares can reduce the impact of one loss.
Student Learn links
Assign these before or after class so students practice the same ideas.