Kids Club News
October 2004
T
Currencies of the World
here are so many countries in the world, and each one has its own unique language, customs, and culture.
Despite differences among countries, they all have one thing in common—money. Although the concept
of money is universal, its form is quite different throughout the world as each country uses its own style
of currency. For instance, in the United States we use the American dollar. We also use coins such as pennies,
nickels, dimes, and quarters. But, have you ever heard of the peso, the euro, the real, or the won? Just like the
dollar, those are all types of money used by different countries in the world. Let's take a closer look at a few
currencies to see just who uses them and how much they are worth.
Euro
Peso
The peso is the currency used
in Mexico, Argentina, Chile,
and the Philippines. The
spanish word “peso” means
weight. To get an idea of how
much one peso is currently
worth, we can compare it to
the American dollar. One
dollar equals 11.4 pesos. So if
you are in Mexico and you see
a toy you want to buy but it
costs 100 pesos, don't worry!
That's only equal to about $9
American dollars!
NL070904
The euro is the currency used in several European
countries including France, Germany, Ireland, Italy,
and Spain. The euro, like the American dollar, is
divided into 100 cents. To compare the two, for 1
American dollar, you only get about .8 euros. Because
of that, things you want to buy in France and Spain
will be more expensive. For instance, if you want to
purchase something in Spain that cost 100 euros, it
would really cost you about $125 American dollars.
Real
Since 1994, the currency used in Brazil has been
the real. For every 1 American dollar, you get 3
reals. That being the case, if you purchase
something in Brazil that costs 100 reals, you are
spending about $33 American dollars.
Won
The won is the currency used in North and
South Korea. Although the same word is used
for the currency in both North and South Korea,
it does not hold the same value in both areas. In
North Korea, the won equals approximately
.5 wons for every 1 American dollar, whereas the
won in South Korea equals about .001 wons for
every 1 American dollar. So, the same object
you buy in North Korea for 100 wons will cost
you $50 in American dollars, but will only
cost you 10 cents in South Korea!
WOW, that's a big difference!
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Kids
Club
The People of the Rainforests
Imagine you, your family, and your friends living in green igloos under a canopy of tropical
plants; wearing clothes that YOU made out of the hides of lions and monkeys; making plates,
bowls, and cups out of clay from the ground; and eating squirrels and termites for breakfast.
Sounds silly, right? Not if you are one of the 50 million (that's 50,000,000) tribal people
living in the world's rainforests today.
Just as there are many types of animals living in rainforests throughout the world, there
are many different tribes of people living in the world's rainforests. There are the Yanomamo
tribes of Brazil and Venezuela, the Baka Pygmies of Central Africa, and the Kayapo tribe of the
Amazon River Basin in Brazil—just to name a few. Although the different tribes are similar to each
other in many ways, they have certain things that make them very unique. Let's take a look at a few
tribes to see what makes them different from one another.
The Yanomamo tribe has a current population of about 20,000. The people of the tribe live deep
in the forests of Brazil and Venezuela. For food they gather things such as fruits, nuts, berries,
and honey, and they also hunt for animals such as jaguars, tigers, and other jungle animals.
The people of the Baka tribe live in temporary houses made of Tilipi leaves. The Baka
tribe is a nomadic tribe, meaning it continuously moves from one place to another in
search of food. The Baka people are also known as Baka Pygmies due to their small
size—an average man is less than five feet tall! The Baka's diet includes things like berries,
nuts, fish, and even termites! The Baka also catch fish without using a net or a hook. Instead, they
gather poisonous plants and drain them into lakes, which cause the fish to die. The Baka can then easily
gather up the fish to eat them!
The people of the Kayapo tribe of Brazil wear elaborate headdresses and black and red body paint. They also
wear lip plugs, which are pieces of jewelry that they wear to stretch out their bottom lips. The Kayapo tribe is a more
modernized tribe because it began establishing business relationships with outside civilizations in the 1950s. In fact, the
Kayapo tribe supplies a large company in the United States with the Brazil nut oil that the company uses in many of its
products such as shampoos and conditioners. This contact with the outside world is noticeable as many people in the
tribe have modern luxuries such as televisions, satellite dishes, and modern clothing.
As you can see, each tribe is different in some way. One thing they have in common though is their devotion to protecting
the rainforests and the plants and animals within them. They use the trees for shelter, animals for food, and plants for
medicine, but not in excess, meaning they do not waste or use more materials than
they need. Although our society is more technologically advanced, we can learn a
lot about protecting the Earth from studying the tribes of the rainforest.
Member FDIC
The information contained in this newsletter is based on research from the following websites:
http://www.essentialresults.com/article/Currency, http://www.realtime.net/~raintree/gallery/kayapo.htm.,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pygmies, and http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/Anthro/Anth210/kayapo.htm.
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