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Grade 2 · lesson 4 of 4

Find Change Using Dollar Values

Add the stated bill values to find the payment.

About 15 minutes, plus any extended practice

Download the grade pack

Supplied materials

  • Paper and a pencil; drawing and spoken explanations are welcome. An adult may read directions and options aloud.
  • Supplied worked-case record: A fictional item costs $13 and is paid with a $20 bill.
  • All quantities and shape descriptions are supplied in the worked example and questions; no purchase or personal information is needed.

Learn the idea

A dollar is one hundred cents, and dollar bills have their stated face values. Subtract an item’s cost from the supplied payment to find change. Keep both amounts in the same unit. A bill’s size or the number of bills does not determine total value.

Add the stated bill values to find the payment. Subtract the whole-dollar price and state change in dollars. Check that price plus change equals the payment; for cents, convert dollars into hundreds of cents first.

Use dollars with dollars, or cents with cents. Change is the payment minus cost, not their sum. Draw a payment bar split into cost and change.

  1. Draw a payment bar split into cost and change.
  2. Follow the worked example. Point to each number or shape feature and say what it tells you.
  3. Add the stated bill values to find the payment.
  4. Try the question and then the three practice questions. Check your answers and explain any change you make.
Worked example

See the method in action

A fictional item costs $13 and is paid with a $20 bill. Change is $20−$13=$7. Checking $13+$7=$20 confirms the transaction. The single bill represents twenty dollars, so counting one bill as one dollar would not describe the payment. Use dollars with dollars, or cents with cents. Change is the payment minus cost, not their sum. Draw a payment bar split into cost and change.

Your turn

Check your reasoning

Your answer is temporary and is not saved to an account. Download your current answer before leaving or reloading. Written work on paper or in another app stays in your own file.

Helpful tips
  • Use dollars with dollars, or cents with cents.
  • Change is the payment minus cost, not their sum.
An item costs $8. It is paid with a $20 bill. How many dollars of change are due?

Feedback appears here after you check. This is practice, not a graded school assessment.

See the answer and explanation

12

Subtract the price from the bill’s dollar value. The result is 12.

Take it further

A $17 item is paid with one $20 and one $5 bill. Expected change: $8.

Nothing here is saved to an account or sent to a teacher. The answer download includes your current choice and any checked feedback. It does not include choices from the separate More practice section. Download that section separately.

More practice: try new cases

Choose an answer for each problem. Explain your method on paper, then use the feedback to decide what to revisit.

More practice: try new cases
1. An item costs $9. It is paid with a $20 bill. How many dollars of change are due?
Need a hint?
  • Use dollars with dollars, or cents with cents.
  • Change is the payment minus cost, not their sum.
2. An item costs $10. It is paid with a $20 bill. How many dollars of change are due?
Need a hint?
  • Use dollars with dollars, or cents with cents.
  • Change is the payment minus cost, not their sum.
3. An item costs $11. It is paid with a $20 bill. How many dollars of change are due?
Need a hint?
  • Use dollars with dollars, or cents with cents.
  • Change is the payment minus cost, not their sum.

Your choices are temporary. Feedback appears after you check all the answers.

Nothing here is saved to an account or sent to a teacher. Keep your own notes or download them before leaving. The score describes these questions; it does not certify subject mastery.

Check the subject sources

These LifeStarter passages, scenarios and exercises are authored for this Academy with AI assistance and review. External resources keep their publishers’ terms. A grade label suggests a starting level; it does not establish alignment with your school’s complete requirements.