# Cryptocurrency lesson plan: read a wallet screen in 45 minutes, with no real money

Source: https://mylarpwallet.com/blog/crypto-wallet-lesson-plan
Updated: 2026-11-01
Published: 2026-09-24
Topic: Crypto wallet mockups (https://mylarpwallet.com/blog/crypto-wallets)

> A 45-minute cryptocurrency lesson plan for high school and adults: read a wallet screen, redo the math on paper, learn why a screenshot proves nothing.

A 45-minute sequence for a high school class or a workshop: the teacher projects a practice wallet screen, students redo the arithmetic behind it on paper, and learn why a picture of a balance proves nothing. Objectives, a printable worksheet with an answer key, and a module for teaching others to spot a fake wallet screen.

**Short answer:** This 45-minute cryptocurrency lesson plan has students read a wallet screen, redo its arithmetic on paper (balance equals quantity times price) and learn why a screenshot of a balance proves nothing. There are no accounts, no real crypto and no keys: the teacher projects one practice wallet screen for the whole class.

## The cryptocurrency lesson plan at a glance

Nothing is bought or installed, and no number on screen is anyone's money.

| Minutes | Block | Students |
|---|---|---|
| 0-5 | Setup | Read the projected wallet, find the site address |
| 5-15 | Balance | Add up the rows on paper |
| 15-30 | 24-hour change | Paper, then the still |
| 30-40 | Proof and safety | Screenshots, seed phrases |
| 40-45 | Exit ticket | Three questions |

## Learning objectives

By the end of the 45 minutes, students can:

1. **Calculate** a row's value from its quantity and price, and add the rows and the cash into the total.
2. **Compute** a 24-hour change from yesterday's value, not today's.
3. **Explain** why a screenshot of a balance proves nothing, and state the one rule about recovery phrases.

## Materials

- A computer and projector for the teacher, with [the homepage of mylarpwallet.com](https://mylarpwallet.com/) open.
- One printed screenshot of that wallet per student, taken before class.
- The worksheet below, one copy each, and pencils or pens.
- No student devices, accounts or crypto.

## Minutes 0 to 5: one screen, no accounts

Before class, open [the homepage of mylarpwallet.com](https://mylarpwallet.com/) on the computer that feeds the projector: its first screen shows a crypto wallet in a phone frame, drawn by our wallet simulator. Screenshot it while the balance and the five token rows are in view, and print that on the worksheet. No sign-in and no student device, so no student email or password. In class, have everyone find the site address where the wallet's name goes, above the balance.

Know the limits. Nothing on the homepage can be changed, though [the live demo](https://mylarpwallet.com/demo) opens with no account and lets you change a few amounts under a DEMO mark. The prices drift on their own and the list scrolls away and back, so students copy from the printed still, not the live screen, and treat its prices as exercise numbers, not quotes. More classroom setups: [wallet screens for demos, decks and lessons](https://mylarpwallet.com/for/demos-and-decks).

## Minutes 5 to 15: a balance is quantity × price

Each row shows a quantity and a dollar value, not the unit price: students divide the BTC row's value by its quantity to find it. Then three what-ifs on paper: at 1 BTC the row would show that price, at half the quantity, half the value, and $1,000 of cash would raise the total by exactly $1,000. Last, they add the five rows and the cash row: the sum is the top figure, within a cent or two. One rule: each row is quantity × price, and the top figure is the rows plus cash.

On the live projection, the total moves while nobody touches anything: a balance is recalculated, not stored, which is why [a total typed by hand instead of summed](https://mylarpwallet.com/blog/portfolio-wallet-simulator#balance) gives an edited screen away. The [anatomy of a wallet portfolio screen](https://mylarpwallet.com/guides/crypto-wallet-ui-anatomy) names each part.

## Minutes 15 to 30: the 24-hour change

On the board, with example prices:

- 0.1 BTC, $80,000 yesterday, $84,000 today: $8,000 → $8,400 (+5%).
- 2 ETH, $2,500 yesterday, $2,400 today: $5,000 → $4,800 (-4%).
- Cash: $1,000, no change.

Yesterday $14,000, today $14,200: +$200, and 200 divided by 14,000 is **+1.43%**. The usual wrong answers: averaging the row percentages gives +0.50%, dividing by today's total gives +1.41%. The base is always yesterday. Cash dilutes the move: without it, +1.54%.

A wallet screen shows today's value and percentage, so students work backward: $8,400 divided by 1.05 is $8,000. Then on the printed still: add the rows' dollar changes, compare with the change under the total, divide by the total minus that change. The dollars match within a cent or two, and the percentage, once rounded, is the one on screen.

## Minutes 30 to 40: proof and the seed rule

Ask: nobody in the room owns this balance, the arithmetic checks, and the screen looks like a real wallet app. What does a picture of it prove? Nothing about anyone's money. A block explorer shows what a public address holds, and only a message signed from that address ties it to a person. Pairs then try the tells from [how to spot a fake crypto wallet screenshot](https://mylarpwallet.com/blog/spot-a-fake-crypto-wallet-screenshot) on the printed still.

A seed phrase is 12 or 24 words that rebuild a wallet on any device: whoever has them has the funds, with no password reset. **Never type it into a website, a form, a "support" chat, a game or a giveaway.** The page you projected never asks for one; a page that does is a theft attempt.

## Minutes 40 to 45: exit ticket

1. A wallet holds 0.4 BTC and $2,000 cash. BTC was $80,000 yesterday, $76,000 today. Balance, change in dollars, change in percent? ($32,400, -$1,600, -4.71%.)
2. One thing that proves a balance, one that never does? (An address on a block explorer plus a message signed from it; a screenshot.)
3. A page asks for your 12 words to "verify" your wallet. What do you do? (Close it, tell someone.)

Wrong answers to question 1 are diagnostic: -4.94% means dividing by today's total, -5% means the cash was ignored.

## Adapting it by grade

- **Middle school:** keep the first two blocks with whole numbers, show the change in dollars only, and skip percentages.
- **High school:** run the full plan as written.
- **Adults and workshops:** shorten the arithmetic and spend the saved time on the proof discussion and the module below on spotting a fake wallet screen.

## Printable worksheet

All prices below are made up for the exercises and are given in each question, so no market quote is needed.

1. **Balance.** A wallet shows 0.25 BTC at a price of 40,000 USD, 4 ETH at 2,000 USD and 1,500 USD in cash. What is the total?
2. **Unit price.** A row shows 0.5 SOL worth 75 USD. What is the price of one SOL?
3. **Yesterday's value.** A row is worth 8,400 USD and is up 5% on the day. What was it worth yesterday, and what is the change in dollars?
4. **The header change.** The BTC row (10,000 USD) is up 2%, the ETH row (8,000 USD) is down 4%, and the cash (1,500 USD) did not move. What is the change in dollars for the whole wallet, and in percent?
5. **Proof.** A screenshot shows 3.2 BTC. True or false: the person who posted it owns 3.2 BTC. Explain in one sentence.

**Answer key.**

1. 10,000 + 8,000 + 1,500 = **19,500 USD**.
2. 75 / 0.5 = **150 USD**.
3. 8,400 / 1.05 = **8,000 USD** yesterday, so the change is **+400 USD**, not the 420 USD you get by taking 5% of today's value.
4. BTC yesterday: 10,000 / 1.02 = 9,803.92, a gain of 196.08. ETH yesterday: 8,000 / 0.96 = 8,333.33, a loss of 333.33. Net **-137.25 USD**. Yesterday's total was 19,637.25, so the change is **-0.70%**.
5. **False.** Any screen can display any number; only an address on a block explorer plus a message signed from that address ties funds to a person.

## Teaching others to spot a fake wallet screen

The same screen works as a scam-awareness exercise for employees, students or older adults. The research on what sticks is clear on format. In a randomized trial by the FINRA Investor Education Foundation and USC, a three-minute video or a short text about common fraud tactics cut willingness to invest in fraudulent pitches by 42% (video) and 44% (text) against a control group. Six months later, people trained once were no better than the control group; those who got a second session three months in were still 10% less willing. So run short sessions, and repeat them.

Six modules of about ten minutes, one screen and one rule each:

1. **The growing balance.** A dashboard whose profits climb, then a fee to withdraw. Rule: a balance on a site someone sent you to is not money you hold, and paying to withdraw means stop.
2. **The support call.** An unsolicited contact about an account problem that asks you to share your screen. Rule: hang up and use the official site.
3. **The recovery phrase request.** A "verification" page asking for the words. Rule: no legitimate service asks for them.
4. **The screenshot as proof.** A post of a huge balance. Rule: a screenshot proves nothing; see [how to spot a fake wallet screenshot](https://mylarpwallet.com/blog/spot-a-fake-crypto-wallet-screenshot).
5. **Pay in crypto.** The FTC: "Only scammers demand payment in cryptocurrency."
6. **The recovery offer.** A stranger who offers to get lost money back for a fee. Rule: the FTC says that after a loss you are likely to find that no one can step in to recover your funds, so the offer is a second scam.

A five-question quiz, true or false:

1. A trading site shows a 40% gain in a month, so the money is yours. *False.*
2. You were allowed a small withdrawal, so the platform is real. *False.*
3. A fee to unlock your withdrawal is normal. *False.*
4. A caller who knows your name and your exchange is genuine. *False.*
5. A screenshot of a big balance shows someone made money. *False: any screen can show any number.*

For employees, add the reporting path as the last slide. For students, start from social media and the "mentor" who moves the chat to a private app. For older adults, lead with modules 2, 5 and 6 and practice the hang-up line out loud.

**Where to report.**

- FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center: [ic3.gov](https://www.ic3.gov/).
- Federal Trade Commission: [ReportFraud.ftc.gov](https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/).
- Check a platform against the CFTC RED List of unregistered foreign firms, at SmartCheck.gov/REDList.
- Check it against the Hong Kong SFC's [Alert List](https://www.sfc.hk/en/Alert-List), which includes suspicious virtual asset trading platforms.
- A stranger who offers to recover lost money for a fee is not a reporting channel: it is the second scam. This list is a pointer, not legal advice.

## Questions

### Do students need an account or any crypto to follow this lesson?

No, and no device either. Only the teacher opens a page, the homepage of mylarpwallet.com: it shows a wallet screen without any sign-in, reads no blockchain and never asks for a key or a recovery phrase. Students work on paper from a still of it. Its amounts belong to no one and its prices drift on their own: exercise numbers, not market quotes.

### Does the lesson work with 30 students and one projector?

Yes, it is built for that: one projected still, one worksheet each. Take the screenshot before class, since the wallet on that page moves by itself; every student then reads the same numbers, and one answer key checks the whole class. Nobody can change anything on the page.

### How do I explain a seed phrase without showing a real one?

Call a seed phrase the master key: 12 or 24 words that rebuild the wallet on any device, so whoever holds them holds the funds, with no password reset. The only screen that ever needs them is the owner's own wallet app when restoring it. A website, form, support chat or giveaway that asks for them is a theft attempt.

### Is this cryptocurrency lesson plan suitable for middle school?

Partly. The first two blocks, a balance as quantity times price and the dollar change, work in middle school with whole numbers and no percentages. The percent-change block and the proof discussion suit grades 9 to 12 and adults.

### Can I print the worksheet?

Yes. The worksheet on this page is plain text with five exercises and an answer key: print the page, or copy the exercises into your own handout, and print the screenshot of the wallet next to it.

### Does scam awareness training work?

Short training helps, but it fades. In a FINRA Foundation and USC trial of 2,000 adults, a three-minute video or a short text cut willingness to invest in fraudulent pitches by 42% and 44% right away. Six months later those trained once were no better than the control group, while people who got a second session at three months were still 10% less willing.

### What should a session on fake wallet screens cover?

The patterns behind most scams: a balance that grows on a site someone sent you to, a fee to withdraw, a support agent who asks for your screen or recovery phrase, a demand to pay in crypto, and a screenshot offered as proof of winnings.