Name: ______________________________

THE PIGGY BANK:

CLEVER DESIGN OR MISUNDERSTANDING?
by Kelly Hashway
Piggy banks have been around for a long time, but did you
ever wonder why people thought to make their banks in the shape
of a pig?
Pigs have nothing to do with money. hey don!t store food
like a "amel or a s#uirrel. $o how did we end up using a pig as the
style of a bank? %elieve it or not, it happened by mistake.
&uring the fifteenth "entury, metal was very e'pensive. &ishes and pots were made of a type of
ine'pensive orange "lay "alled pygg, whi"h was pronoun"ed (ust like pig. )t this time, there weren!t
banks like we have today, so people would store their money at home. *hen people had e'tra "oins to
save, they would pla"e them in "lay (ars or pots. $in"e the type of "lay was "alled pygg, people
referred to the (ars as pygg banks. +ver time this evolved into piggy banks.
)fter a few hundred years, people forgot that the word pygg referred to the "lay the banks were
made from. he ,nglish language was also "hanging and the word pig was more "ommonly used. $o in
the nineteenth "entury, when ,nglish potters began to get re#uests for piggy banks, they assumed their
"ustomers were asking for banks in the shape of pigs, not banks made from pygg.
oday piggy banks are made from all kinds of materials, and they also "ome in a variety of
shapes and animals. %ut the term piggy bank is still used to refer to these adorable "ontainers for loose
"hange.
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Name: ______________________________
THE PIGGY BANK:
CLEVER DESIGN OR MISUNDERSTANDING?
by Kelly Hashway
1. *hat is pygg?
a. a type of metal that was used to make banks
b. a type of "lay that was used to make dishes and pots
c. a pla"e to store money
d. a pink farm animal with a snout
2. %efore piggy banks were invented, where did people usually store their money at home?
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
3. -ist two ways that piggy banks today, different from the ones that were made a few
hundred years ago?
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
4. *ho is most responsible for making banks in the shape of pigs?
a. pottery makers who worked with orange "lay
b. pottery makers who didn.t know what pygg was
c. "ustomers who wanted banks with "ute animal shapes
d. bankers who wanted something to keep people.s money in
/. *hat type of passage is this?
a. non0fi"tion b. fi"tion
c. s"ien"e fi"tion d. fable
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Name: ______________________________
THE PIGGY BANK:
CLEVER DESIGN OR MISUNDERSTANDING?
Vocabulary Activity
1ill in the missing letters to "reate a word from the arti"le.
hen, write the full word on the line. %e sure you spell ea"h word "orre"tly.
1. ___ ___ a ___ 1. _________________________________
clue: a type of soil that "an be molded into
different shapes when it is wet
2. ___ ___ ___ ___ o u ___ ___ e d 2. _________________________________
clue: said in a "ertain way2
spoken "orre"tly
3. ___ ___ ___ l ___ ___ ___ 3. _________________________________
clue: language spoken by people in
3reat %ritain
4. ___ a ___ ___ ___ 4. _________________________________
clue: a desert animal that "an live for
long periods of time without drinking water
5. ___ e ___ ___ ___ ___ t s 5. _________________________________
clue: when people ask for things
6. ___ ___ ___ r ___ b ___ ___ 6. _________________________________
clue: delightful2 "harming
7. ___ ___ ___ ___ e t ___ 7. _________________________________
clue: assortment2 different types
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ANSWER KE
THE PIGGY BANK:
CLEVER DESIGN OR MISUNDERSTANDING?
by Kelly Hashway
1. *hat is pygg? b
a. a type of metal that was used to make banks
b. a ty!e o" clay t#at $a% u%ed to &a'e di%#e% a(d !ot%
c. a pla"e to store money
d. a pink farm animal with a snout
2. %efore piggy banks were invented, where did people usually store their money at home?
)#ey %tored &o(ey i( clay !ot% or *ar%.
3. -ist two ways that piggy banks today, different from the ones that were made a few
hundred years ago?
)oday+ !i,,y ba('% co&e i( a variety o" %#a!e% a(d t#ey are &ade o" &a(y di""ere(t
&aterial%.
4. *ho is most responsible for making banks in the shape of pigs? b
a. pottery makers who worked with orange "lay
b. !ottery &a'er% $#o did(-t '(o$ $#at !y,, $a%
c. "ustomers who wanted banks with "ute animal shapes
d. bankers who wanted something to keep people.s money in
/. *hat type of passage is this? a
a. (o(."ictio( b. fi"tion
c. s"ien"e fi"tion d. fable
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ANSWER KE
THE PIGGY BANK:
CLEVER DESIGN OR MISUNDERSTANDING?
Vocabulary Activity
1ill in the missing letters to "reate a word from the arti"le.
hen, write the full word on the line. %e sure you spell ea"h word "orre"tly.
1. c l a y 1. clay
clue: a type of soil that "an be molded into
different shapes when it is wet
2. ! r o ( o u ( c e d 2. !ro(ou(ced
clue: said in a "ertain way2
spoken "orre"tly
3. E ( , l i % # 3. E(,li%#
clue: language spoken by people in
3reat %ritain
4. c a & e l 4. ca&el
clue: a desert animal that "an live for
long periods of time without drinking water
5. r e / u e % t % 5. re/ue%t%
clue: when people ask for things
6. a d o r a b l e 6. adorable
clue: delightful2 "harming
7. v a r i e t y 7. variety
clue: assortment2 different types
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