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F1.5 · Compare trading, lending, borrowing, and donating resources

Learn to compare trading, lending, borrowing, and donating resources through clear examples and targeted practice.

Ontario Grade 6 Mathematics

Financial Literacy

Comparing trading, lending, borrowing, and donating

A resource is something useful that a person or group has or can use. A book, a ball, a tool, and a person’s time can all be resources. People can share resources in different ways. The important questions are: Who gives something? Who receives it? Does anyone need to give something back later? This lesson compares four choices: trading, lending, borrowing, and donating.

What you will learn

Explain what trading, lending, borrowing, and donating mean.
Compare what each person gives, receives, and may need to do later.
Choose words that accurately describe a resource-sharing situation.

Start with what changes hands

Imagine you have a storybook that a classmate wants to read. You might exchange it for another book. You might let your classmate use it and expect it back. You might receive a book from someone who expects you to return it. Or you might give your book away without asking for anything back. These are different choices, even though each involves a book.

To compare choices, name the people and the resource. Then ask what each person gives or receives. Finally, ask whether the resource must be returned or whether something is exchanged. A return means giving back the item that was lent. An exchange means each person gives something and receives something in return.

A resource is something useful that people can have, use, or share.
The same resource can be part of different kinds of arrangements.
Ask who gives, who receives, and what is expected later.

Four ways to share resources

Trading means exchanging resources. Each person gives something and receives something. For example, two students might agree to exchange books. In a trade, each person receives a different resource from the one they gave.

Lending means letting someone use a resource for a time, with the understanding that it will be returned. The lender is the person who lets someone use the resource. The borrower is the person who receives it for use and is expected to return it. The lender and borrower are two sides of the same arrangement.

Borrowing means receiving a resource to use and expecting to return it. If you borrow a class library book, you can read it, but you are expected to return that book. Borrowing is not the same as receiving a gift: the return is part of the arrangement.

Donating means giving a resource to someone or to a group without expecting a resource in return. The person or group that receives a donation does not have to give the donated item back as part of the donation. A donation can help others, but it is still important to make sure the resource is wanted and can be used.

Trade: give a resource and receive a different resource in exchange.
Lend: let someone use a resource and expect it back.
Borrow: receive a resource to use and expect to return it.
Donate: give a resource without expecting an exchange or return.

Compare before deciding

A simple comparison can keep the four choices clear. Think about a classroom set of art supplies. If one group swaps its extra paper for another group’s markers, that is trading. If one student lets a classmate use a ruler and asks for it back, that is lending. From the classmate’s side, it is borrowing. If the class gives unused supplies to a group that needs them and asks for nothing back, that is donating.

The word “use” matters. A borrower may use an item, but the item is not theirs to keep when the arrangement says it must be returned. The word “expect” matters too. A donation is not a donation if the giver expects another resource in exchange. A trade is not a loan if both people are exchanging items to keep.

People may need to talk about the arrangement so everyone understands it. For a loan, agree on which item is being borrowed and that it will be returned. For a trade, make sure both people understand what each is giving and receiving. For a donation, be clear that the giver is giving the resource away.

Look for an exchange to identify a trade.
Look for an expected return to identify lending or borrowing.
Look for giving without an expected return or exchange to identify donating.

A careful comparison

When a situation is unclear, describe the actions instead of guessing. For example, “Mina gives Jo a calculator to use, and Jo will return it” tells us that Mina lends and Jo borrows. If the story does not say whether the calculator should be returned, ask for more information before deciding.

More than one person can describe the same event with different words. The person who gives an item for temporary use lends it. The person who receives it for temporary use borrows it. Neither description changes the arrangement; they name each person’s part.

Before choosing how to share a resource, consider what the people involved want and what they have agreed to do. A resource can be useful to more than one person, but the arrangement should be clear and fair to the people involved.

Describe what people actually agree to do.
Lending and borrowing name opposite roles in one arrangement.
If a return or exchange is not clear, ask rather than assume.

Compare the four arrangements

Arrangement	What one person gives	What the other person receives	What is expected later?
Trading	A resource	A different resource in exchange	Each person keeps what they receive
Lending	Temporary use of a resource	Temporary use of that resource	The item is returned
Borrowing	A promise to return the item	Temporary use of a resource	The borrower returns the item
Donating	A resource	The donated resource	No exchange or return is expected

Worked example

A book exchange

Hypothetical situation: Nia gives Omar a book, and Omar gives Nia a different book. They each keep the book they receive. What kind of sharing is this?

Name what each person gives
Nia gives a book, and Omar gives a different book. Both people give and receive a resource.
Check what happens later
They each keep the book they receive. No one is expected to return the original book.
Choose the matching word
Because each person gives one resource and receives another in exchange, this is trading.

Answer: They are trading books.

Check: Both people give a book and receive a different book to keep. That is an exchange.

Worked example

Using a borrowed game

Hypothetical situation: Eli lets Sam use a board game for the weekend. Sam agrees to return that game afterward. Describe each person’s role.

Find the person who provides the game
Eli lets Sam use the game and expects it back. Eli is lending the game.
Find the person who receives it to use
Sam receives the game for temporary use and agrees to return it. Sam is borrowing the game.
Check the agreement
The expected return shows that this is not a donation. The two words describe the different roles in the same arrangement.

Answer: Eli lends the game, and Sam borrows it.

Check: The game is expected to be returned, so it is a lending-and-borrowing arrangement.

Worked example

Giving supplies to a group

Hypothetical situation: A family gives unused art supplies to a community group. The family does not ask for supplies or the donated items back. What kind of sharing is this?

Identify what the family gives
The family gives the art supplies to the group.
Check for an exchange or return
The family does not ask for another resource in exchange and does not expect the supplies back.
Name the arrangement
Giving a resource without expecting an exchange or return is donating.

Answer: The family is donating the art supplies.

Check: The group receives the supplies, and the family expects nothing in exchange or back.

Common mistakes and how to avoid them

Calling every shared item a donation.

Correction: Check whether the item must be returned. If it must, it is being lent and borrowed.

Using “lend” and “borrow” for the same person.

Correction: The person who provides an item for temporary use lends it. The person who receives it to use borrows it.

Calling a trade a loan because two people give items.

Correction: In a trade, each person receives a different resource in exchange. In a loan, the same item is expected back.

Assuming a donation must be returned.

Correction: A donation is given without expecting the item back or another resource in exchange.

Lesson summary

Trading is an exchange: each person gives and receives a resource.
Lending is letting someone use a resource with an expected return.
Borrowing is receiving a resource to use and agreeing to return it.
Donating is giving a resource without expecting an exchange or return.
Name the people, the resources, and what is expected later to compare an arrangement.

Check your understanding

Question 1

Rae gives Max a puzzle to use. Max agrees to return that puzzle. Which statement is correct?

Rae lends it, and Max borrows it.
Rae donates it, and Max trades it.
Rae borrows it, and Max lends it.
Rae and Max trade puzzles.

Show answer and explanation

Rae lends it, and Max borrows it.

Rae provides the puzzle for temporary use, so Rae lends it. Max receives it and agrees to return it, so Max borrows it.

Question 2

Two friends each give the other a different pencil to keep. What are they doing?

Lending
Borrowing
Trading
Donating

Show answer and explanation

Trading

Each friend gives one resource and receives a different resource in exchange. That is trading.

Question 3

A group gives extra notebooks to another group and asks for nothing back. What is this?

Borrowing
Donating
Trading
Lending

Show answer and explanation

Donating

The notebooks are given without an expected return or exchange, so this is donating.

Key terms

Resource: Something useful that a person or group has or can use.
Trade: An exchange in which people give and receive resources.
Lend: To let someone use a resource while expecting it to be returned.
Borrow: To receive a resource to use while agreeing to return it.
Donate: To give a resource without expecting an exchange or return.

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Published by DoAssignment. This reviewed lesson follows Ontario Grade 6 Mathematics, expectation F1.5. It is a study resource, not an official curriculum publication.

Before publication, content is checked for structure, mathematical or chemical notation, calculations, course boundaries, and readability. Errors can still occur, so corrections are welcomed.

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