Millions (ATOM Study Guide)

Millions is a 2005 feature film, rated PG that tells the story of nine-year-old Anthony and seven-year-old Damian who have just lost their mother. Just as they and their father begin to make sense of their new world, a suitcase filled with money falls out of the sky at Damian's feet. Life gets very confusing for all of them. The ever-practical Anthony believes God has given them the money to make up for the death of their mother. The imaginative Damian believes God has given them the money to help the poor. But he has trouble deciding what makes a person poor. A visitor comes to Damian's school to talk about WaterAid, an organization that provides poor people in Africa and Asia with safe water for drinking and sanitation. Damian learns that in some countries, not having water can make you poor because it affects your health, your ability to go to school and your parents' ability to work and earn money. As the story unfolds, Damian and Anthony face the adventure of a lifetime, moral dilemmas, as they discover that the money was stolen, and issues that lead them to realize that true wealth has nothing to do with money.

Fox Searchlight made and released the film in partnership with WaterAid, and America's leading theatre chains, which positioned Millions-themed change receptacles in cinemas across the country.

The film is inspiring and engaging. The study guide, which can be used without viewing the film, provides activities that encourage students' families to discuss the problems faced by poor nations and it includes a wide range of subject areas making it an excellent cross-curriculum resource. Students engage in Maths activities to calculate sums of money and water usage, a quiz about water that requires detailed research on the internet, discussion topics for values, social education and civics and citizenship. The activities involve students in critical analysis, reading, writing, numeracy, making value judgments and deep thinking.

Curriculum Links:
The film and the study guide will have relevance to all students aged 7–12 as a classroom cross-curriculum resource.