March 14th (3.14) is Pi Day! Make your plans now to celebrate math with Pi Day using some of these neat resources, books, and ideas. We have links to tons of websites with activity suggestions for all grades. We also have a list of books that you can read and follow up with notebooking pages or lapbooks.
We have started out our day with headbands. On the front of the headband we attached a triangle resembling a slice of pizza pie or a circle resembling a whole pie. The kids colored in their favorite pizza or pie. Then wrote the word “Pi”, underneath that “3.14, then “(the pi symbol).” We wore our headbands for the rest of the day, so that whenever we looked at one another, the “visual” learners had a reminder of Pi throughout the day.
We read a variety of stories involving the use of measuring a circle and all its measurements. At the same time, we happened to be studying ancient Egypt, so that we were reading a book about Archimedes at the time. Here is a list of books that relate to the study of Pi:
Part of our day we read books, writing a notebook page summarizing what we learned about Pi on the bottom half of a notebook page and on the top half, drawing diagrams and examples of using Pi in a formula. My younger son had a worksheet with a table to fill in as he measured the circumference, diameter, and radius of objects around the house. My older son had a similar table to complete, but had an extra column where he had to use Pi to calculate the different dimensions of various circular objects around the house. Some Pi activity worksheets can be found at EnchantedLearning.com and EdHelper.com.
You can end your Pi Day celebration like we did, by making a pizza (or ordering one) and taking its measurements using the formula. Enjoy your day making memories no one will forget!
Did you know Pi has its own limerick? (author unknown):
Now there is an ancient Greek letter
and I think that none other is better
It isn't too tall
its in fact, very small
But its digits, they go on forever!
Pi Day Tip for Active Kids:
'Draw' a large circle outside (on the pavement with chalk or spray grass with spraypaint), anywhere from 6 to 10 feet in diameter. Draw a line from one point on the circle straight across to the other side. Have the children first walk across the diameter of the circle, then have them walk a completely around the circumference of the circle. Talk about how they walked a little over 3 times as far going around the circle, and how the shortest distance between 2 points is a straight line! This will give them a hands-on (or 'feet on') feel for the 3:1 relationship of Pi to the diameter of the circle. If you want to get really active, have one person stand in the middle with a piece of string or rope and let the other hold onto the opposite end and 'run circles' around him/her until the person in the middle gets dizzy!
And here is the most traditional Pi activity of them all -- see who can memorize and recite Pi to the most digits without a mistake!
Winner gets a piece of pie. :-)
Other Pi activities can be found at the following websites: