Information Age Education

March 14, Pi Day - A Day to Celebrate Math and Science

March 7th, 2007

Pi Day, March 14th, is fast approaching and kids are already asking, “Do we get to eat pie?”

Pi Day, for those of you who haven’t put it on your calendars, is a celebration of the number pi, which is approximately 3.14. Hence the reason it’s celebrated on the 3rd month on the 14th day. It’s also the birthday of Albert Einstein.

One of my favorite activities is to read one of the Sir Cumference stories. My middle school students absolutely love me to read stories. I imagine even high schoolers would enjoy these books. I think having children’s books read to them brings them back to those fun years of sitting around their elementary teacher and exploring new worlds and going on adventures. Of course, 4th and 5th graders would also greatly appreciate these stories. Here are two of my favorite in the series. Click on the link below to learn more or to order. They are under $4 each!

Sir Cumference and the First Round Table: A Math Adventure

Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi: A Math Adventure

Pi Day Activities in My Math 7 Class

First we’re going to enjoy a bit of pie while doing the warm-up, which involves calculating how much materials it took to make hula hoops for my Hoop Troop Dance Club. Then I am going to read Sir Cumference. After cleaning up, myself and the other math 7 teacher are combining our classes for half the period and going outside to do some Pi Day festivities. We’ve got a menu of outdoor things we’re going to do, including:

1. create a 7-circuit labyrinth in chalk
2. play some math games
3. sing Pi songs
4. do some hooping (That’s me dancing. It was originally a birthday gift for my sister and she posted it on YouTube.)

Here are some more Pi Day activites

1. TeachPi.org - lots of ideas for activities, songs, stories and a whole lot more
2. Ask Dr. Math about Pi
3. Pi Day at the Exploratorium
4. Mathematics Educators of Greater Saint Louis Pi Day Resources
5. Science and Numeracy Pi Resources
6. Math with Mr. Herte

In honor of Einstein here are some activities
1. The Great Relativity Show - interesting animation, but it’s a bit slow loading
2. Einstein Explained - games, quizzes and photos about Einstein