“Probably no symbol in mathematics has evoked as much mystery, romanticism, misconception and human interest as the number pi.”

~William L. Schaaf, Nature and History of Pi

Educators at Mobile Ed Productions, Inc. can’t help but love Pi Day each March; it combines a famous mathematical number with the perfect dessert to celebrate it! Mobile Ed Productions has several activities in our back pockets for celebrating Pi Day that doesn’t just include pie (though we have that too!). 

Pi is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter, and it’s also one of the most well-known mathematical consonants. Pi is used in everyday mathematics to solve many different problems. Pi Day was founded in 1988 by physicist Larry Shaw and was first held at a museum known as the Exploratorium. A circle-shaped parade occurred as well as the eating of a variety of pies. The celebrations grew more and more each year until it became a national holiday in the U.S. in 2009. 

Many mathematicians, such as Fibonacci, Newton, and Gauss, have calculated and applied the famous number. It has taken some mathematicians their lifetimes to calculate the number. Ancient civilizations were the first to toil over pi and used measurements to discover it. Ancient Baylon used rope stretchers to mark locations of buildings, and they estimated pi to be 3.125. Ancient Egyptians calculated the ratio to be (169)2 = 3.16. The Greek Mathematician Archimedes was the first person to calculate pi using algorithms. He added the sides of polygons drawn inside of circles, adding more and more sides to eventually prove that 22371 < pi < 227.

(Image from Math Geek Mama)

Here is a list of educational activities for a variety of school subjects you can easily make happen in your classroom this March. 

• Play a Card Game. Use a deck of cards to help students memorize the long number of pi. After each player gets seven cards, place the rest of the deck in the center. Players will take turns trying to fill in the first seven digits of pi. The first player to play all of their cards wins! Depending on the age of your students, create the number pi with as many digits as you want!

• Make Some Jewelry. With string (or a pipe cleaner) and multicolored beads, create a wearable art project using the numbers of pi as the pattern! The first three beads on your bracelet will be one color, then one of the next color, then four of your next color, and so on. Give your students a chance to be creators and use their creativity to make a piece of jewelry that’s all their own. 

• Enjoy a Treat. Share a classic pie with your students or bring in some pizza “pi” for lunch! Sharing a treat together (when appropriate and applicable) can create a positive atmosphere and build a stronger community within your classroom.

• Play a Song. Playing pi-related songs for your students can help them remember the enormously long number. Watch it together or play it in the background of your scheduled activities. Music in the classroom has been proven to ease stress and anxiety in students. 

• Write a Pi-ku. For the students in your language arts classes, write a simple haiku using the first three numbers of pi! The first line will have three syllables, the second line will have one, and the last line will have four. Feel free to add more lines if your students are up for it. 

Need more hands-on activities for teaching math in your classroom? The STEAM Arcade program is another Mobile Ed Productions, Inc. program that students never forget! The STEAM Arcade brings fun, hands-on educational activities right to your classroom! In this program, your students will use exciting new games and activities to learn new science and mathematical concepts. The STEAM Arcade is designed for students K-6. 

Mobile Ed Productions’ mission is to use entertaining exercises of educational concepts to capture students’ attention and cement important lessons into their minds. Though much fun will be had during the STEAM Arcade, students will have an opportunity to take a step back and examine the important STEAM concepts that make these games possible.

The STEAM Arcade will teach your students about: 

• Game design
• Programming
• Pattern recognition
• Geometry
• Physics
• Ergonomics
• Music and sound
• Graphic and industrial design
• Eye-hand coordination
• Circuitry
• Teamwork

Please contact the Mobile Ed Productions team with any questions you have regarding our programs. We look forward to working together to educate students across the country! 

Blog post inspired by We Are Teachers.