Hi students! Pi Day (3-14) is quickly approaching and we have a party to plan! This year, I would like for you to help educate some of our elementary school students about what "Pi" is. Mrs. Edwards is going to bring her 5th grade students to our school for a Pi Day Party and I need your help in planning. I have listed a few ideas, along with pictures below to help get ideas flowing. Check them out and see what you can come up with as well!
1. Make a Pi Day paper chain.
Just like our ol’ mathematical friend pi, paper chains can be endless … in activity time, length, and fun! As a class or grade, create the Pi Day chain with loops of construction paper, using a different color for each of the 10 digits. Each colored chain link represents a decimal place or a digit.
2. Divide it up!
Pi means circles, and circles mean pizza—at least they do with the kids we know! Have a pizza “pi” party for lunch. Remind your class that the symbol π is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. Have your students measure the diameter and circumference of the pizzas.
3. Surprise students with a math class read-aloud.
The book Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi: A Math Adventure is a perfect choice for a Pi Day read-aloud. The quest follows Lady Di of Ameter and Radius through the castle as they search for clues that will help them solve this mystery: Sir Circumference has been changed into a fire-breathing dragon, and they need the magic number that is the same for all circles in order to change him back!
4. Discover a "pi" secret.
Have students write 3.14 on a piece of paper and hold it up to a mirror. What does the reflection spell? Do your students think that is a coincidence? What other word reflections can you create with combinations of the numbers one, three, and four? Do any other numbers look like letters when reflected in the mirror?
