March 14 (3.14) is just a few days away. Here are some creative activities to celebrate the day and reinforce some important math skills. Thank you to Mrs. Burke, who has put together some wonderful Pi Day activities, some of which we have linked to below.
Hold a Pi Day Scavenger Hunt: students have to find quantities of items that align with the numbers of pi
Have student write a Pi-em, a poem with corresponding number of syllables, words, or letters in each line (3 in the first line, 1 in the second, 4 in the third, etc.)
Set up the Amazing Pi Race in your classroom or school, students “travel” to places to solve pi-related math problems
Play Jeopardy with questions about Pi
Create a paper chain of Pi numerals, with each paper color representing a number. Students can decorate their number. String them up down the hall and see how far you can go
In shop class, make Pi symbols out of wood or engrave Pi into a box or piece of furniture
Use actual pie or cakes of different dimensions to do calculations to ensure each student receives the same volume of pie
Have students bring round things from home (hulla hoops, bike wheels, pizza pan)
and take measurements of the circumference and diameter (it helps to lay the measurements out flat to visualize the proportion of circumference to diameter)
Do reports or have discussions about the history of Pi
Act out a play about scholars using and discussing Pi in ancient history
Look at the Guinness Book of World Records to learn about who has recited the most digits of Pi. Figure out how long it took and how many digits he recited per minute or per hour.
See who can memorize the most digits of Pi
Read “Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi” (Cindy Neuschwander), “Piece of Pi” (Naila Bokhari), or “The Joy of Pi” (David Blatner)
Write your own book about Pi
Compose a song about the digits of Pi or how the number is used
