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Plan a Pi Day Party for
March 14

Teachers in many classrooms celebrate Pi Day this month. Pi -- the number 3.14… -- gets its own special day on 3/14, or March 14. Ed World editors have gathered a collection of links to ideas and activities that will help you plan a Pi Day celebration for your classroom or school.

If one day of the year screams Party! in math class, that day is March 14. Each year on 3/14, teachers in classrooms across the globe take a break from the normal routine to plan a special celebration in honor of pi, or the number 3.14...

March 14 also happens to be the birth date of Albert Einstein -- which makes the day an extra special one for planning math challenges and math fun!

According to Dr. Math, Pi Day activities are meant to enrich and deepen students' understanding of the concept of pi. Activities might include investigations of the value of pi, special pi projects, and parties with pizza or other kinds of "pi."

Because pi is 3.14159…, some schools hold their big Pi Day celebrations at oon 3/14 at exactly 1:59 p.m.

Education World editors recently took some time to surf the Internet in search of ideas around which teachers might build Pi Day celebrations. The resources below offer a library of great activities, lesson plans, and other resources to help you celebrate Pi Day in style!

LESSON PLANS AND OTHER ACTIVITIES FOR PI DAY

We have gathered more than 2-dozen links to Pi Day activity ideas. (Appropriate grade levels for each lesson resource appear in parentheses.)

Pi Day Lessons from the Math Forum (Grades 5-8)

Making a Pi Necklace (Grades 5-8)

Pi Day Songs

3.14 Trivia Game

Pi Day Connections (Grades 6-12)

Pi Day (Week) Math Lessons (Grades 4-12)

Discovering Pi (Grades 5-7)

Discovering the Value of Pi (Grades 5-8)

PiQuest (Grades 7-8)

What Is Pi? A Cool Lesson (Grades 5-8)

Circles in Geometry (Grades 3-5)

Pi Day Activities (All grades)

Pi Day WebQuest (Grades 6-8)

The Derivation of Pi (Grades 6-8)

Pi Activities & More (Grades 7-12)

Creating Pi Poetry (Grades 6-12)

Cross-Curricular Activities for Pi Mathematics (Grades 5-8)

Proving Pi (Grades 9-12)

(Pizza) Pi Project (Grades 4-8)

Buffon's Needle: An Analysis and Simulation (Grades 9-12)

Monte Carlo Estimation for Pi (Grades 9-12)

Pi Day in Math Classrooms (Grades 8-12)

Pi Day Ideas from Mrs. Highley (Grades 4-12)

Pi Day Activities for Geometry Classes (Grades 9-12) (archived copy)

Pi Day Activities for Trigonometry Classes (Grades 9-12) (archived copy)

Pi Day Activities for Algebra II Classes (Grades 9-12) (archived copy)

Pi Day Contest (Grades 4-12) (Not updated since 2006)

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Project Mathematics: The Story of Pi

Pi Day Greeting Cards from 123Greetings.com

The Pi Trivia Game

Pi Day Songs

Finding the Value of Pi

Slice of Pi, Anyone?

A History of Pi

Ask Dr. Math: Middle School Pi

Pi Pages on the Internet

Archimedes and the Computation of Pi

Graphics for the Calculus Classroom: Archimedes' Calculation of Pi

Let's Take Another Look at Pi Day

"Let Pi Be" Song (Scroll down the page.)

Where Is Your Birthday in Pi?

3.14 Middle School Pi Day

Article by Gary Hopkins
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