Pi Day Unit & Resources

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Pi Day Unit Study
Pi Day
What Is Pi?
Making Pi Personal
Some Pi Fun
Make a Pie for Pi Day
Pi Activities
Web Activities
Pi Day Online Resources

Pi Day Unit Study

Learn all about pi and why it is important (and fun!)

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Pi Day

What is Pi Day?
When is Pi day celebrated?
Where was the first Pi day held?
Give a brief history of Pi day.

What Is Pi?

Give a brief history of Pi.
List three people who are credited with calculating Pi? Find out other math concepts for which those people are famous.
Look around your environment. Find three things that contain Pi.

Select one of your items from the above list. Why might it be important to know Pi for this item? List the item and give an example of why Pi is important to this item.

Making Pi Personal

How old are you?
Write Pi out to the same number of decimal places as your age. Memorize this number. Each year you can add a number. In fifty years, what will your Pi number look like?

Some Pi Fun

Pi and pie rhyme. Words that sound the same but are spelled different are called ________________.

What is the symbol for Pi?

In the alphabet of which language is the letter Pi found?

Write the alphabet of that language. Pi has been filled in for you.

Find out how to count from zero to nine in this language.

Write out Pi in this language out to ten decimal places.

List your three favorite dessert pies.

List three types of pies that are NOT dessert pies.

Make a Pie for Pi Day

To celebrate Pi Day, which pie listed that you listed would you most like to make?
Create a recipe card for the pie you have chosen to make. If you do not have a personal recipe collection, this can be your first recipe in your collection. You can use a recipe box, a three ring binder with page protectors, or any other method you choose to store your recipes. Having a personal collection of tried and true recipes is something that you will appreciate when you are on your own and must feed yourself and possibly others too!
Write out your recipe card. After it is complete, make a grocery list with enough ingredients to make two pies. Since most pie recipes only make one pie, you will need to double your ingredients to make two pies. Plan a time with your parent(s) to shop for the needed ingredients and make the pies. Never cook without your parents’ permission! Share the extra pie with a friend or neighbor to introduce them to Pi Day.
When your pies are made, take a picture of the prettiest one and paste it in your unit study report. You can store the photo with the recipe if you like to have pictures with your recipes. Pasting a copy of the picture on the back of the recipe card is a good way to keep them together.

Pi Activities

Door Banner: Make a Pi chain banner to hang up on your door. Using strips of construction paper make a paper chain using ten different colors. Make sure to assign a different color paper to each of the 0 through 9 numbers contained in Pi. Make it as long or as short as you like, but be sure to use all ten colors.

Bracelet: Make a Pi bracelet or key chain. Using your choice of string and colored beads, assign a different colored bead to each of the 0 through 9 numbers contained in Pi and string them in the correct order. Wear your bracelet proudly and try quizzing your friends on the meaning of the color combination.

Writing Pi: Make up a Pi poem, Haiku, or limerick.

Web Activities

Play a Pi Day tune »

See Pi demonstrated on a rolling circle »

Emporium celebration »

Send a Pi card »

Check out Pi to a million digits – take the Pi challenge. Add an additional number on your memorization of Pi each year. By the time you are 40, you will definitely impress those around you.

Pi Day Online Resources

Age Range Key

Activities for Pi Day (Y, M, O, T)
Here's a few fun, Pi Day activities to introduce to your classroom. Some are math-related; some are not.

PiDay.org Teacher Resources (T)
PiDay.org is a one-stop shop for Pi teaching resources. The site hosts videos, tutorials, calculators, worksheets, and more.

The Infinite Life of Pi (Video) (Y, M, O, T)
This TEDed video from Reynaldo Lopes "explains pi's vast applications to the study of music, financial models, and even the density of the universe."

Pi Day Math Art: Pi Skyline (Y, T)
This Pi art project is a fun way to introduce younger students to Pi. Create a skyline by graphing the digits of Pi.

Joy of Pi (Y, M, O, T)
JoyofPi.com is home to tons of fun facts and interesting resources about Pi, including articles on how many digits of Pi astrophysicists actually need, Pi in art and music, how Pi connects to quantum mechanics, and more.

Pi Fight: A Pi Day Game (M, O)
Try to hit Okta, the octopus, with a Pie by choosing the correct radians, degree, or combination of both. "Pi Fight is designed to help students become comfortable with using both radians and degrees."

Pi, Anyone? The Secret to Memorizing Tens of Thousands of Digits (M, O)
How do Pi memorization world champions memorize so many digits of Pi? This interesting Live Science article takes a look at the psychology of extraordinary memorizers.

Pi World Ranking List (Y, M, O, T)
A searchable list of Pi memorization world record holders, including their location and digits memorized.

Pi for Kids (Y)
What is that funny looking symbol? It's the Greek Letter Pi. It looks like a crooked little table! But it is important in math and physics and LIFE. Did you know that pi will help you figure out how much pizza you have? How big is your cookie? A You Tube video from Socratica Kids

What is Pi Day? (M,O,T)
Every year on March 14, math geeks and others celebrate Pi Day. Here's how the celebration got started and other interesting facts around the holiday that's steadily growing in popularity. A You Tube entry from IDGTechtalk

Pi Day Song (Y)
Memorize 100 Digits Of pi with this You Tube video from asapScience.

TeachPi.Org (M,O,T)
TeachPi.org is your one stop Pi Day shop for teachers and number lovers. The site hosts all Pi Day news, activities, learning resources, fun facts, and more.

Pi Poster (Y,M,O,T)
This poster shows the pi symbol and the value of pi in decimal to many places.

A History of Pi (M,O,T)
Pi as it has been recorded and calculated through history from Math History. The article includes discussion topics and links to additional resources.

The Pi-Search Page (O,T)
The Pi Searcher lets you search for any string of digits (up to 120 of them) in the first 200 million digits of Pi. You can also show any substring of Pi.

What Are You Doing for Pi Day? (T)
A discussion thread from educators on Proteacher.net that has numerous good Pi Day activity ideas for all ages.

Pi Day March 14, 2020 (Y,M,O,T)
Founded in 1988 at the Exploratorium, Pi Day has become an international holiday, celebrated live and online all around the world. Exploratorium offers lots of information and activities each year to celebrate Pi day.