Pi Day Activities

The last couple of years I've dropped the ball with Pi Day (March 14th; 3.14) and failed to remember a single fun Pi related activity. Once upon a time, when we started homeschooling in 2012 Amber asked to have Pi Day. We had just started homeschooling in January and I completely forgot by the time March came around.

Thankfully, I was entirely prepared for 5th grade's Pi Day with books, activities and food. However, that was the first and last time I remembered Pi Day. Now that Amber is in eighth grade, the grade that traditionally celebrated Pi Day in her parochial school, I felt we should try to commemorate the event with fun math and Pi activities again.

Below are a combined list of activities and books we used in 5th grade and plans for our upcoming 8th grade Pi Day celebration:

Sir Cumference books - These are just plain fun. There is a whole series of math related stories. In 5th grade we checked out whichever ones were available at the time. For 8th grade, I ordered from Amazon both Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi and Sir Cumference and the Great Knight of Angleland. We will read them aloud and work through the math being used. Mostly, they are a fun way to see concepts applied.

Piece of Pi - A Pi activity book geared towards grades 6-8. Includes fun activities to discover how Pi is related to the natural world and ways of calculating Pi.

Pi Chain - (5th grade activity) Using roughly 85 index cards, I wrote out 350 digits of Pi (with several digits per card) and had Amber assemble the chain by attaching the cards in order. Of course, we talked about how Pi goes on infinitely, but the 85 index cards were enough to string across our kitchen and breakfast room, demonstrating the infinite nature of Pi.

Round food - Pizza, cupcakes, donuts, cakes, pies, crackers, round cut cheese, etc.  We also calculate the radius and area of all our round food.

Write a Pi-ku - Poems that follow the pattern of a Haiku, but are entirely about the number Pi. This was Amber's favorite activity in 5th grade and we will repeat it in 8th grade too.

Consumer Math - Using sizes and prices from a local pizza place, calculate the best price deal for the amount of pizza purchased.