Let Them Eat Pie (After They Learn about Pi)

Every year on March 14, sixth grade students celebrate Pi Day by doing fun math activities and then eating pie. Pi—symbolized by the Greek letter for p, or π—is the ratio of the circumference of any size circle to the diameter of that circle. Regardless of the size of the circle, this ratio will always equal pi, which in decimal form is 3.14 (rounded).

Middle School math teachers Ann von Ofenheim and Karen Seder led students through this year’s activities, which included:

• Using colored beads (representing 0-9) to string a key chain in the order of Pi (3.14159265358 and on and on ...)
• Adding links to a paper chain, also colored for different numbers, in the right order (and you can go on with more digits, because it is Pi)
• Measuring the ratio of different sized circles’ circumference to their diameter, to see that they always come out as close to 3.14159 as possible
• Adding unique pi facts to a giant Pi symbol
• Creating a Pi story such that the first word has 3 letters, the second word has 1 letter, the third word has 4 letters, etc.

Pies for the students to enjoy after their activity were provided by OES families and served by parent volunteers (thank you!).

The day before Pi Day, finalists from the pi recitation contest participated in their final round. Maxwell G. ’29 and Conrad C. ’29 tied for first place with 332 digits, followed by Vishvam B. ’29 with 246 digits.

Enjoy this video of Maxwell reciting his digits. Everyone memorizes numbers differently; Maxwell said he memorizes them in groups of 10. The fact that he plays music also likely helps his memory.