Pi Day Lesson Plans for Your Classroom

Pizza pie, apple pie, and pumpkin pie! What do all of these have in common? Of course the first thing that probably comes to your mind is ‘YUM! Pie!’ However, that is not the answer we were going for. Pies can be used to teach many different math concepts, specifically they are a great way to visualize fractions. March 14, also known as Pi Day, is a day we celebrate the infinite number you probably learned about in middle school math class. Pi is the circumference of a circle divided by the diameter (π=C/D) and begins with the number 3.14 - thus March 14!

As March 14 quickly approaches, you may be looking for resources for your classroom. Here is a list of resources to learn more about Pi and Pi Day:

• https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/exploring-pi/

• https://www.piday.org

• https://www.mathsisfun.com/numbers/pi.html

Pi Day is a great day to infuse math, specifically STEAM related projects, into your curriculum. We have compiled a recommended list of lesson plan ideas:

• Math: https://mathgeekmama.com/math-resources/pi-day-goodness/

• General ideas:

  • https://www.edutopia.org/blog/pi-day-lesson-plans-matthew-davis

  • http://www.teachpi.org/activities/

  • https://www.weareteachers.com/pi-day-activities/

  • https://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson335.shtml

  • http://www.pbs.org/education/blog/21-pi-day-resources-for-your-classroom

• STEM/STEAM:

  • https://stemactivitiesforkids.com/2018/03/04/stem-activities-pi-day/

  • https://edu.stemjobs.com/pi-day-activities/

  • http://blog.stemscouts.org/10-educational-ways-to-celebrate-pi-day/

• Science: https://www.space.com/36046-nasa-pi-day-space-math-challenge.html

• Digital Breakout: https://platform.breakoutedu.com/game/play/pi-day-digital-breakout-4th-6th-grades-90608

Let us know what your favorite pie is and how you will be celebrating Pi Day! Happy 3.14!

Monica Brandwein is the Education Technology Consultant, DigitalJLearning for The Jewish Education Project.