MLES sixth-grade classes celebrate special math day
Today (Monday, March 14 – or written as 3/14 in month/year form), is the day when mathematicians and nerds around the world – and the Mountain Lake Public Elementary School sixth-grade students of Annette Kunkel and Kyle Blomgren – honor the most widely-known mathematical constant and irrational number – Pi – on Pi Day.
The number Pi, denoted by the Greek letter π – pronounced ‘pie’ – is one of the most common constants in all of mathematics. It is the circumference of any circle, divided by its diameter. Pi is equal to 3.14159265358979323846 . . . (the digits go on forever without repeating). Nobody knows its exact value, because, no matter how many digits it is calculate to, the number never ends. For most practical uses, assume it is 3.142. Some people have written computer programs and calculated it out to 200 million digits.
Since Pi Day was first marked in 1988 at San Francisco’s science museum – the Exploratorium in 1988 – it has gained in popularity.
The sixth-grade’s third annual Pi Day was held Monday afternoon, and included making and eating pizza Pi(e)s, a Pi recitation contest and the traditional Pi Day 5K Run/Walk.
Pizza Pi math surrounded the making, baking – and eating – of the cheese pizzas in the Mountain Lake Public High School’s Foods Room:
+ The frozen, unwrapped pizza was weighed in grams.
+ The cardboard circle on which the pizza sat, and the plastic wrapper pizza package was weighed in grams.
+ The percent of edible pizza as well as as the packaging was calculated.
+ The pizza’s diameter was measured and its calculated.
+ The pie’s radius was first measured and then its area calculated.
+ After the pizza was cut into eight sectors, the angle of the sectors was measured with a protractor – and the angle was named.
Returning to Kunkel’s homeroom following the pizza Pi making and math project, Pi recitation had the digits flying fast and furious. Olivia Klassen won the contest – and set a new school record – with 100 digits. (That would be – 3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751058209749445923078164062862089986280348253421170679). Crowning her as the 2016 Pi Champ was the 2015 title-winner, Noah Rempel. Rempel had held the school record with 67 digits. Sierra Perkins also had a strong recitation, stretching her Pi to 88 digits. Additional top Pi digit reciters were Wyatt Wall with 37 digits, Kade Wassman with 36 digits, Sam Stade making it out to 26 digits and Jasmine Davison with 24.
Here are some fun facts about Pi and Pi Day:
+ Pi (Greek letter “π”) is the symbol used in mathematics to represent a constant – the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter – which is approximately 3.14159.
+ Pi is all around us. The number is the same for all circles of any size.
+ Pi has been calculated to over one trillion digits beyond its decimal point. As an irrational and transcendental number, it will continue on and on on and on – infinitely – without repetition or pattern.
+ Only 40 digits of Pi is needed to accurately calculate the spherical volume of the universe – but mathematicians find it a challenge to figure out and memorise the digits of Pi.
+ The Guinness World Record for memorizing the digits of pi is held by Chao Lu of China, who recited the number to more than 67,000 decimal places.
+ Pi has been known for almost 4,000 years, but ancient civilizations, like the Babylonians, did not have accurate calculations of it. The first calculation of pi was done by Archimedes (287-212 B.C.).
+ The Exploratorium’s physicist, Larry Shaw, kicked off the tradition of celebrating Pi Day in 1988 by walking around in a circle while eating fruit pies.
+ The United States Congress endorsed Pi Day as a day to celebrate math education in 2009. Many institutions mark it as a way to encourage interest in math and science.
+ There is a song about Pi by British singer Kate Bush.
+ Some people bake Pi pies – pizza or the pastry – single-crust or double-crust.
+ March 14 is also scientist Albert Einstein’s birthday. Strange coincidence?
Following is a photo gallery of Mountain Lake Public Elementary’s sixth-grade Pi Day activities:
