How to Throw a National Pi Day Party

Yes, it is that time of the year again. Smack dab between Uranus' birthday and the Ides of March comes National Pi Day. According to the San Francisco Exploratorium's website, March 14th, or 3-14 (the approximation of the mathematical concept of Pi) was founded in 1988 by Larry Shaw, a former worker of the Exploratorium.

Every year, in my classroom, my students and I go out of our way to make National Pi Day a big deal, and this year was no exception. If you missed this year's National Pi Day, don't worry. Here is how you can celebrate National Pi Day in style next year.

Throwing a Pi Party:

Throwing a Pi Party for National Pi day is an educational experience; while my students do have fun, the goal is to learn.

Step 1: Create the invitations: This is done at the very beginning of the Pi / geometry unit. My Pi invitations are designed to teach students how to properly use a compass.

The students use colored construction paper and a compass to create concentric circles of different sizes and colors. By making circles of different sizes they can make observations about the compass and how small changes on the compass result in large changes in the circle dimensions.

Using the invitations, students get to invite one friend to our lunch-time Pi party on National Pi Day.

Step 2: Work with circles: This is where, over the course of a few weeks, I integrate several circle based lessons including radius, circumference, fractions, and volume vs. perimeter. We use pictures of pizzas, pies, and big cookies as the subject for all of our investigations and experiments.

Students have to figure out the circumference of the foods, how to cut them into equal ratios and fractions, and how to determine the size of a slice of pizza based on its radius. All of the lessons I integrate revolve around food, circles, and Pi. Every food item I use as an example, we purchase for the party.

Step 3: Decorate. When March 14th finally rolls around, we spend the class period decorating the room. We label everything circular with a Pi sticker, we slap the diameter equation on everything round, and we rearrange the room into a circle.

Step 4: Party like its 3.14159. Order pizzas and bake pies. Get as many big cookies as you can find. Have the students divide and cut the pizzas up according to specific fractions. Make sure you don't refer to the pizzas as small, medium, or large, but use their diameters or multiples of Pi instead. If you are able to have your party at 1:59 (get it - 3.14159), it is even better. Don't forget to play Don McLean's "American Pie"

National Pi Day is celebrated by schools and classrooms every year all across the country, and my classroom is no exception. If done right, the experience can definitely leave a lasting impression on students. They will have fun, and learn something at the same time. Happy Pi Day.