Lower School Slices Into Creative Pi Day Fun

As the first three digits of pi (π) are 3.14, Thursday, March 14, marked an opportunity for our Lower Campus to celebrate this important mathematical number, the ratio of the circumference of any circle to its diameter.

The day itself, a nationally recognized day of observance, has grown to celebrate all things mathematics, and as it happens, it is also Albert Einstein's birthday, so science and math enjoyed much fun and festivity. Whether in Math Team, where Kindergarten and 1^st Grade students created their own Pi Day game boards to use in an addition dice game, or learning visual techniques to memorize the digits of pi, they enjoyed a wealth of activities circling around the subject. In 4^th Grade, students took the opportunity to measure several round items in their classroom, keep track of the circumference and diameter, and then use pi to multiply the diameter to see how close their measurements factored into their circumferences. Meanwhile, 6th Grade Science students launched into a celebration of Einstein's birthday by doing an exciting experiment about air pressure. Students heated liquid in an aluminum can, and when the steam pushed air out, the can crushed in on itself due to the vacuum within the can. Many "oohs" and "ahs" were heard as students "crushed" the skills of air pressure experimentation, extending their understanding through experiential learning.

In addition to the hands-on classroom activities, students enjoyed many fun recess activities, including pi frisbees, pi pong, et al. One of these included the creation of pi bracelets. Students chose different colors to represent each of the first ten digits of pi so they could wear and see the proportional values of the start of pi. As ratio is at the heart of pi's importance, introducing students to something they could genuinely get their hands on, create, and take away made for a meaningful first foray into the great depths such a concept plumbs.

A recess activity that mesmerized Kindergarten through 6^th Grade alike involved estimation with two pie dishes next to one another. One dish contained an unknown amount of bouncy balls, and the other had exactly 100, so students could use the known amount to estimate the heap of marbles in the other dish. And it is a GREAT pleasure to announce the two students who listed 167, the exact amount in the mystery dish! Congratulations to Quinn C.'31 and London J. '32. They have clearly shown incredible mental prowess and have won treats for their whole grade level. In addition, the following students also listed a value within 10 of the 167.

It was insπ-ring to see our Lower School students so passionately enjoying all of these math and science activities.

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