Our school Celebrates Pi Day
Is it “pi” or “pie”? What do pies have to do with Maths? And what is “pi”? Well students may not have met “pi” in their maths lessons but they will most probably do when they need to know the distance around a circle (circumference) or the area of a circle. Those who have met “pi” or π know that it is a special number. In any circle, if we divide the circumference by the diameter, we get the value of π. So π is a number which is slightly greater than 3.
What is fascinating about the number π is that the digits following the decimal point never end. Nor do they repeat themselves. Every year, around the world, Pi Day is celebrated on March 14, because the date spells the first three digits of π (3.14).
In our school we are going to celebrate Pi Day on 12th March, since 14th March is a Sunday. A booklet, issued by the Mathematics department of our school, will be distributed to all the students of Year 9 Track 3 and Track 2 since they encounter π for the first time in their curriculum. Some of these students will then take part in the Pi Recital Competition where they have to recite the largest number of digits of π they can remember. All the participating students who will remember more than 30 digits will be awarded a certificate of participation. Those 3 students remembering the greatest number of digits will also be awarded a gift. If you are a Year 9 students and you would like to participate in the Pi Recital Competition, please talk to your Maths teacher.
Last year, and in the preceding three years, in making a pun of the word “pi”, we planned to providing students with some chicken and meat pies. These “Pi Pies” featured the eatable symbol “π” embossed on top of them. However, last year, schools had to close because of Covid on the very same day when the pies had to be distributed. About €200 were already collected for these pies will now be donated to charity organisation as part of this year’s Pi Day celebration.
Mr. A Ellul
HOD Mathematics