MLES sixth-grade students take their pi (and their other pie) very seriously
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Mmmm . . . pi!
Sixth grade students of Annette Kunkel and Kyle Blomgren at Mountain Lake Public Elementary School (MLES) enjoyed a piece of “Pi Day” on Friday, March 14, with a special celebration in their classrooms.
National Pi Day is celebrated annually on March 14 all around the world. Pi (the 16th letter of the Greek alphabet, “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 (and so on and so on and so on). The diameter of a circle is the distance from edge to edge, measuring straight through the center. The circumference of a circle is the distance around. Since the number pi is a constant number – for all circles of any size – pi will be the same.
Pi has been calculated to over one trillion digits beyond its decimal point. As an irrational and transcendental number, it will continue infinitely without repetition or pattern. While only a handful of digits are needed for typical calculations (and only 39 digits past the decimal are needed to accurately calculate the spherical volume of the entire universe), pi’s infinite and patternless nature makes it a fun challenge to memorize – and to computationally calculate more and more digits.
The students have been studying pi in their respective classrooms – writing pi stories, calculating pi and telling corny pi jokes, – but they took pi digit memorization to the contest level – each student reciting pi to as many digits as possible. With the winning the oral recitation from this article’s opening paragraph – Isaac Grev was the pi champ – taking pi out to 51 digits. He received a pi “crown” and his name will be emblazoned on the p Greek letteri trophy, kept as a historical display in the sixth-grade trophy case.
After the recitations, pi became a hands-on lesson as the circumference and diameter of various pies became “food for thought” – and a treat before the students took to the roads of Mountain Lake for the first annual Pi Day 5K run/walk of 3.14 miles – led by their teachers, Kunkel and Blomgren – and joined by MLES first-grade teacher Kim Blomgren.
Below are some Pi Day photos
