Well, for me, it's personal. I use Pi often when I'm at work because I work with circles a lot. I design medals that are circular and sometimes we put those medals on flat circular platforms that we engrave along the edges of. I'm constantly figuring the circumference of those circles I work with.
Pi also represents the part of math I like. I'm an artist and never took to math very well. It's very set in stone and has rules that can't be broken and just never seemed very creative to me. Well, besides my son's dad (who's studying to be a math teacher) telling me I'm wrong, Pi proved I'm wrong. Pi is irrational, can't be set in stone because it never ends, and several musicians get very creative with the use of Pi.
To see more pi music videos, go to piday.org. A violinist played Pi out to 200 digits. A pianist played a beautiful composition using Pi. And several other talented artists created tributes to Pi as well.
Pi Day is on March 14th because the first three digits of Pi are 3.14. Those are the only ones I work with. But there's more to Pi than meets the eye! Here's a few fun facts to help you celebrate.
Pi represents the relationship between a circle's diameter and circumference. The diameter is the width of the circle and the circumference is the distance around it.
The numbers of Pi go on forever because it is an irrational number. Those crazy mathematicians have got it calculated out to a trillion digits past the decimal with the help of computers, but it will never come to an end, will never repeat and will never die.
You can find the first 10,000 digits of Pi here. If you are feeling really ambitious, see the first 1,000,000 numbers of Pi here.
For more information about Pi Day and Pi Approximation Day, see the Wikipedia entry on it here.
The Wikipedia entry mentions that March 14 is also Albert Einstein's birthday. Is this mere coincidence or a time when fate took science into it's own hands? (Talk about irrational!)
Anyway, find ways to celebrate here or come up with some terrific ideas of your own.
Why? Because when you make math and learning fun, kids actually want more. Get creative with math and you might just discover new and fun ways to get creative with all your educational efforts.
P.S. My son actually jumped for joy when he heard it was "Pie" day. When I showed him a printout of the first 10,000 numbers of Pi, he was less enthusiastic until I decided we should celebrate with pie. Pie is circular after all.
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