Lesson Plan: Pi Day

I am excited about implementing this lesson plan in my classroom come this March 14th (Pi Day).  I have always done small celebrations of this day because it was something fun and different involving one of the more interesting numbers used in middle school math.  This lesson, thanks to the technology of the virtual tour, brings some extra depth and education to a fun celebration.  Here is the lesson:

1.       Descriptive Data- This lesson is for a class of 16 8^th graders.  There are 7 boys and 9 girls in the class.  The class is a mix of rural and suburban backgrounds.  There are 15 Caucasian students with one African-born student adopted into a Caucasian-American family.  There are no special learning needs in the classroom.  This class is part of a departmentalized middle school within a 160 student K-8 Lutheran school.  About one-third of our school is Lutheran, with one-third some other Christian affiliation, with one-third having no church ties.

2.       Prior Requirements- For this lesson, the students already have a working knowledge of the internet and Word, as well as how to find the area and circumference of a circle using Pi.

3.       Learning Objectives-

a.       The students will use their researching skills to learn more about the history and uses of the number Pi.

b.      The students will accurately memorize Pi out ten digits and compete at who can memorize it as far as they can.

4.       Assessment of Student Learning- At the end of the lesson, the students will turn in a word document of 5-10 new facts they learned about Pi.

5.       Rationale- Pi Day (March 14) is always a fun day for math teachers to celebrate with their class.  This virtual tour not only helps celebrate a fun math holiday, but it also helps them understand what Pi actually is, where it came from, and all the uses for it.

6.       Materials and Equipment – A computer lab of computers equipped with internet, Word, and printers will be needed.  On top of that, a basic worksheet of the uses of pi will be needed and provided by your math curriculum.  For the closing, some fruit pie will be needed.  Also, the Virtual Tour located at this address:

a.       http://teacher.scholastic.com/fieldtrp/math/piday.htm

7.       Procedure-

a.       This lesson is for Pi Day, so it must fall on March 14.

b.      Start out by handing out a worksheet of review on finding the circumference and area of circles, the primary way we use Pi (3.14…) in middle school.

c.       Once the worksheet is done, take the class to the computer lab for a virtual tour expanding their knowledge of Pi.

d.      They will have 30-45 minutes to explore the different Pi-themed sites on the virtual tour (the most informational being Mr. Math).

e.      As they explore the different sites, they will need to write down 5-10 fun facts they learned about Pi that they didn’t know before.

f.        When they are done searching their virtual tour, they will print their list of facts they found and return to the classroom

g.       Once back in the classroom, we will have a competition for who has Pi memorized out the farthest.  I will alert them of this competition a week earlier.  It will be voluntary and the winner receives extra credit.

h.      Once the winner is crowned, we will finish our celebration of Pi Day by eating some pie.