Happy World Pi Day

March 14, 2008 by Barbara.

There are many, many international days for this or that, in addition to the commemorative weeks and months. I recently saw that March 14 is World Pi Day. If you remember from school, Pi is a Greek letter () and the symbol for the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. Pi is usually written as 3.14 although it is, in fact, an irrational fraction and so goes on and on - 3.1415926535…. Purists time the highlight of the celebration for 1:59 to get the extra three digits of Pi. I’ll be celebrating with pizza Pi(e) at work and Ken has threatened awful consequences if I blog about Pi and eat pizza Pi(e) without coming through with a pie for him and Reid after supper. I guess I’ll make the sacrifice and get a fruit Pi(e) - no time for baking, unfortunately.

I was tempted to send Reid to daycare with a Pi symbol on a paper for show and tell. It was fun to imagine what questions the teacher would ask at circle time (pun unintentional) but I like the teachers and so I restrained myself. Most of the activities on the Official Pi Day site were geared to older kids but there was a reference to Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi : a math adventure by Cindy Neuschwander and illustrated by Wayne Geehan. I peeked at the excerpt and it looks to be a picture book that Reid would understand and it’s one of a series featuring Sir Cumference. Older kids and adults might enjoy the Joy of Pi, the site has trivia as well as information about the book. Next year, I’ll have to get Reid an I love Pi t-shirt - the Junior Kindergarten teacher will want to mark Pi Day, don’t you think? Maybe s/he will play the Pi(ano) Song or the Pi Raps on YouTube.

Please note that I am not a math geek, not at all. I want Reid to be one, though. I am someone who loves parties and am willing celebrate just about anything. Happy World Pi Day to one and all.

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