The calculation of pi is a piece of cake

In mid-March, students in Tara Klink’s math enrichment class at CVMS celebrated Pi Week! It was a week all about pi.

A boy wearing a black jacket with white stripes down the sleeves, looks at a small can he picked up from the many on a small table.

 

Pi is the ratio of the circumference of any circle to the diameter of that same circle. Regardless of the circle’s size, this ratio will always equal pi, which is 3.14 in decimal form. Pi is an irrational number, meaning it never ends. For their purposes in their calculations, they used 3.14.

 

Two middle school girls sit at a table with their chromebooks. Their teacher stands with them looking at a piece of paper.

 

Ms. Klink brought in many cylindrical objects, like cans, bottles, jar lids and oatmeal containers, so the students can prove the ratio. They worked in teams of two and chose three of the objects. Then they did their measurements and calculations and voila – the answers were always close to 3.14!

 

Two middle school girls measure the circumference of a can.

A girl with long dark hair uses a tape measure to measure the circumference of a can on a desk.

In keeping with the circle theme of Pi Week, Ms. Klink handed out snacks – of course they were all round – life savers and cookies!

 

A group of six middle school kids hold up their papers with the work they did about pi.

 

 

Pine Bush Central School District
State Route 302, Pine Bush, NY 12566
Phone: (845) 744-2031
Fax: (845) 744-6189
Amy Brockner
Interim Superintendent of Schools
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