Take a Bite Out of These Pi Day Activities

Pi Day may not be a highly anticipated holiday on most people’s calendars, but for math teachers (and number enthusiasts), it’s a big deal! Take advantage of this quirky holiday and bring Pi Day activities into all classrooms—like social studies, science, and ELA.

• Build background knowledge about Pi Day
• Uncover how Pi and other math concepts work in the world around us
• Combine literacy and math (and dessert!) in ELA

[Build background knowledge about Pi Day](id-ss)

Teach students about physicist Larry Shaw and his push to start Pi Day to celebrate the roles numbers and math play in our lives.

Discover the history of Pi Day

What is Pi Day, and why do we celebrate it on March 14? Help students learn the significance of this holiday, which has been around for over 30 years and became recognized nationally in 2009. 

• Share a video or article that explains what Pi Day is and why we celebrate it.
• Learn more about the constant pi and how we use it in math.
• Read about mathematicians' search for the accurate value of pi.

Dive into the history of math and science concepts

Much of what we know about math and science today comes from ancient Greek research. Students can learn more about important mathematicians and their findings by exploring articles on topics like:

• The life and legacy of Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras.
• A biography of Hypatia, a female mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher.
• The discovery of the Antikythera Mechanism, a complex device used to predict cosmic events like eclipses.

[Uncover how Pi and other math concepts work in the world around us](id-sci)

Math principles appear in the world around us every day! We just have to know where to look. Introduce students to some of these naturally occurring patterns with articles on topics like:

• Mathematical models that scientists can use to predict the organic growth patterns of plants.
• How prime numbers show up in nature.
• The effect motion-tracking cameras and analytics have on NBA gameplay and roster construction.

[Combine literacy and math (and dessert!) in ELA](id-ela)

Build literacy skills while learning math concepts by incorporating Pi Day lessons into your ELA classroom.

Serve up background knowledge on delicious desserts

Turn Pi Day into “pie” day by uncovering the history of some of students’ favorite sweet treats!

• Read up on the history of pumpkin pie and how it became a popular dessert in the United States.
• Discover what George Washington has to do with the popularity of ice cream in America.
• Visit Hansen’s Sno-Bliz shaved ice shop in New Orleans (virtually) to learn more about how snoballs are made.

Meet mathematicians of the modern world

Discover the stories of modern-day math advocates by sharing articles on topics like:

• How former NFL player John Urschel left professional sports for a career in math.
• What Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky is doing to promote STEM education in middle school.
• How Gladys West, a Black scientist, used math and computer calculations to create the military predecessor to GPS.

Explore even more with Newsela’s subject products

Use Newsela’s knowledge and skill-building products to keep students interested and engaged with timely content all year long. If you’re not a Newseal customer, sign up for Newsela Lite and start your 45-day free trial!