Pi Day: Circles and π

March 14 is Pi Day, because 3/14 looks like 3.14. This pack turns it into a real measurement investigation. Students wrap string around round objects, measure the distance around (the circumference) and the distance across (the diameter), and divide. Every circle gives a number close to 3.14, and the class data table shows it.

Younger students in the band (Grades 5 and 6) do the measuring, the decimal division and the mean. Grade 7 students go on to the formulas for circumference and area, with practice and word problems. A fun page looks at the digits of pi, a famous fraction that comes close to it, and a word-length puzzle.

Inside: teacher notes, a reading, a measuring page, a sample data set with a worked mean, a class data page, a discovery page, circumference practice, area practice, a pi digits page, a check-up and an answer key with every answer worked. Print in black and white on any printer. You need string, rulers and a calculator. The free sample is the teacher notes and the reading.