Pi Day Challenge

March 14 is Pi Day because the date is 3/14, and those are the first three digits of the number pi (3.141592653....) This year, however, is a special Pi Day because the calendar will read 3/14/15 - the first five digits of pi!

Pi is an irrational number (it has an infinite number of digits) that is very important in many mathematical equations. 

The use of pi is a little beyond what we have been learning in 5th grade math, but I'm going to give an optional challenge relating to pi due to the special significance of this year's Pi Day. 

You do not have to do this challenge, but if you do, you may have the chance to win your very own box of Popin' Cookin'! Mmm, mmm!

(Why Popin' Cookin'? I don't really know... But there will almost certainly be some circular edibles in each box.)

You can have help with this challenge and you can look up videos or other resources to help you. You just need to be able to explain how you got the answers to me in person.

Here are the challenge questions (and a link to them as a Google Doc):

1. What does the diameter of a circle measure?
2. What does the circumference of a circle measure?
3. If the diameter of a pizza is 12 inches, what is the circumference of the pizza? (Round to the nearest 100th.)
4. If the radius of a pumpkin pie is 4 inches, what is the circumference of the pie? (Round to the nearest 100th.)
5. What are two big discoveries that were made because of people’s understanding of pi?

Here are some resources to help you with the challenge:

• A video to explain the formula for using pi and the radius of a circle to find its circumference.

• Pizza Pi: An interactive that teaches the equations for finding the circumference and area of circles.

• This animated gif shows how the diameter of a circle is related to its circumference (there are a little more than 3 diameter lengths in the circumference of any circle.)

"Pi-unrolled slow" by John Reid & Arpad Horvath - Image:Pi-unrolled-720.gif. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pi-unrolled_slow.gif#/media/File:Pi-unrolled_slow.gif

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The challenge is due Wednesday, March 18th.

Good Luck!