Pizza, then Pi, and finally Pies —A Great way to Celebrate a Transcendental Number

Making Pi Night Buttons

Wednesday, March 14 is Pi Day (3.14)  What better excuse is there to have a celebration of math with middle schoolers than π?     Last Friday night, well over 250 students, parents, teachers, and volunteers from the high school, PTA and community celebrated π  at the East Somerville Community School by eating pizza for dinner then spending an evening estimating, creating, collecting data, answering questions, and ending with pies for everyone.  Luckily the Math Fund celebrated early, since many schools had a Snow Day on Pi Day, thanks to the third Nor’easter this March.

Pitching pennies to figure which is a more challenging target,
a  circle in a square or a square in a circle

After enjoying pizza donated by the Bickoff family of the Commercial Cleaning Service (discounted by White Sport), the students from the East Somerville School, who were joined by students from Argenziano and Healey Schools, went around to a wide variety of math activities set up in the gym.

Drawing a circle using a right angle

These activities included: bicycle wheel roll, guessing contest, tooth pick drop (Buffon’s Needle problem), drawing a circle the size of a CD, mystery boxes, π button design, π facts quiz, birthday in π, circle in square vs square in circle, drawing cardioid or nephroid, drawing concentric circles by folding, drawing circles by tangents, drawing circle by right angles, graphing circumference vs diameter, and predicting circumferences in mm by feel of objects in mystery boxes.

Drawing a cardioid using straight lines

The event was planned by Scott Weaver (ESCS), Wil Jacques (Healey) and Erica Voolich (Somerville Mathematics Fund) with help from Jen Rodriguez (Argenziano) and Jonathan Killian (Argenziano).  Teachers at the Somerville High School recruited volunteers to help run the events they may have experienced themselves years before.

Estimating how far a bike wheel will roll after 2 revolutions.

Table Talk Pies of Worcester generously supplied small pies for all who came that night and large pies for the winners of events.  Table Talk has generously supported this Somerville Math Fund event for fifteen years. When planning the first SMF π Night in 2003; the Math Fund called the Table Talk Pi Company and explained what π day was and Table Talk generously donated large pies for prizes and small pies for everyone.  Fifteen years later, Table Talk Pies is not only still donating to the Somerville Pi night celebration, but to many more celebrations.   This year Table Talk donated more than 60,000 pies to schools and organizations celebrating pi day.

Drawing a circle using tangents.

A big thank you to all the volunteers and donors who made this fun, educational evening possible.  It takes a community to celebrate π day!

Drawing a perfect circle free-hand the size of a CD

The Somerville Mathematics Fund, was founded in 2000 with the mission to celebrate and encourage mathematics achievement in Somerville, MA.  They also award renewable college mathematics scholarships; applications will be due in early April.  For more information, to make a donation, or to volunteer, visit www.somervillemathematicsfund.org or mathfund@gmail.com or call 617-666-0666.

Graphing Diameter vs Circumference = 1/π slope

Taking a Pi Facts quiz

©Erica Dakin Voolich

The link to this page is http://somervillemathematics.blogspot.com/2018/03/pizza-then-pi-and-finally-pies-great.html

Pizza, then Pi and finally Pies — What More Can You Want on a Well-Rounded Pi Day?

Graphing Circumference vs Diameter of various round objects

Tuesday, March 14 was Pi Day (3.14)  What better excuse is there to have a celebration of math with middle schoolers than π?     Last Friday night, well over 250 students, parents, teachers, and volunteers from the high school, PTA and community, celebrated π  at the Healey School by eating pizza for dinner, then spending an evening estimating, creating, collecting data, answering questions, and ending with pies for everyone.

After feeling a jar lid in the box, making an estimate of it's circumference in mm

After enjoying pizza donated by the Bickoff family of the Commercial Cleaning Service (discounted by White Sport), the students from the Healey School, who were joined by students from, East Somerville, Argenziano, West Somerville and Kennedy Schools went around to a wide variety of math activities set up in the gym.  These activities included: bicycle wheel roll, guessing contest, tooth pick drop (Buffon Needle problem), drawing a circle the size of a CD, mystery boxes, π button design, π facts quiz, birthday in π, circle in square vs square in circle, drawing cardioid or nephroid, drawing concentric circles by folding, drawing circles by tangents, drawing circle by right angles, graphing circumference vs diameter, predicting circumferences in mm by feel of objects in mystery boxes.

Predicting how far the bike wheel will roll in 1.5 revolutions

The event was planned by Wil Jacques (Healey), Jen Rodriguez (Healey), and Erica Voolich (Somerville Mathematics Fund) with help from Scott Weaver (ESCS) and Jonathan Killian (Argenziano).  Table Talk Pies of Worcester generously supplied small pies for all who came that night and large pies for the winners of events.  Table Talk has generously supported this Somerville Math Fund event for fourteen years.

Estimating the number of objects in the jars

When planning the first SMF π Night in 2003, the Math Fund called the Table Talk Pi Company and explained what π day was and Table Talk generously donated large pies for prizes and small pies for everyone.  Fourteen years later, Table Talk Pies is not only still donating to the the Somerville Pi night celebration, but to many more celebrations.   In fact, this year Table Talk donated than 56,832 pies to schools and organizations celebrating pi day — but most likely the pi day celebrations were delayed all over New England thanks to the March Pi Day Nor’easter.

Finding their birth date in Pi

A big thank you to all the volunteers and donors who made this fun, educational evening possible.  It takes a community to celebrate π day!

Making Pi Buttons

The Somerville Mathematics Fund, was founded in 2000 with the mission to celebrate and encourage mathematics achievement in Somerville MA.  In April they will be looking for applications for renewable college mathematics scholarships.  For more information or to make a donation or to volunteer, www.somervillemathematicsfund.org or mathfund@gmail.com or call 617-666-0666.

Drawing a cardioid using only straight lines

The link to this page is http://somervillemathematics.blogspot.com/2017/03/pizza-then-pi-and-finally-pies-what.html
©2017 Erica Dakin Voolich

Pizza, then Pi and finally Pies — What More Can You Want on a Well-Rounded Pi Day?

Estimating how far a bike wheel will roll in 2.5 revolutions.

Monday, March 14 is Pi Day (3.14) -- but not just any π day, it was a Well-Rounded π Day because it is 2016:  3.14.16!  3.159… rounds off to 3.16.  What better excuse is there to have a celebration of math with middle schoolers than π?     

Drawing a circle using an inscribed triangle in a circle.

Last Friday night, well over 250 students, parents, teachers, and volunteers  from the high school, PTA and community, celebrated π  at the East Somerville Community School by eating pizza for dinner, then spending an evening estimating, creating, collecting data, answering questions, and ending with pies for everyone. 

Pitching pennies to determine which is a more challenging target
the circle in a square or the square in a circle.

After enjoying pizza donated by the Bickoff family of the Commercial Cleaning Service (discounted by White Sport), the students from ESCS, who were joined by students from Healey, Argenziano, West Somerville, and Brown schools went around to a wide variety of math activities set up in the gym.  

Making Pi Buttons

These activities included: bicycle wheel roll, guessing contest, tooth pick drop (Buffon Needle problem), drawing a circle the size of a CD, mystery boxes, π button design, π facts quiz, birthday in π, circle in square vs square in circle, drawing cardioid or nephroid, drawing concentric circles by folding, drawing circles by tangents, drawing circle by right angles, predicting how high of a pour, graphing circumference vs diameter, predicting circumferences in mm by feel of objects in mystery boxes, and predicting volume in cubic cm. of various spheres.

Drawing a circle using tangents.

The event was planned by Scott Weaver (ESCS), Wil Jacques (Healey), and Erica Voolich (Somerville Mathematics Fund).  Table Talk Pies of Worcester generously supplied small pies for all who came that night and large pies for the winners of events.  Table Talk has generously supported this Somerville Math Fund event for thirteen years. 

Tossing toothpicks to calculate pi using Buffon's Needle formula.

When planning the first SMF π Night in 2003, the Math Fund called the Table Talk Pi Company and explained what π day was and Table Talk generously donated large pies for prizes and small pies for everyone.  Thirteen years later, Table Talk Pies is not only still donating to the the Somerville Pi night celebration, but to many more celebrations.   In fact, this year Table Talk donated than 47,242 pies to schools and organizations celebrating pi day.

Taking a quiz on Pi Facts.

A big thank you to all the volunteers and donors who made this fun, educational evening possible.  It takes a community to celebrate π day!

Graphing circumference vs diameter using various sized circles.

Drawing circles using inscribed triangles.

The Somerville Mathematics Fund, was founded in 2000 with the mission to celebrate and encourage mathematics achievement in Somerville MA.  In April they will be looking for applications for renewable college mathematics scholarships.  For more information or to make a donation or to volunteer, www.somervillemathematicsfund.org or mathfund@gmail.com or call 617-666-0666.

Drawing cardioids and nephroids using lines.

The link to this post is http://somervillemathematics.blogspot.com/2016/03/pizza-then-pi-and-finally-pies-what.html

©Erica Dakin Voolich 2016

Pizza, then Pi and finally Pies — What More Can You Want on Pi Day?

Looking up during π night --
above the activities in the entry foyer was a plethora of circles
beneath students are estimating the circumference of circles by feel
and estimating the number of circular objects in each jar.

Friday, March 14 was Pi Day (3.14). What better excuse is there to have a celebration of math with middle schoolers than π?     About three hundred fifty students, parents, teachers, and volunteers from the high school, PTA and community, celebrated π  at the East Somerville Community School (ESCS) by eating pizza for dinner, then spending an evening estimating, creating, collecting data, answering questions, and ending with pies for everyone and π pencils for the students. 

Drawing a cardioid or nephroid using straight lines.

After enjoying pizza donated by the Bickoff family (discounted by White Sport), the students from East Somerville, who were joined by students from Healey, Argenziano, West Somerville, Brown and Kennedy schools went around to a wide variety of math activities set up in the halls, foyers and auditorium.  These activities included: bicycle wheel roll, guessing contest, tooth pick drop (Buffon Needle problem), drawing a circle the size of a CD, mystery boxes, π button design, π facts quiz, birthday in π, circle in square vs square in circle, drawing cardiod or nephroid, drawing concentric circles by folding, drawing circles by tangents, drawing circle by right angles, reciting digits of π, predicting how high of a pour, predicting circumferences and radii, graphing circumference vs diameter.

Estimating how far a wheel will go on 1.5 and 2.5 rotations.

The event was planned by Scott Weaver (ESCS), Wil Jacques (Healey), Erica Voolich (Somerville Mathematics Fund) and Lindsay Garofalo (ESCS).  Table Talk Pies of Worcester generously supplied small pies for all who came that night and large pies for winners of events.  Table Talk has generously supported this Somerville Math Fund event for eleven years.  Star Market/Shaws (Beacon Street) generously donated most of the juice.

Estimating the number of pieces of round candy in the jar.

Pi Night was sponsored by the Somerville Mathematics Fund.  This year, East Somerville students returned to their rebuilt ESCS building after their long hiatus after the fire which had destroyed their school building.  It seemed appropriate for π night to also return to the ESCS building— the location of the original Somerville Math Fund Pi Night in 2003, planned by Wil Jacques, Mary McClelland, Colleen Murphy and Erica Voolich.

Estimating the volume and surface area
 of three different sized globes.

When planning the first SMF π Night, the Math Fund called the Table Talk Pi Company and explained what π day was and Table Talk generously donated large pies for prizes and small pies for everyone.  Eleven years later, Table Talk Pies is not only still donating to the the Somerville Pi night celebration, but to many more.   In fact, this year Table Talk donated 43,000 pies to schools celebrating pi day.

Students put "Happy π Day from Table Talk" stickers
 on the pies before the π night celebration.

A big thank you to all the volunteers and donors who made this fun, educational evening possible.  It takes a community to celebrate π day!

Pitching pennies to see which is the more difficult target
aiming for the space between the circle and the square. 

The Somerville Mathematics Fund, an affiliate of the national scholarship organization Dollars for Scholars.  They were founded in 2000 with the mission to celebrate and encourage mathematics achievement in Somerville MA.  In April they will be looking for applications for college mathematics scholarships.  For more information, www.somervillemathematicsfund.org or mathfund@gmail.com or call 617-666-0666.

Taking a quiz on π facts.

©Erica Dakin Voolich 2014

The link to this post is http://somervillemathematics.blogspot.com/2014/03/pizza-then-pi-and-finally-pies-what.html

Pi Day comes early in Somerville

On Friday, March 13, well over 200 students and their family members and teachers along with high school and community volunteers celebrated Pi Day early. Technically Pi minute would be  March 13 at 1:59 (and to be even more precise, 26 seconds, π = 3.145926...).  Congress even recognized Pi Day in 2009 with our own Congressman Capuano voting 

“yes” to encourage the celebration of this important mathematical holiday http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0309/19952.html.

Middle school students from the Healey School were joined by students from East Somerville Community School at Cummings and from West Somerville Neighborhood School for an evening in celebration of Pi.  Pi was computed, estimations and predictions were made, π quizzes were taken, π posters were displayed, problems using π were solved, circles and other curves were drawn using lines, π buttons were made, birthdays were found in π’s infinite set of digits, graphs were drawn, and probability data was collected for later use.  Everyone worked on problem solving, estimating, predicting and enjoying π, and dined on pizza and juice.  Prizes of pie and candy, round ones of course, were awarded at the end of an exciting mathematical evening.  Everyone went home at the end of the evening with a small Table Talk Pie.

Businesses and individuals helped to make this possible.  Everyone appreciated Healey School and its principal Jason DeFalco for hosting this event.  The evening was planned by Wil Jacques (Healey School), Theresa MacVicar (ESCS, Cummings), Annette Fiore Bassett (ESCS, Cummings), Scott Weaver (WSNS). and Erica Voolich (Somerville Mathematics Fund).  Over 300 pies were donated by Table Talk Pie Company; Gerald and Debra Bickoff donated the pizza supplied at a discount by White Sport; Star Market (Beacon Street) donated a gift card used to buy juice.  The Somerville Mathematics Fund was honored to be able to sponsor this exciting, celebratory event with the support and time of the many wonderful individuals in the Somerville Schools and community, as well as, the generous donations.

The Somerville Mathematics Fund, an affiliate of the national scholarship organization Dollars for Scholars, was chartered in 2000 to celebrate and encourage achievement in mathematics in the city of Somerville, Massachusetts.  Currently, The Somerville Mathematics Fund is seeking applications from outstanding students for their renewable college mathematics scholarship. The application form is available at www.somervillemathematicsfund.org.