Now how do you know all this stuff? It's because some nerdy little math teacher like me, taught you so that you will never forget. My canned lesson went like this. I asked kids to bring tin cans to school...big cans little cans. You had to take a week to get the cans so with a lot of cans around the room there was always some risk of cans rolling up and down the aisles and kids with mischievous grins.
On the appointed day we got out the cans and I gave kids string and they had to measure the circumference and diameter of the can.Then they had to find the ratio. Oh they forgot what a ratio is!!! Each pair had to do this with three different cans and three times on each can. So after a while they came up with something close to 3 1/7 . The liars got exactly3.14. The idea was to get the kids to do something, hands on, to understand a concept.
Then they go the opportunity to use the formula and fine the circumferences of circles.
Now I have to reflect on my canned lesson. In the old days when I was taught this concept, they didn't tell us anything about pi. We were told , that this is the value of pi and plug in the formula and you find the circumference of a circle. Old guys like me remember the value of pi. I hope the kids I taught remember the value and a little more. I really have to wonder if teachers are half as smart as they think they are.
Oh yes! About this being pi day? Today is the 3rd month and 14 th day. So 3.14. Math teachers have been waiting for this day and there were many activities celebrated.
Sounds like fun.
It seems like every day is for something special! For an old guy like me every day is special.
