Pi Day Prep - a #Mathchat

These are some of the resources and topics that came up in today's #mathchat redux on the approaching Pi Day. More than a couple neat things.

Mathchat is a twice weekly twitter discussion with hashtag #mathchat organized by Colin Graham, and moderated by him or Shawn Urban. Also good for finding math resources anytime of the day or night.

Discussion Points

• @ColinTGraham The materials I developed for my teacher training certificate were based on exploring π, so I have a kind of 'vested interest'!
• @ColinTGraham #mathchat The main way I started was with Yr9/10 (13/14 yos) using circles with inscribed and circumscribe polygons...
• The curricular content required measuring and dealing with perimeters, so it became approximations to circumference...
• With one class, we had tin cans, glasses, mugs, etc and pieces of string which we wound round the objects and measured
• Joe DiNoto ‏@mathteacher1729 #mathchat -- engaging activities: Do Buffon's needle problem live? Write a script to do it for you? [Extra link: Buffon's Needle]
• Kara Fromke ‏@karafromke #mathchat here's a discussion starter on pi day: The Time Indiana Tried to Change Pi to 3.2 http://bit.ly/ZuVm9W
• Earl Samuelson ‏@earlsamuelson @ColinTGraham I showed my Grade 10's an animation I made for estimating pi (Archimedes). They liked it; referenced it again today #mathchat
• @earlsamuelson Screenr - SamuelsonMath31: Estimation of Pi (Archimedes) http://www.screenr.com/inL7 
• @ColinTGraham Or what it is too! RT @mathhombre: it does amaze me as much as we talk about it, as well known as it is, how few know why it is.
• @ColinTGraham Another interesting discussion I got into with my 15yos, many moons ago, was are more irrational than rational numbers
• @mathhombre Got discussing with my kids irrational vs rational. They thought maybe every irrational number had a 'name' (pi, phi, etc) #mathchat
• @mathhombre Now how many transcendental numbers are there... that's a pi day discussion! #mathchat
• Maths4ukplc ‏@Maths4ukplc @mathhombre @pickover 15 top transcendental numbers which pi probably number 1 closely followed by e. http://sprott.physics.wisc.edu/pickover/trans.html … #mathchat
• @suburbanlion @ColinTGraham #mathchat I remember a programming class where we used Monte Carlo method to approximate pi/4. I was amazed at accuracy!
• @ColinTGraham Just in case you didn't know... Tau Day | No, really, pi is wrong: The Tau Manifesto by Michael Hartl http://bit.ly/u6Rvvr  #mathchat

Serious Resources

• @mathteacher1729 Video by #NASA with great visuals all about Pi (25 mins) http://youtu.be/aG2CT9fIKss  really nifty parts: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fCTnF75AL0 …
• my pi post, actually for Tau Day ("before it was nerdy," says the #mathhipster) http://mathhombre.blogspot.com/2010/06/pi-in-june.html
• Maths4ukplc ‏@Maths4ukplc #mathchat Good one for pupils is to ask them their birth date and then find where in pi that exact same pattern of digits exists. Be amazed
•  ‏@Maths4ukplc @ColinTGraham #mathchat this site finds digits in pi. I expect there are others. Don't know if there are any apps. http://www.angio.net/pi/bigpi.cgi
• @karafromke #mathchat I like this visually-posed problem. Brings probability in. Estimating Pi by Throwing Darts - GeoGebraTube http://bit.ly/Xk71xz
•  @mathhombre Excellent @geogebra circle sketch from @orchiming with a 'how did he do that' article #mathchat http://www.geogebratube.org/material/show/id/15215
• @mathhombre The team @geogebra has a pi derivation, too: http://www.geogebratube.org/material/show/id/8888 … #mathchat
• @mathhombre nice @geogebra pi approximation (Archimedes) http://www.geogebratube.org/material/show/id/19789 … from @danpearcy #mathchat
• @edutopia [Trending] Celebrate #PiDay: 7 Classroom Resources for Pi Learning http://edut.to/YUceYV  #edchat #teaching #mathchat
• Danielle Hartman  ‏@danielle6849 Five Great Ways to Celebrate Pi Day on 3/14 http://zite.to/WEtmFC  #mathchat

Not so serious Resources 

• Ryan R Ruff ‏@suburbanlion . @TCCva is having a #piday pie contest. Students/staff can bring in pies & winners will be picked for best tasting/looking.  
• @ColinTGraham #mathchat @suburbanlion @TCCva So if someone brings in a square pie, what then? We need to get away from the "pun" sometimes, don't we? 
• @suburbanlion @ColinTGraham @TCCva I suppose if some pies are squared, that's in the area of good puns ;-)
• Neil Langevin ‏@neillangevin A Kate Bush song for Pi day http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZSHr5E7fZY … Lyrics here http://www.absolutelyrics.com/lyrics/view/kate_bush/pi … #lethsd #mathchat
•  @mathhombre #mathchat Anybody bring up TJ Zmina's classic (mp3) http://bit.ly/gDRY18  National Pi Day (Lehrer tune, hence great)

You can always try searching #piday, too.

Have fun, and derive responsibly.