American Pie for π-Day for classes 6b and 7a

π is a ridiculous concept, a number with infinite digits beyond its decimal point. Math enthusiasts have had fun figuring out, memorizing and calculating new digits for over 4000 years. 3.14159265 ...... Imagine this: Suresh Kumar Sharma of India learned π to 70 030 decimal places and was able to recite them on October 21, 2015 in only 17 hours.

In honor of this number, the GISW celebrated Pi Day on March 14th. Do you know why it is that particular date? The answer is that the date 3/14 or the ISO notation -3-14 corresponds to the value of π rounded to two decimal places, i.e., 3.14.

In a school competition between grades 5/6 and 7/8, students solved interesting math problems around the number Pi. For example any given birthday hides somewhere in π. The young mathematicians had to find three birthdays of their classmates, identify historical events relevant to that number and create a poster with as many digits as possible.

On Pi Day teamwork ruled because only a team can solve the challenges in the allowed timeframe. This year classes 6b and 7a became the math champions and were rewarded with four pies at the end, another tradition of Pi Day.

- Dr. Guido Müller and Steffi Colopy 

Students eagerly await the jury’s decision.	Victory! Lorenz S. and Silas B. present the winning class posters.