Square Pi Puzzle For Pi Day

Since this side past times side calendar week is saltation break, my students in addition to I celebrated an early on Pi Day on Friday, March 10th. Most of the activities nosotros did were my commons "go-to" pi solar daytime activities. We had a contender to run across who could memorize the virtually digits of pi. We wrote pi-kus (think haiku but amongst iii - 1 - iv syllables inwards each line). We searched for our birthdays inwards the digits of pi. We watched around pi solar daytime themed Youtube videos. We ate agency also many sweets.

This year, though, I establish a novel persuasion that I HAD to try! It all started when a I did a google images search for "pi solar daytime puzzle." I ran across this "Easy As Pi Puzzle" from MathIsFun.com

Image Source: http://www.mathsisfun.com/puzzles/as-easy-as-pi.html

The solution to the puzzle notes that the puzzle was created past times Stephen Froggatt.

I copied in addition to pasted the puzzle to a Publisher file in addition to thence I could impress ii to a page.

I uploaded the file I created for this puzzle here.

I printed the puzzles on dissimilar colors of newspaper in addition to laminated them using my trusty Scotch laminator (affiliate link). First, I cutting out the pi shapes.

Then, I cutting apart the pi shaped puzzles into the 5 private pieces. Each puzzle went into its ain snack sized bag. I purchase these inwards the biggest box Wal-mart sells. They come upward inwards in addition to thence useful for all of the activities I practice for my classroom!

As I was cutting out these pieces, I was multi-tasking in addition to reading my electronic mail at the same time.

I opened Chris Smith's maths newsletter (subscribe past times e-mailing Chris at aap03102@gmail.com) in addition to establish the real same puzzle!

Image Source: Chris Smith's Maths Newsletter

Each pupil took out their pocketbook to honor 5 pieces.

I told them that their starting fourth dimension challenge was to brand a foursquare using all 5 pieces. Some students protested that nosotros had already done this before. I told them nosotros had done a similar puzzle, but this 1 was different. If you're interested inwards to a greater extent than puzzles similar this, I recommend the 1-4-5 Square Challenge. I also conduct hold a tub of tangrams (affiliate link) inwards my room that nosotros purpose occasionally.

I kinda persuasion making the foursquare was going to travel TOO slow because I was able to position it together on my starting fourth dimension try. But, my students establish this to travel enough difficult! Many of them gave up.

Here is how 1 of my students interpreted the foursquare challenge:

I had many students telephone telephone me over in addition to enquire if something similar this counted every bit a square.

See, hither is around other pupil bespeak me if this counts every bit a square.

Finally soul figures it out! See, it is possible!

One of my students ended upward making an isosceles triangle instead of a square.

The mo challenge for students was to conduct hold their 5 pieces in addition to brand the pi symbol.

I taped 1 of my uncut pi symbols on the board in addition to thence that students could run across just what the pi symbol was supposed to aspect like. When I gave this challenge to my husband, he created a pi-ish symbol, but it wasn't just what I was expecting.

Usually my students' starting fourth dimension answer on seeing the pi cast was to country that it would travel impossible to practice using their 5 pieces. They didn't believe me when I told them that I had cutting apart that real pi symbol to brand their 5 pieces!