Host a Pi Bee
Hosting a class pi bee is probably my favorite pi day activity! Middle school students love a challenge- even those students who are not the biggest math fans will love this challenge!
What is a pi bee?
A pi bee is a friendly competition in which students see how many digits of pi they can memorize. You know…. 3.1415926….going on forever with no pattern-which makes it tricky to memorize but also a really fun challenge.
How to hold a pi bee:
About a week ahead of time you should get your students excited about the upcoming pi bee. I always hosted my pi bee on pi day but honestly it can be whenever you want! Put up a sign with the first 100 digits so your students can practice when they have a few minutes during class. You could also distribute a list of the first 300 or so digits to anyone who is interested in particpating.
Make it optional. There are some students who will never want to stand up in front of the class and recite the digits of pi. That is okay! In order to make this fun you want to have the students that really are determined to participate.
Include a prize or two! I always would include a few different prizes. You might want to give a prize to all students who memorize at least 50 digits-maybe a few extra credit points.
But I always included a prize for each class winner and overall winner. Some ideas might include:
A circular treat
No homework pass
Overall prize of a special lunch provided by you the teacher
A $10 gift card
There are lots of options for this-you could even ask your students for ideas.
Make a big deal about the winners & those that particpated!
My favorite part about the pi bee is acknowledging student success. Each student that won would recieve a pi bee certificate as well as a badge to either wear or put on their locker. You can make up your own certificates or use the ones that are apart of my pi bee kit in my TpT shop.
I would also send an announcement to the school office announcing the overall winner and how many digits they memorized.
You will be surprised how well your students will do with this challenge! I have had students memorize over 150 digits of pi. Although this might not be a math standard it is a fun way to get your students to remember the irrational number pi!
Comment below if you have done a pi bee in your classroom. How many digits of pi did your students memorize?