March 14 is special because it is Pi Day. Mathematics is celebrated on that day because the date, 3-14, replicates the first three digits of pi. Pi-related songs, websites, trivia facts, and more are at the fingertips of interested teachers and students. Less celebrated, but still fairly well known, is National Metric Day, which falls on October…

Celebrating mathematics should be a yearlong event in which students in mathematics classes of all levels engage in mathematics activities and competitions that will encourage growth in mathematical knowledge, enthusiasm for the subject, and collaboration among students of different abilities and backgrounds. Pi Day and Pi Week festivities--a good…

Differences in the perception of the difficulty level of integrating specific educational objectives into Mathematics teaching between beginner and experienced secondary school Mathematics teachers was examined. One hundred and seventeen Mathematics teachers from State Secondary Schools in Anambra, Nigeria were included in the investigation. A…

The activities suggested in this article are intended for use with lower secondary school students. The "Australian Curriculum: Mathematics" states that students in lower secondary school should "investigate the relationship between features of circles such as circumference, area, radius and diameter" and "use formulas to solve problems involving…

If students are in an advanced mathematics class, then at some point they enjoyed mathematics and looked forward to learning and practicing it. There is no reason that this passion and enjoyment should ever be lost because the subject becomes more difficult or rigorous. This author, who teaches advanced precalculus to high school juniors,…

Most high school mathematics teachers completed a mathematics history course in college, and many of them likely found it intriguing. Unfortunately, very few of them find the time to allow much, if any, mathematics history to trickle into their instruction. However, if mathematics history is taught effectively, students can see the connections…

Provides a summary of the findings of nearly one hundred-fifty studies dealing with self-paced instruction S(PI) mathematics programs that involved students at the secondary level with some implications for practice. (Author/RK)

This paper reports on a design experiment conducted to explore the construction of meanings by 17 year old students, emerging from their interpretations and uses of algebraic like formalism. The students worked collaboratively in groups of two or three, using MoPiX, a constructionist computational environment with which they could create concrete…

This volume of the 27th International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education Conference includes the following research reports: (1) The Affective Views of Primary School Children (Peter Grootenboer); (2) Theoretical Model of Analysis of Rate Problems in Algebra (Jose Guzman, Nadine Bednarz and Fernando Hitt); (3) Locating Fractions on…

Techniques for estimating pi using the microcomputer are demonstrated. Four BASIC programs, coded from pi generating formulas, are compared for efficiency. (PK)

Describes the development of one of Euler's infinite series for pi. Includes a computer program for computational verification output of two series which converge to pi. (RS)

Reprinted is "Shanks, Ferguson and pi" by T. A. A. Broadbent. It describes the historical development of the mechanical calculation of the number pi. (CT)

Three experiments which use probabilities to approximate pi are described. (JT)

A sequence of activities leading to the concept of Pi is suggested. (DT)

This is one in a series of SMSG supplementary and enrichment pamphlets for high school students. This series makes available expository articles which appeared in a variety of mathematical periodicals. Topics covered include: (1) the history of the number pi; (2) what's new about pi; (3) the number pi; (4) pi and probability; and (5) from the…