mmmm Pi - Calculate Pi with 4 different methods - History of STEM practicals

Practical 13 in the History in STEM practical series.

What better way to celebrate the upcoming Pi Day then with this series of activities to calculate Pi. Try 4 different methods of calculating this amazing number, ranging from basic all the way to modern methods of computation:

Method 1: The classic. Compare ratio of circumference to diameter.

Method 2: Use Archimedes ancient method using polygons.

Method 3: Try something a little different with Buffon’s Needles

Method 4: Go new school with some python and the infinite series Note: You do not need to know how to code for this. If you install the free program Anaconda, there are instructions in the sheet on how to open the file in the zip folder to run the simulation.

Each of the methods takes a different approach from a different era in the race to get the most accurate Pi value. Method 1-3 require very little setup. Comes with the editable activity sheet, a history of the calculation of Pi introduction and the Jupyter notebook file for the coded calculation.

More about the History in STEM practical Series

This series is designed to bring quality cross-curricula material to STEM subjects, that help students to explore and discover phenomena normally taught, while getting a glimpse into the history of its development.

In addition, a number of the practicals give the students the opportunity to play “Mythbusters”, looking at a number of different methods and having to reason why one or the other was the more likely or useful method.

From Ancient Greece to Vikings, China to the Golden age of the Muslim empire and beyond to India, the series takes a look at some of the most important STEM achievements throughout history.

There is a plan for 40 of these such practicals in this series, so, if you liked this one, consider looking at some of the others, or check out some of the bundles available.

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