The 14th of March is written as 14.3 in the UK, but as 3.14 in America, because of this, National Pi Day is celebrated around the world on this day. Pi (Greek letter “π”) is the symbol used in mathematics to represent a constant — the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter — which is approximately 3.14159.
The Maths and English Department at North Shropshire College (NSC) decided it would be a great opportunity to celebrate the day with staff and students throughout the College. The day consisted of a number of entertaining games and tasks which had Maths and English embedded into them, showing the students that Maths has functional uses and is not just a subject and exam to be passed at the end of the year.
Wayne Young, Maths Lecturer at NSC commented, ‘It has been a math-e-magical day for both students and staff who enjoyed the overall experience. The students now have a deeper understanding of Pi and where it comes from and even had fun along the way’.
A number of the Maths and English staff were live on BBC Radio Shropshire in the morning after they changed the lyrics to the song ‘House of the Rising Sun’ and learnt the guitar and ukulele to perform on the breakfast show.
Jo Millington, Head of English and Maths at the College who organised the day added, ‘As Maths and English is incorporated into all areas of the curriculum at NSC, we wanted to embrace these skills promoting English and Maths in an engaging way’.
For more information about courses at NSC, or to apply, visit the website at www.nsc.ac.uk or you can call the Admissions Team on 01691 688080.
Pictured – Staff before they performed live on BBC radio Shropshire. L-R – Kim Dobson, Maxine Bellingham, Wayne Young, Jo Millington, Kev Machin and Paul Wilson.
