What exactly is Pi???

My children and I were wondering what exactly Pi measures and how it is used in real life.  Here's what we found out.

measure the circumference	measure the diameter	measure the circumference by the diameter - we used poker chips as the circumference number and divided them into groups (the number of the diameter)	every time we ended up with groups of 3 and a chip or two left over that would be divided up among the groups	our findings - circumference divided by diameter equally 3 and a little more no matter what size circle we used

Pi is a ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter.  Pi turns out to be the same exact number for each and every circle no matter what the size of the circle.  Pretty amazing!

Pi is a never ending number.  For simplicity, we just use 3.14

UPDATE:  I found an easier way to show kids what Pi is than what we did http://www.exploratorium.edu/pi/pi_activities/cutting_pi/index.html

 

Here's a good explanation of Pi http://science.howstuffworks.com/pi.htm

Pi Links and Activities http://www.kathimitchell.com/pi.html

How is Pi used in real life? http://mathforum.org/library/drmath/view/57045.html

Man recites Pi to the 100,000th place! http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2006Oct04/0,4670,MemorizingPi,00.html

 

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