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Pi Made Simple: Free Reading Passage, Comprehension Questions, & Activity Ideas

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12 views7 pages

Pi Made Simple: Free Reading Passage, Comprehension Questions, & Activity Ideas

Uploaded by

katherinernuesca
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Pi Made Simple

Free Reading Passage,


Comprehension
Questions, &
Activity Ideas
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Name __________________________________________

Pi Made Simple
Ever since the beginning of time, humans have noticed
circles. The inside of the eye, the Sun, the shape
inside of some flowers, and even a drop of fallen
rain all have the shape of a circle.

It did not take long before humans began to copy


nature and make things in a circular shape. A
wheel is shaped like a circle. It moves easier
than a wheel shaped like a square. Even ancient
homes were often made in a circular way. Many
ancient homes have a round shape. It was found
that round shaped homes and buildings are sturdier
than ones made in most other shapes.
With so many things being made with a circular
shape, early scientists needed a way to
measure circles. Circumference means the
distance around a circle. Diameter is the
distance across something. A math formula
was needed to find the relationship between
the distance around a circle and the distance
across a circle.

The Ancient Babylonians and Ancient Egyptians


were the first civilizations to create a math
formula to show this relationship. The ratio of
the relationship between a circle’s circumference and its diameter is 3.14.
The circumference was divided by the diameter to find the ratio of many
circles. What is amazing is that the number 3.14 kept coming up as the result
of the ratio no matter the size of the circle!
It was not until the year 1706 that a mathematician named
William Jones came up with the idea that the Greek symbol
“p” be used to symbolize pi. The idea quickly caught on
and is still used today. The digits to the right of the decimal
go on forever. As a result, pi is called an irrational number.

What is surprising is that


pi can be found in many unexpected places. The
stripes on a zebra and even the spots on a
leopard each form patterns. These patterns
can be described using pi. Pi is used to create
buildings and arches. The formula for pi is also
helpful for sending spacecrafts into outer
space. To celebrate the importance of pi, it
became a holiday in the year 2009.

1. What were some of the things that early people noticed that eventually
led to the discovery of pi?
_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

2. Why was the creation of a formula for pi important?


_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

3. Summarize how the symbol used for pi first became used.

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________
Answer Key
1. What were some of the things that early people noticed that eventually
led to the discovery of pi? Humans began to notice circles in nature. We
needed a math formula to measure circles.

2. Why was the creation of a formula for pi important?


Circles could be measured. This is helpful for creating buildings or other
structures.

3. Summarize how the symbol used for pi first became used.A mathematician
named William Jones devised the idea in the year 1706.
Pi Day Activities
Do a circle hunt. Look for circles
around you.

Use a calculator to measure pi.

Do a computer search of ancient


homes. Write down what is found.

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