The Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information will be celebrating Pi (π) Day across the island’s schools on Friday, March 13.
Pi is a mathematical constant (approximately 3.14) that expresses the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter.
It has been used in formulas across physics, astronomy, engineering and other fields for centuries.
“Across all our regions we’ll be showcasing concepts like algebra, geometry, measurement, numbers, statistics and probability through creative design,” Portfolio Minister, Senator Dr. the Hon. Dana Morris Dixon, informed during Wednesday’s (March 11) post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House in Kingston.
Senator Morris Dixon said in honour of the day, which is officially observed on March 14 globally, the Ministry is trying to “make Mathematics come alive”.
“We will wear some polka dots on Friday but we’ll also be doing some other things across the Ministry. We are going to be having the Mathematics hat and tie day on March 13,” she outlined.
Meanwhile, the post-Cabinet press briefing audience was treated to a presentation on Pi by students from St. George’s College, who won the recent staging of the University of Technology (UTECH) annual Mathematics competition.
The students presented a brief history of Pi Day, explaining that the celebration of the Mathematical constant annually on March 14 was created by physicist Larry Shaw in 1988 at the San Francisco Exploratorium.
They noted that the day was later officially recognised by the United States Congress in 2009.
The annual celebration features pie-eating contests, Pi memorisation competitions, pie-baking contests and Maths competitions.
