When you think of pie most people would think meat pie, but students at St Columba Anglican School celebrated pie of another kind on March 14.
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International Pi Day is a beloved event celebrated on the St Columba Anglican School calendar each year.
Students from Kindergarten to Year 12 participated in the celebration of the fascinating transcendental number Pi which never repeats or terminates.
Year 10 student Zali Everden was among many of the volunteers on the day who mentored their younger peers through some of the mathematical challenges set up around the school.
“We had tables set up with equations you had to figure out and solve to win a piece of pie," Zali said.
"It was just really beautiful to see the kids from all different year groups coming together to try and solve these equations and helping each other out."
The festivities included a special screening of Donald Duck in Mathmagic Land and Year 12 students reading mathematically-based stories to primary students before school.
Year 12 student Joanna Ryder was particularly inspired by her younger peers’ enthusiasm for Maths.
“The kids wanted to read about Maths and they loved it," Joanna said.
"I like that in maths there is always an answer and there is a sense of pride and satisfaction when you get it and I saw that in the younger kids’ excitement."
The Pi Day fun was part of a broader celebration of mathematics at SCAS that is set to continue throughout 2019.
Coordinator of Mathematics and Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute (AMSI) Choose Maths Award Winner, Dr Janine Stewart said she hopes that this year can see a continuation of bringing mathematics out of the classroom and into the everyday lives of SCAS students.
“We are really about visible and contextual maths," Dr Stewart said.
"We want to give our students a deep conceptual understanding of maths that is transferable and seen in all aspects of their lives."
The success of the mathematics program at SCAS was affirmed as Dr Stewart and her colleagues travelled to Newcastle to hear fellow AMSI Choose Maths award winner Eddie Woo speak.
“Eddie spoke about the importance of cultivating curiosity, creativity and openness in the Maths classroom and we were happy to learn that the strategies advocated by Eddie reflect the current teaching practices and philosophies shared by the Mathematics Department here at SCAS,” she said.
Dr Stewart has big plans to expose the students of SCAS to opportunities in the realm of Maths with a particular focus on empowering girls in the field.
“This year our girls have the opportunity to be a part of the live streaming of the AMSI Choose Maths International Women’s’ Day conference and we will again be entering some strong female teams into the Choose Maths Awards for 2019 including our first ever Primary girls’ team."
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