The concept of pi is not an easy one for young students, but since we've been studying the perimeter and area of rectangles, why not take a look at the perimeter and the area of a circle?
We started with a question: How does one measure the perimeter and the area of a circle? We decided that it's easy to measure the perimeter with a string and then measure the string.
But what about the area? The curves of the circle make it a lot more tricky!
So, we went back in time, to the days of King Arthur, knights, castles and dragons, to the land of Sir Cumference, Lady Di of Ameter and their son, Radius.
In this math adventure book, The Dragon of Pi, a potion has turned Sir Cumference into a fire breathing dragon! His son Radius goes on a quest to solve the riddle and save his father and the kingdom from ruin!
Can you solve the riddle?
Measure the middle and circle around,
Divide so a number can be found.
Every circle, great and small -
The number is the same for all.
It's also the dose, so be clever,
Or a dragon he will stay forever.
So we set to work, measuring around, across and dividing...
We also learned an important formula that is sure to come in handy some day:
Circumference divided by diameter equals PI
or
C ÷ D = π
Oh, and SPOILER ALERT...Radius solves the riddle just in time and saves his father and the kingdom! Huzzah!!
Now we want to read ALL these books by Cindy Neuschwander!
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