How Pi Fits into the K-12 Curriculum A response to the question:
I am a graduate student working on a project for my Math Methods
class. I am looking for information on how the concept of pi is
taught-- specifically what grade it's introduced, what prior
knowledge/concepts students must understand (i.e. irrational
#s), what the impact is on follow-on mathematics if the concept
of pi is not learned (geometry, trigonometry, physics).
Basically, I'm looking for sort of a timeline on how pi is
taught and how it fits into the overall K-12 math curriculum.
I've checked just about every website on pi there is, but most
focus on how it is calculated and its history. I need
information from an educator's perspective. Any resources you
can pass my way will help. Here is a timely activity (because we
are in the process of completing it right now in my fifth grade
classroom) about the relationship between the circumference and
diameter... I read to my students before lunch each day, and
there is a wonderful short story/p