10 STEM Holidays to Celebrate in Your Class

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Fun STEM Days You Can Celebrate This Year

Although they may not be nationally recognized, these math and science related holidays are fun to celebrate nonetheless. STEM lovers and strugglers can all come together to enjoy a day of learning accompanied by themed foods and activities. It’s a great way to get involved in the math and science subject areas from a different approach. Here is a list of holidays you might want to consider celebrating in your STEM classroom:

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1. Pi Day - 3/14

Perhaps the most well-known math holiday, Pi Day is celebrated on 3/14 (the first three numbers of the mathematical constant) every year. On this day, classrooms across the globe celebrate by enjoying a nice slice of pie while learning about the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter.

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3. Pi Approximation Day - 7/22

There is some controversy surrounding Pi Day, and some believe it should be celebrated on July 22nd for the actual fraction that 3.14 represents (22/7). But who doesn’t want an extra reason to enjoy pie two days out of the year?

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3. Tau Day - 6/28

The controversy continues! According to a growing group of mathematicians, Tau (6.28), and not Pi, is the more correct mathematical constant for measuring a circle. Also, since Tau = 2π, celebrators get to eat twice as much pie.

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4. Square Root Day - 4/4/16

Square root day falls on days when the day of the month and the month are the square root of the year. Celebrate by playing games that involve separating your class into four groups of four or five groups of five. These activities show they can have fun and better understand square roots at the same time. The next square root day isn’t until 5/5/25, so be sure to celebrate it this year!

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5. Earth Day - 4/22

On this day, various events are held to demonstrate support for the environment. To celebrate, take your students on a small field trip to a local park to help clean up or even just have class outside to encourage an appreciation for nature.

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6. Arbor Day - 4/29

Related to Earth Day, Arbor Day comes a week later. On this day, many people support the environment and promote global greenery by planting a tree or two.

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7. Sonia Kovalevsky Mathematics Day - spring

Although this holiday is not celebrated on one specific day, it is generally recognized sometime in the spring. On this day, educators use mathematician Sonia Kovalevsky and her story to encourage girls to become interested in pursuing math.

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8. Mole Day - 10/23

This day represents Avogadro’s number and is celebrated by garnering student interest in chemistry. Teachers can celebrate with fun group activities that show their students how to balance equations, such as halving or doubling a baking recipe.

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9. Fibonacci Day - 11/23

For Fibonacci day, show your students the Fibonacci sequence and see if they can figure out the pattern (0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13…). Then see what artwork they can create out of the Fibonacci spiral and bring in some pinwheel sandwiches to eat.

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10. Pythagorean Theorem Day - 8/15/17

We won't see another of these days until next year, so be sure to plan ahead. Pythagorean Theorem day is celebrated on days when the month squared and day of the month squared equal the year squared (8²x15²=17²). This is a great day to have a pizza party and listen to string music (string instruments are built based on the Pythagorean Theorem), and build mosaics out of tiny triangles.

How would you celebrate these STEM holidays in your classroom? Are there any other math or science related holidays we've missed? Let us know in the comments below!

Carolina Fransen is the EdTech Apps and Tools Editor at SimpleK12.com. She writes regularly about the use of educational technology in K-12 classrooms. If you have an app, tool, website, or service that you think we should know about, please send your information or tip to editor@simplek12.com.

Check out this video on STEAM:

STEAM It Up for Struggling Students

1 Comment

Cory BlackEagle says

April 11, 2016 at 5:46 pm

Lots of math, no geoscience!

World Wetlands Day: 2 Feb annually http://bit.ly/1TMGLHl
World Water Day: 22 March annually http://bit.ly/1TMH3xT
World Meteorological Day: 23 March annually http://www.wmo.int/worldmetday/
National Environmental Education Week: 17-23 April 2016 https://www.neefusa.org/
Earth Day: 22 April 2016 http://www.earthday.org/
International Museum Day: 18 May 2016 http://bit.ly/1TMHvfI
Kids to Parks Day: 21 May 2016 http://bit.ly/1TMHXuo
World Environment Day: 5 June annually http://www.unep.org/wed/
World Oceans Day: 8 June 2016 http://www.worldoceansday.org/
National Public Lands Day: 24 Sept 2016 http://www.publiclandsday.org/
International Walk to School Month: http://bit.ly/1TMIvjM
World Animal Day: 4 Oct 2016 http://www.worldanimalday.org.uk/
World Space Week: 4-10 Oct 2016 http://www.worldspaceweek.org/
Earth Science Week: 9-15 Oct 2016 http://www.earthsciweek.org/
International Earthcache Day: 9 Oct 2016 http://www.earthcache.org/
Earth Science Literacy Day: 10 Oct 2016 http://bit.ly/1TMEUCc
No Child Left Inside Day: 11 Oct 2016 http://www.earthsciweek.org/ncli
National Fossil Day: 13 Oct 2016 http://bit.ly/1TMEPOV
Geoscience for Everyone Day: 13 Oct 2016 http://bit.ly/1TMEImB
Geologic Map Day: 14 Oct 2016 http://bit.ly/1TMEKLf
International Archeology Day: 15 Oct 2016 http://bit.ly/1TMELPf
GIS Day (Geographic Information Systems): 16 Nov 2016, 15 Nov 2017, 21 Nov 2018. http://www.gisday.com/
International Mountain Day: 11 Dec annually http://www.un.org/en/events/mountainday/

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