UPDATE - March 16, 2015: The pi challenge answer key is now available for download.

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In honor of the "Pi Day of the Century" (3/14/15), the Education Office at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has crafted another stellar math challenge to show students of all ages how NASA scientists and engineers use the mathematical constant pi.

The 2015 problem set -- available as a web infographic and printable handouts -- features four real-world, NASA math problems for students in grades 4 through 11, including: calculating the dizzying number of times a Mars rover's wheels have rotated in 11 years; finding the number of images it will take the Dawn spacecraft to map the entire surface of the dwarf planet Ceres (the first dwarf planet to be explored); learning the potential volume of water on Jupiter's moon Europa; and discovering what fraction of a radio beam from our most distant spacecraft reaches Earth.

The word problems, which were crafted by NASA/JPL education specialists with the help of scientists and engineers, give students insight into the real calculations space explorers use every day and a chance to see some of the real-world applications of the math they're learning in school.

"Pi in the Sky 2" Downloads:

• Poster - Download PDF (8 MB)
• Handouts - Download PDF (7 MB)
• Answers - Download PDF (8 MB)

UPDATE - March 17, 2014: The pi challenge answer key is now available for download.

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In honor of everyone's favorite mathematical holiday, Pi Day, which celebrates the mathematical constant 3.14 on March 14, NASA/JPL Edu has crafted a set of stellar middle- and high-school math problems to show students that pi is more than just a fancy number.

Pi is all over our skies! It helps power our spacecraft, keeps our Mars rovers' wheels spinning, lets us peer beneath the clouds on Jupiter and gives us new perspectives on Earth. Take part in the fun and see if your classroom can solve some of the same problems that real NASA scientists and engineers do.

Each pi-filled word problem gets a graphic treatment in this printable infographic (available in both poster-size and 8.5-by-11 handouts) that helps students visualize the steps they need to get to a solution. A companion answer key is also available below and walks students through each step of the solutions. It can be printed on the back of the problem-set infographic for an educational classroom poster.

"Pi in the Sky" Downloads:

• Poster - Download PDF (5 MB)
• Handouts - Download PDF (11 MB)
• Answers - Download PDF (9 MB)

In honor of Pi Day, March 14 (or 3.14), 2013, the JPL Education Office has released an infographic highlighting some of the ways scientists and engineers at the laboratory use pi in their daily work. For example, scientists can use pi (along with mass and radius) to calculate the density of an asteroid and its material makeup.

The infographic also features a pi- and planetary-themed mathematics challenge for students that asks them to find various measurements for a fictional "Planet Pi," which appropriately has a circumference of 314,152 miles.

The infographic is available on the JPL Infographics website and as a full-resolution download below.

"Planet Pi" Downloads:

• Poster - Download PDF (27 MB)