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The Story Collider

Pi Day: Stories about a very specific number

The Story Collider

Story Collider, Inc.

Arts, Science, Society & Culture, Personal Journals, Performing Arts

4.4824 Ratings

🗓️ 11 March 2022

⏱️ 24 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In honor of Pi Day on March 14, this week’s episode features two stories about how a particular number has impacted the live’s of the storytellers.

Part 1: Math teacher Theodore Chao goes all out for Pi Day at his school.

Part 2: Debbie Char learns what a flash point is while cooking a meal for her date.

Theodore Chao is an associate professor of mathematics education at The Ohio State University. He who loves using video and storytelling to get kids to share about how they really do math, not what someone told them they need to do. He is a former filmmaker, startup founder, and middle school teacher who now spends his time supporting teachers, writing articles, and using research funds to show that kids hold tremendous math power.

Debbie Char is grateful that along with silver hair, aging has offered opportunities to do what she loves. She gets to teach math at St. Louis Community College at Forest Park, sing with an LGBTQ chorus called CHARIS, share her love of books with preschoolers as a Ready Reader, cook suet for birds and meals for people in homeless shelters, bike in Forest Park, tend a tiny garden, explore the city with her husband and rescue mutt, play with her two grandbabies, and go to bed early.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

A science story, huh?

0:04.0

Is NYU scientist the...

0:06.0

It felt...

0:07.0

It was so...

0:09.0

And I just thought, well...

0:10.0

It was that golden moment.

0:13.0

Because science was on my side.

0:15.0

Hey everyone.

0:25.2

Welcome to The Story Collider, where we bring you true personal stories about science.

0:30.1

I'm your host, Misha Gayevsky.

0:32.1

And this week, we're celebrating Pi Day, which for anyone who didn't know is March 14th. And in this week's

0:39.9

episode, both our storytellers are sharing stories about a very special number that has

0:45.1

influenced their lives. But before we get into the stories, I have to at least tell you a

0:50.6

couple of my favorite Pi Day jokes. So, what's wrong with the equation, pie are squared?

0:57.8

Well, pies are round, cakes are square.

1:00.6

And what do you call it when someone gets a huge tattoo of a pie on their face?

1:05.3

In a rational decision.

1:07.8

How many bakers does it take to make a pie?

1:10.7

I feel like everyone should get this one.

1:13.1

It's obviously 3.14. Don't worry, folks. I'll be here all episode. All right. Our first story is from

1:21.7

Theodore Chow. It was first told as part of an online sponsored show with Ohio State

1:26.1

University Steam Factory.

...

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