1. Arrange students into groups. Each group needs at least ONE person who has a mobile device.
2. If their phone camera doesn't automatically detect and decode QR codes, ask students to
4. Cut them out and place them around your class / school.
1. Give each group a clipboard and a piece of paper so they can write down the decoded questions and their answers to them.
2. Explain to the students that the codes are hidden around the school. Each team will get ONE point for each question they correctly decode and copy down onto their sheet, and a further TWO points if they can then provide the correct answer and write this down underneath the question.
3. Away they go! The winner is the first team to return with the most correct answers in the time available. This could be within a lesson, or during a lunchbreak, or even over several days!
4. A detailed case study in how to set up a successful QR Scavenger Hunt using this tool can be found here.
Question | Answer |
| 1. 1.Who, in 1706, first gave the Greek letter “pi” its current mathematical definition? a. Albert Einstein b. William Jones c. Attila the Hun d.Archimedes d. Napoleon Bonaparte | William Jones | 2. 2. Pi is transcendental. What does this mean, in mathematics? a. It is equal to the ratio of two integers b. Its square root is imaginary c. It cannot be expressed as an integer, or as a root or quotient of integers d. It was Ralph Waldo Emerson’s favorite number | It cannot be expressed as an integer, or as a root or quotient of integers | 3. 3. If you calculated the circumference of a circle the size of the known universe, requiring that the answer be accurate to within the radius of one proton, how many decimal places of pi would you need to use? (i.e., 3.14, or 3.1415, or 3.1415926, etc.)? a. two million b.39 c. 48,000 d. 6 billion | 39 | 4. 4. What is the earliest known reference to pi in history? a. The Rosetta tone, approx. 200 BC b. The Bible c. An Egyptian papyrus scroll, written approx. 1650 BC by Ahmes the Scribe d. Euclid’s Elements, written in the 3rd century BC | An Egyptain paprus scroll, written approx 1650 by Ahmse the Scribe | 5. 5.People tried for centuries to “square the circle”. What were they trying to do? a.Construct a square that perfectly circumscribes (surrounds) a given circle b. Determine the value of pi squared c.Multiply a circle by itself d.Use a straightedge and compass to construct a square exactly equal in area to a given circle e.Alter a recipe intended for a round pan so that it would fit exactly into a square pan | Use a straightedge and compass to construct a square exactly equal in area to a given circle | 6. 6. Some people became mentally deranged when trying to “square the circle”. What was this illness named? a. Impossibilius Fittus b. Morbus Cyclometricus c. Repetitionatis Decimalus | Morbus Cyclometricus | 7. 7. Are pi’s digits periodic? In other words, do the digits ever repeat themselves in any pattern? a. Yes. The digits repeat themselves every 6,000,000 decimal places b. No. Every periodic number is rational, but pi is irrational c. Yes. Every infinitely long number repeats itself d. Perhaps. Not enough digits of pi have been calculated to know yet | No | 8. 8. What is the current world record for memorization of the decimal places of pi? a. 1000 places, by Alexander Craig Aitkin b. 4096 places, by Simon Plouffe c. 31,811 places, by Rajan Mahadevan d. 42,000 places, by Hiroyuki Goto e. 56,789 places, by Alfred E. Neuman | 42,000 places by Hiroyuki | 9. 9. Pi is an irrational number. What does that really mean? a. Its digits cannot be rationed out evenly b. Nobody with sound judgment has anything to do with it c. It is a real number, but can’t be expressed as a ratio of two integers | It is a real number | 10. 10. Among the digits of pi currently known, the concentration of each of the digits 0-9 are pretty close to equal. However, in the first 30 places of pi’s decimal expansion, which digit is completely missing? a. 7 b. 2 c. 0 d. 8 | 0 | 11. 11. What is the “formal” definition of pi? a. the surface area of a sphere of diameter 22/7 b. 3.1415926 c. the radius of a circle d. a delicious dessert e. the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter | e 12. How many hours did it take a supercomputer to calculate pi to 51.5 billion digits, in 1997? a. 78 hours b. 3 hours c. 29 hours |
1.Who, in 1706, first gave the Greek letter “pi” its current mathematical definition? a. Albert Einstein b. William Jones c. Attila the Hun d.Archimedes d. Napoleon Bonaparte &choe=UTF-8
Question 1 (of 11)
2. Pi is transcendental. What does this mean, in mathematics? a. It is equal to the ratio of two integers b. Its square root is imaginary c. It cannot be expressed as an integer, or as a root or quotient of integers d. It was Ralph Waldo Emerson’s favorite number &choe=UTF-8
Question 2 (of 11)
3. If you calculated the circumference of a circle the size of the known universe, requiring that the answer be accurate to within the radius of one proton, how many decimal places of pi would you need to use? (i.e., 3.14, or 3.1415, or 3.1415926, etc.)? a. two million b.39 c. 48,000 d. 6 billion &choe=UTF-8
Question 3 (of 11)
4. What is the earliest known reference to pi in history? a. The Rosetta tone, approx. 200 BC b. The Bible c. An Egyptian papyrus scroll, written approx. 1650 BC by Ahmes the Scribe d. Euclid’s Elements, written in the 3rd century BC&choe=UTF-8
Question 4 (of 11)
5.People tried for centuries to “square the circle”. What were they trying to do? a.Construct a square that perfectly circumscribes (surrounds) a given circle b. Determine the value of pi squared c.Multiply a circle by itself d.Use a straightedge and compass to construct a square exactly equal in area to a given circle e.Alter a recipe intended for a round pan so that it would fit exactly into a square pan &choe=UTF-8
Question 5 (of 11)
6. Some people became mentally deranged when trying to “square the circle”. What was this illness named? a. Impossibilius Fittus b. Morbus Cyclometricus c. Repetitionatis Decimalus &choe=UTF-8
Question 6 (of 11)
7. Are pi’s digits periodic? In other words, do the digits ever repeat themselves in any pattern? a. Yes. The digits repeat themselves every 6,000,000 decimal places b. No. Every periodic number is rational, but pi is irrational c. Yes. Every infinitely long number repeats itself d. Perhaps. Not enough digits of pi have been calculated to know yet &choe=UTF-8
Question 7 (of 11)
8. What is the current world record for memorization of the decimal places of pi? a. 1000 places, by Alexander Craig Aitkin b. 4096 places, by Simon Plouffe c. 31,811 places, by Rajan Mahadevan d. 42,000 places, by Hiroyuki Goto e. 56,789 places, by Alfred E. Neuman &choe=UTF-8
Question 8 (of 11)
9. Pi is an irrational number. What does that really mean? a. Its digits cannot be rationed out evenly b. Nobody with sound judgment has anything to do with it c. It is a real number, but can’t be expressed as a ratio of two integers &choe=UTF-8
Question 9 (of 11)
10. Among the digits of pi currently known, the concentration of each of the digits 0-9 are pretty close to equal. However, in the first 30 places of pi’s decimal expansion, which digit is completely missing? a. 7 b. 2 c. 0 d. 8&choe=UTF-8
Question 10 (of 11)
11. What is the “formal” definition of pi? a. the surface area of a sphere of diameter 22/7 b. 3.1415926 c. the radius of a circle d. a delicious dessert e. the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter &choe=UTF-8
Question 11 (of 11)
