In March 2023 we ran a Pi representation competition. The challenge was to represent π in any interesting way people liked (with the option to use the professional Pi art here as inspiration). There were no rules on what medium was used to represent Pi.
We had over 350 entries to the competition and it was a joy to look through all the wonderful work.
We* took time to properly consider all the entries and it was very, very difficult to choose the top entries. There was not much to separate a lot of entries and there are so many great entries that are going unmentioned on this page. But here are the final results, as promised.
Prize-winning top three
In 1st place is this incredible rap by Angela Ning of Cheltenham Ladies College. We were very impressed that it is both a high quality rap whilst also being a wonderfully original idea and particularly informative about Pi. The huge amount of effort, planning and editing that Angela must have put into this video is clear. Every detail in the work is considered, and the overall effect is magnificent.
In 2nd place is this Pi-inspired piece of music by Ingrid Linn of Rochester Grammar School. We were very impressed by the quality and sound of this piece of music and the original and complementing ways in which it features Pi. Clearly a great deal of consideration has been put into the planning of this excellent piece.
In 3rd place is this 3.14 mile run in the shape of Pi by Grace Eminson of Saint Cecilia’s Church of England School. Grace did the run and tracked it on a run tracking app. We were impressed by the delightful and playful originality of this idea, with no-one in the competition doing anything similar. Making the route both look like Pi does and be exactly 3.14 miles would have required planning and not have been an easy feat.
Highly commended
Remainder of the top 12 (okay, we couldn’t choose just 10!) in alphabetical order.
Bea Harrison of Colyton Grammar School with this giant Pi skyline (below).
Ben Howarth from Hope Valley College with their 3D printed Pi made out of the digits of Pi!
Carina Andersen of Ipswich High School with a piece of creative writing about Pi.
Daniel Hardy from Hope Valley College with this video representing the digits of Pi with photographs.
Elliot Bond of Parmiter’s School with a website he coded all about Pi.
Harris Taylor of South Craven School with a song (video below) he wrote and performed (on three instruments and vocals).
Michael of Cottingham High School with a Pi-inspired piece of music. Michael notes: ‘I took the scale of A minor and numbered it 0-9. This means I can take the digits of pi to get a note, which can be heard in the melody. I did make repeats to make it sound better, meaning I used the first 30 digits or so.’
Sofia Manara of the Canadian School of Milan who with an electronic music track (video below) created ‘using the software Soundtrap by plugging the first 100 digits of π into a synthesizer and into a drum machine’.
Sudhanva Akshey of Blatchington Mill School with this coded quiz about Pi.
Whole class effort
We had a number of entries from whole classes or schools, and we have selected these three fantastic entries below to showcase.
7N from Olchfa School created this Pi city using multi-link. What an original idea!
Class SM S1 from Culloden Academy created this creative and colourful giant collaborative Pi skyline.
The departments of Vehicle Refinishing and Art at Northampton College collaborated to produce this wonderful sculpture celebrating Pi Day.
We would also like to make a special mention to Culloden Academy school for sending in the most entries!
*Zoe Griffiths looked through all 350-400 entries initially. Sophie Maclean then provided well-informed opinions and guidance to help Zoe with the incredibly difficult talk of whittling down her long short list to just a top 10 (okay…top 12) and then down to a top three.