Toronto, ON - Need to calculate pounds to kilograms or litres to gallons in a hurry? Can’t remember how to convert temperature from Celsius to Fahrenheit? This week, in honour of National Pi Day on March 14, ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation is introducing a set of wallet cards and a brochure with useful math tips and conversions for adult Canadians who could use a little help with this kind of everyday math.

Each wallet card features a different theme (Travel, Food & Drink and Home Renovation), with corresponding math conversions related to each theme. For example, the Home Renovation card assists do-it-yourselfers with measurements such as converting feet to metres and inches to centimetres, in addition to helping them determine the amount of paint required for a room. The travel-themed card helps visitors to the U.S. convert Canadian and US currency, kilometres to miles and Celsius to Fahrenheit. Finally, the Food & Drink card helps would-be chefs with calculations such as ounces to grams and millilitres to cups. The accompanying math literacy brochure provides additional math conversions and pointers on calculating tips and discounts. It also includes a special Did you know? section featuring interesting math and numbers trivia.

“The wallet cards and the brochure respond to a real need for practical, simple to understand, ‘how-to’ information on everyday math,” explains Christine Featherstone, president of ABC CANADA. “ABC CANADA’s math literacy campaign is all about showing adult Canadians the importance of math skills in our daily lives - in our workplace, at home and in our community - and offering simple solutions to their everyday math problems.”

Math literacy, also referred to as “numeracy,” is defined as the ability and skills required to understand and use numbers as a means of communication. According to the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS), approximately 43 per cent of adult Canadians are at a basic or low numeracy level. This means that about four in ten Canadians struggle with everyday numeracy tasks, such as understanding and using media information, calculating the tax on a purchase, and converting measurements.

The new print collateral addresses some of these numeracy challenges, and directs readers to another useful resource: mathliteracy.ca, a new, innovative Web site developed by ABC CANADA. Here, visitors discover interesting and useful math tips, helpful conversions, facts, and other numeracy-related information. ABC CANADA is exploring opportunities to distribute the cards and brochure through its corporate, retail and media partners, in addition to distributing the materials to the general public via literacy groups across Canada.

National Pi Day is celebrated every year on March 14 at 1:59 (Pi=3.14159). March 14 is also Albert Einstein’s birthday.