Rubik's Cube: Setting a Higher Bar for America's Youth Through Classroom STEM Lessons

NEW YORK, Feb. 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- On the heels of President Obama's State of the Union Address calling for a greater classroom focus on science, technology, engineering, and math, teachers nationwide now have access to a new resource:  STEM lessons built around the Rubik's Cube.  The You CAN Do The Rubik's Cube community initiative, currently in its second full school year in the U.S., has developed STEM lessons in conjunction with the Common Core State Standards, National Standards, and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, providing the lessons to teachers for free via download at www.YouCanDoTheCube.com.

"The U.S., a country that has always led in innovation, is now being outpaced in math and science education by other nations.  We need to inspire more young people to pursue the STEM fields and to prepare children for the high standards these professions demand and to increase our global competitive edge," said Larry Bock, executive director of the USA Science & Engineering Festival.  "This means implementing classroom tools to encourage students in their pre-college years to take, enjoy, and excel in challenging math and science courses – subjects that most kids like to avoid."

"Often, students who struggle with or do not like school, excel at the Rubik's Cube. They tend to like the hands-on approach and will spend hours of their own time practicing and trying to improve," said Brian Rohrig, a physics teacher at Jonathan Alder High School in Plain City, Ohio in a recent article featured in the National Science Teacher's Association's publication, The Science Teacher.  "Since most people in the general population cannot solve the Cube, students who learn to do so feel good about themselves. They learn that if they work hard enough, they can be successful."

The STEM lessons provided by You CAN Do The Rubik's Cube program were developed for elementary, middle, and high school classrooms and aim to help teachers foster the following skills:

• Science:  Ability to understand and make scientific inquiries and follow step-by-step procedure when carrying out experiments, taking measurements, or performing technical tasks.

• Technology:  Ability to use technology tools such as online community forums and instructional videos to enhance learning, increase productivity, and promote learning.

• Engineering:  Ability to apply scientific, mathematic and practical knowledge to design and build a structure.

• Mathematics:  Ability to analyze properties and determine attributes of two- and three-dimensional objects, using geometric models to gain insight into, and answer questions in, other areas of mathematics.

• 21st Century Skills:  Ability to exercise sound reasoning in understanding the interconnections among systems and to frame, analyze and synthesize information in order to solve problems and answer questions as a team.  

"All scientific progress occurs in incremental steps, with one discovery building upon another.  Learning to solve the Rubik's Cube is a good way to understand how scientific process occurs," said Rohrig.

For more information on the You CAN Do The Rubik's Cube program and the new, free STEM lessons, visit www.YouCanDoTheCube.com or www.Facebook.com/YouCanDoTheRubiksCube.

About You CAN Do The Rubik's Cube

Since its release in 1980, the Rubik's Cube has since found its way into over 350 million homes worldwide and has continued to fascinate, bewilder and challenge millions of people. The new You CAN Do The Rubik's Cube initiative is a U.S. campaign aimed at teaching youth how to solve the Rubik's Cube and experience the many benefits of this accomplishment.  Math lessons have been designed to use the Rubik's Cube to help teachers engage students with an interactive and tangible way to learn the many math disciplines.

Rubik's Cube® is a registered trademark of Seven Towns Ltd.

SOURCE You CAN Do The Rubik's Cube