Rubik's cube tournament

You CAN Do the Rubik's Cube Contest

kcollins — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 07:00:00 +0000

You CAN Do the Rubik's Cube Contest

Join the fun! All schools, after school, and other "Not for Profit" community youth organizations in the Greater Washington DC area (including Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia) serving ages K-12 can participate. We currently have 37 teams registered for the competition and we have registrants in all 3 divisions - Elementary, Middle and High Schools. Our goal is to have 100+ teams!

The Tournament will consist of teams of eight students in grades K-12 plus a teacher/coach, divided into 3 divisions as follows:
Div 1 - Elementary Grades K-5;
Div 2 - Middle School Grades 6-8;
Div 3 - High School Grades 9-12.
The teams will be competing to collectively solve 25 Rubik's Cubes.
All teams will compete in a Preliminary Tournament to be held on Thursday, April 26, 2012. The top six teams in each division will advance to the Grand Final to be held on Saturday, April 28, 2012, as part of the USA Science & Engineering Festival Expo. The Final will be followed by the Awards Ceremony.

Register Today - it's free to register and you have plenty of time to get a team together - Individual team member names are not due until 30 days prior to the event. To register, each team must designate a teacher/coach who is over 21 years of age and will be the team contact.

For detailed information and to register, click here.

And Check Out the "You CAN DO the Rubik's Cube Workshop" - Free Workshop and Kit - Space is limited so sign up today!
Free workshop is open to teachers who are actively teaching at a school and youth directors affiliated with an organization. At the workshop you will learn how to use the Rubiks Cube to teach STEM disciplines and how to solve the Rubik's Cube. If you have already attended one of our workshops you are welcome to join us again but you will not receive another free kit.

Location: National Electronics Museum, Baltimore
Dates: Saturday Dec 10 and January 21

To Register email HollyR@SevenTowns.com

Just out! The new Rubik's Cube Mosaic Builder Guide which shows teachers/youth directors how to use Rubik's Cubes as pixels to create art. The folks from You Can Do the Rubic's Cube will create a mosaic at the Expo with the help of San Francisco artist Pete Fecteau who created a 4,242 Rubik's Cube mosaic of Martin Luther King. Learn more about Rubic's Cube Mosaics here.

kcollins Fri, 10/14/2011 - 03:00

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Rubik's cube tournament

Pete Fecteau

Rubik's Cube Mosaic Builder Guide

You Can Do the Rubik's Cube Contest

You CAN DO the Rubik's Cube Workshop

What a wonderful event! Is there a place where other districts can sign up to do a contest? Please let me know :)

Please go to http://www.youcandothecube.com/compete-now/ for information on other regional competitions.

Kids take challenge to solve Rubik's Cube

kcollins — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 10:00:00 +0000

Kids take challenge to solve Rubik's Cube

The You CAN do the Cube competition is in preliminary rounds right now with the Final happening at the Expo this weekend. Should be fun to watch!
From the Washington Post

f you've ever tried to solve a Rubik's Cube (and, like most people, failed), then you'll understand why Asante Whittington, 10, went crazy when he mastered the puzzle for the first time last month. It had taken him four days to finish it, and when he finally did, the fourth-grader at Martin Luther King Elementary School in the District jumped up, yelled and high-fived all the other kids in his math class.
This Story
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Rubik's Cube: Not such a puzzle for everyone
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Head to the festival
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Solving the Rubik's Cube

"I felt happy -- and exhausted," he said. Asante was participating in a Rubik's Cube program at school and is now on the school's Rubik's Cube team.

You may think of the Rubik's Cube as that really hard three-dimensional puzzle that only really smart people do. But this 30-year-old toy, famous around the world for being challenging, frustrating and fun all at once, is being used by teachers in 2,000 schools nationwide as part of a program called You Can Do the Cube. The program is based on a booklet that explains the moves that solve the cube. Kids develop problem-solving and memorization skills, learn to manage frustration, and work on math concepts such as geometry and fractions.

"They have a hands-on tool, [so] it brings it alive to them," said Asante's math teacher, h'Enri Whitseyjohnson. "It teaches them how to communicate, too. When one child shows another how to get a square from one place to another on the cube, they have to explain it."

MLK is one of many schools that have started teams after using the cube in math classes. Students from 50 Rubik's Cube teams in the District, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Delaware will compete Saturday as part of the USA Science & Engineering Festival taking place on the National Mall this weekend. (Asante's team is new, so it will not be in the competition.) The kids not only compete against one another but also against themselves. Usually, after solving the cube the first time, they want to do it again, only faster. Or blindfolded.

"That would be so awesome if I could do [the cube blindfolded.] I want to learn it," said William Neidecker-Gonzales, 14, a ninth-grader at the School Without Walls in the District. William first solved the puzzle a year and a half ago. It took a while to figure it out, but after a lot of practice, he's now a Rubik's Cube master. "I usually do it in around 40 seconds," he said. "My record is 25 seconds."
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William is on his school's Rubik's Cube team and helps teach other kids, including classmate Tyriek Mack, 13.

"He's a kid, so he made it simpler and easier to understand," said Tyriek, who started on the cube a few weeks ago and can now solve it in about four minutes. "It's cool."

-- Margaret Webb Pressler

kcollins Wed, 10/20/2010 - 06:00

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Rubik's cube tournament

Rubik's cube

When my son was a tween or young teen, he read online about how to solve the cube, memorized the simple algorithm, practiced it until he could solve it in less than a minute, then wowed other kids & adults alike with his 'skill.' I wasn't impressed & he knew it. It was nothing but a mindless exercise in rote memorization. Once you know how it's done it's just as easy to solve blindfolded as not. He also impressed people with card tricks he learned in the same way. Big deal. For teachers to be wasting time having kids play with the Rubik's cube amounts to educational malpractice. It's nothing but time taken away from meaningful instruction.

@darwinsdog: I thought the article suggested that the kids were only given a few basic moves, not a full step-by-step guide, and that they had to work to put the moves together. I can't play the video at the moment, so I could be wrong.

Katherine:

The program is based on a booklet that explains the moves that solve the cube.

Without the booklet all but a very, very small minority of students would find the cube impossible to solve. With the booklet solving it is trivial; merely an exercise in rote memorization & manual dexterity.

I am all for hands-on devices that teach students critical thinking and problem solving skills. It's just that the Rubik's cube fails to do so. It's merely a waste of time in the educational setting.

You CAN do the Rubik's Cube

kcollins — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 10:00:00 +0000

You CAN do the Rubik's Cube

We are one month away from the USA Science & Engineering Festival, and we here at the You CAN Do The Rubik's Cube program are gearing up for what is sure to be a great event.Â As many of you who have been following this blog know, we will be in attendance to host and cheer on the first-ever Rubik's Cube tournament on the National Mall in Washington D.C.Â High school and elementary school students from Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia will be making the trip to our nation's capital to showcase their talents and compete.Â

Each school's team, comprised of 8 students each, will work to collectively solve 25 Rubik's Cubes in the shortest amount of time.Â The energy will be high and the crowd will be wild - so we hope that you consider registering a team if you haven't already!Â More than 60 schools are already registered to compete in the preliminary tournament the week of the USA Science and Engineering Festival. All teams must register by October 1st to be eligible to compete.

As young and talented minds from all over the country descend on Washington D.C. this October, we're incredibly excited to see all of the exhibitors and festival partners, and are honored to be a part of the congregation.Â America has long-thrived on innovation and it's important to remain ahead of the curve when it comes to science, technology, mathematics and engineering.Â Â

September also marks a milestone for the You CAN Do The Rubik's Cube program as we enter our second full school year as an educational program.Â To-date, more than 1,600 schools in the U.S. are using our math education kit to teach fundamental math disciplines like area, perimeter, volume, angles, and algorithms.Â We have received overwhelmingly positive feedback from teachers nationwide using our program, who have indicated that the program is "a gold mine of thinking strategies" for students, fostering better attention in the classroom and a greater interest in schoolwork.

For more information about how you can register your student team for the USA SEF You CAN Do The Rubik's Cube tournament, please visit http://www.usasciencefestival.org/2010festival/contests/rubikstournament

To learn more about the You CAN Do The Rubik's Cube program, please visit www.youcandothecube.com.Â You can also connect with us at www.Facebook.com/YouCanDoTheRubiksCube.

We hope to see you in October!

Best,
The You CAN Do The Rubik's Cube team

kcollins Thu, 09/23/2010 - 06:00

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Rubik's cube tournament

Rubik's cube

The first thing I did with my cube in the 80's was to pull it apart to find out why the corner cubes didn't fall off...

Solving a rubicks cube quickly is really a test of memory and dexterity since it is done by applying a memorised algorithm.

The only person I know who solved one from scratch was my dear old dad who is a 77yo retired engineer. It took him several weeks and a few notepads to do it but personlly I think solving one from scratch is a much more impressive feat of engineering intellect than solving one quickly using someone else's algorithim.

Entered into the Rubik's cube contest yet?

kcollins — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 10:00:00 +0000

Entered into the Rubik's cube contest yet?

Time is drawing near. The deadline for the You CAN do the Rubik's cube is coming up fast! Oct 1st is fast approaching. Find out how to enter here.

And here is a great video of some kids who will be participating in the contest from one of our partner schools Poolesville High School. They do look they they are ready for the contest...are you?

kcollins Tue, 09/21/2010 - 06:00

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Rubik's cube

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i lie

You CAN Do The Rubik's Cube Tournament: Free Teacher Workshop Just Announced!

kcollins — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 10:00:00 +0000

You CAN Do The Rubik's Cube Tournament: Free Teacher Workshop Just Announced!

Register now for the YCDTRC contest and attend a free teacher/coach workshop on August 14th from 1pm - 3:30 pm at The National Electronics Museum. Student names are not due until October 1st!

The Rubik's Cube Tournament will place K-12 teams in competition for the fastest time to collectively solve 25 Rubik's Cubes. The top six finalists will compete for the championship at the USA Science & Engineering Festival Expo on the National Mall on 10/23. Prizes range from $100 to $1,000 and will be awarded by Dr. Erno Rubik, inventor of the Rubik's Cube

To learn more about the tournament click here.

kcollins Mon, 07/26/2010 - 06:00

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Rubik's cube tournament

Guess who is celebrating a 30th birthday?

kcollins — Wed, 26 May 2010 19:28:02 +0000

Guess who is celebrating a 30th birthday?

RUBIK'S CUBE!!

Yes TODAY is the Rubik's Cube's 30th birthday. Happy Birthday!

And we will be having a Rubik's cube tournament at the USA Science and Engineering Festival for K-12 students. You have until Oct 1st to enter and it's free! So get practicing and get your teams together. Dr. Erno Rubik, the inventor of the Rubik's cube, will be there to hand out the prizes.

kcollins Wed, 05/26/2010 - 15:28

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Rubik's cube

Happy Birthday to Rubik Cube!!! I wants to enjoy this celebration cause i love this game. And i am playing it with my son.

The Competition for the Rubik's Cube Tournament is heating up!

kcollins — Tue, 04 May 2010 10:30:00 +0000

The Competition for the Rubik's Cube Tournament is heating up!

TWENTY SEVEN schools have signed up for the Rubik's Cube Tournament. Have you signed up your school yet?? Maybe your rival school is in this list? Make sure to be there this fall!

Sign up and attend our Teacher/Coach Workshop that is happening THIS SATURDAY, May 8, 2010 to be eligible to receive a free Math Education Kit.

Check out the competition!

School Without Walls
Duke Ellington School
Gerstell Academy
Takoma Park Middle School
Trinity Lutheran School
Loudoun Country Day School
Bath County High School
Ludlow-Taylor ES
Belvedere ELemenetary School
Albemarle High School
Rodney Thompson Jaguars
Worcester Technical High School
Middletown Middle School
Manassas Park High School
Spring Ridge Middle School
River Hill High School
Emery Education Campus
Spring Hill Elementary School
Montgomery Blair High School
Mt Calvary Catholic School
Discovery Museum
Alexandria Country Day School
Thomas Sprigg Wootton High School
Huntingtown High School
Adamston Elementary Gifted Program
Patrick Henry High School
Rosa Parks Middle School

And here's a fun video with the Rubik's cube to leave you with.

kcollins Tue, 05/04/2010 - 06:30

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Rubik's cube

An Exciting Announcement about the You CAN Do the Rubik's cube compeition

kcollins — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 10:00:00 +0000

An Exciting Announcement about the You CAN Do the Rubik's cube compeition

There is still lots of time to enter your team into the You CAN do the Rubik's cube competition and start practicing for the USA Science and Engineering Festival's competition this fall. Check out the video below about a recent You CAN do the Rubik's cube competition at the San Diego Science Festival. Pretty amazing watching those kids solve the puzzles!

BUT we have an exciting announcement about the competition at the USA Science and Engineering Festival ...are you ready? Dr.Rubik, the inventor of the Rubik's cube, IS COMING TO THE FESTIVAL FOR HIS FIRST PUBLIC APPEARANCE AT A STUDENT COMPETITION IN MORE THAN TWO DECADES!!! You CAN Do the Rubik's Cube winners will receive their awards from Rubik!! Read more about it here.

So, if you are in: Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C. or West Virginia, get signed up and start practicing!

kcollins Wed, 04/14/2010 - 06:00

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Rubik's cube

Thing gonna so beautiful some times...
In my school also e have tournaments like this and i always takes part in the competition to win the event cause i need scholarship so it's like help to me. thanks for posting such a good ideas and discover the science.

Learning to do the Rubik's cube! Practice Makes Perfect.

kcollins — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 10:00:00 +0000

Learning to do the Rubik's cube! Practice Makes Perfect.

From time to time, my job requires some travel in order to run my experiments and this week I found myself in Houston, TX, yet again. Upon entering the dinning room of my hotel for breakfast I spotted a 17 year old boy with a Rubik's cube. Knowing the USA Science and Engineering Festival has a "You CAN do the Rubik's cube" competition I wondered if this young man was aware of this competition. I was itching to ask him a hundred questions but my internal investigative reporter suddenly went shy as he was sitting with his Mom and a few other peers and I quickly realized they were all speaking French. But as the gaggle of teenagers exited the dining room, the Mom was left behind and I saw an opportunity to see if they were aware of the USA Science and Engineering Festival and the Rubik's cube competition.

Um...hi...is that your son with the Rubik's cube? Is he entered in any kind of competition?

I quickly piqued this woman's curiosity about the Rubik's cube and this idea of a national competition. She asked me a few questions and I wrote down the Festival's website for her so that she could pass that on to her son. She was surprised to find out that there were competitions. She leaned in and proudly bragged: He's really good at it.

I explained how many teachers were using the Rubik's cube to teach different math concepts and that there were people out there who were 'speedcubers' and could solve the puzzle in as little as 10 seconds. Here eyes grew a bit wide in disbelief.

One of the fundamental take home messages about learning how to solve the Rubik's cube isn't just about the process of how to solve it, but kids learning that with practice and perseverance they CAN learn to solve the cube and learn some cool math concepts in the process. Here is a great article about the rise of Rubik's cube competitions, but what I love the most from this article is this video:

I think one of the greatest things that the Rubik's cube can teach students is that something that is seemingly difficult, like a Rubik's cube, is possible to solve with patience and perseverance. And one of the great results is that feeling of accomplishment that comes with a new skill. Here is also another great article that also touches on how to use encouraging language with kids to keep them persevering in their learning.

Back to practicing for me!

Have you signed up for the USA Science and Engineering Festival's You CAN do the Rubik's cube competition?? Find out more here on how to sign up! Hurry! Don't wait.

kcollins Wed, 03/31/2010 - 06:00

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Rubik's cube

Ha Ha.... that's a great stuff !! I like it :)
I recently found the same topic in this site and again the same dude this is really great but i have tried it and is still in my home the Rubik's cube i play with it when i am in stress to remove stress and be a confident i have to win this.
In science "You CAN do the Rubik's cube" competition That's wondered me but may be it's interesting and challenge in the environment of students.

Will you solve the Rubik's cube at the USA Science and Engineering Festival?

kcollins — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 12:00:00 +0000

Will you solve the Rubik's cube at the USA Science and Engineering Festival?

You CAN do the Rubik's cube Tournament is taking place at the USA Science and Engineering Festival.Have you signed up yet?

43 quintillion different combinations...

I don't believe I have actually ever solved a Rubik's cube, so after finding out that we are going to have a Rubik's cube competition at the USA Science and Engineering Festival I went out and bought one...for research purposes of course. After all, I am a scientist and my curiosity got the better of me as this website claims that I CAN learn how to solve a Rubik's cube. Working with a '7 steps solution guide of on how to solve the cube ' so far it seems that the key to solving a Rubik's cube is part muscle memory and part pattern recognition. I have only been able to solve one side so far...but I'll keep the blog posted periodically on my progress. Sign up a K-12 student here for the competition. There is plenty of time to learn how to solve the cube! Check out some back ground info on Rubik's cubes below.

In the process of learning how to solve a Rubik's cube I discovered the sport of ''speedcubing". World Record holders can solve the puzzle in less than 10 seconds! That is pretty amazing! Better get back to practicing.

kcollins Wed, 03/03/2010 - 07:00

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Rubik's cube

I recently learned how to solve a rubik's cube, its not too hard just takes lots of practice! I'm not terribly fast though, but my boyfriend can do it between 2 and 3 minutes, which I would consider really fast since we just learned. We're students, we have nothing better to do. :) Good luck!

As I'm a sciencey-type, I found it easiest to learn by memorising the algorithms for each move, until the muscle memory could kick in. Once you get the basic method down you can get your time down to under 2 minutes, easy. My good friend is a speed cuber, and his current best time is ~22 seconds. Forget facebook or alcohol, cubing is why I will fail my degree.

that's a lot of steps solutions. nice rubric thought awsome colors.

I have to admit, I have never been able to solve a rubik's cube either. Still, your post is inspiring - I might just have to look at that site and finally learn how to do it....

Ne kadar var ve bu yÃ¼zden yan bir Ã§Ã¶zme becerisi sadece yapÄ±lmÄ±Å ... ama ilerleme benim olacaÄÄ±m tutmak periyodik olarak yayÄ±nlanan blog. Ã¶Ärenci 12 kaydolun K- burada yarÄ±Åma iÃ§in. kÃ¼p Ã§Ã¶zmek Ã¶Ärenmek iÃ§in bol zaman var! AÅaÄÄ±daki kÃ¼pleri bilgi Ã¼zerinde Rubik zemin dÄ±ÅarÄ± bazÄ± tekrar kontrol edin.

I have solved this Rubik's cube when i am 12 year's old and have fun with toys and friends it's very interesting and we have to play a concentration on this game. This was also displayed in the movie Dude!! Where's my car? it's play a role of a transformer that's a machine of alien.