Rubik's Cube Tournament

What:  Rubik's Cube Tournament.  The San Diego Science Festival, UCSD and the Rubik's Cube Foundation are sponsoring a Rubik's Cube Tournament for the 2010 San Diego Science Festival. 

K-12 teachers can sign up teams of 8 students for the tournament by 31 January 2010.  If you register soon, you can still receive a free Rubik's Cube Classroom Solution Kit (a $49.99 value) with 12 cubes, solution guides, and instructional CDs.  Kits will be mailed to participating teachers. Teachers will coach their teams and accompany them to a Saturday orientation (date TBD) at UCSD, a preliminary tournament (date TBD) at UCSD, and to the final tournament at PETCO Park on 27 March 2010.

Teams will be given 25 Rubik's cubes to solve collectively at the final tournament on 27 March 2010.  Nine (9) cash prize awards from the You CAN Do the Rubik's Cube Foundation and the San Diego Science Festival will be awarded.  Prizes range from $500 - $1200.  All prize monies will be provided to you for use in purchasing classroom learning materials or activities that can potentially stimulate your students’ interests in learning mathematics and/or entering math-related science educational and career pathways.  All participating students will also receive a certificate of competition completion and a Rubik's Cube t-shirt.  The Grand Prize winning team will also receive a handsome trophy and will be covered by local print and electronic media.

The Rubik's Cube organization web site, provides many fun activities with the Rubik's cube, solution kits, and sample lesson plans for general math, algebra, and geometry classes that are aligned to California math standards and specific textbooks.  

One goal of the tournament is to encourage students to explore mathematical reasoning and important principles (such as modular arithmetic, permutations, algorithms, invariance, commutation, inverses, conjugates, matrix multiplication, symmetry, groups, rings among others) while having fun.  Teachers have also reported students attitudes toward math have improved after solving the cube.

When: Participating teachers will attend a half-day orientation on a Saturday morning in February (date TBD).  They will be notified separately.  Participating teachers will then compete in a preliminary tournament competition round in March shortly prior to the 2010 San Diego Science Festival's EXPO Day at PETCO Park on 27 March 2010.  Winners of the preliminary round will progress to the Final Tournament at PETCO Park on 27 March 2010.

Where:  UCSD (orientation and preliminary tournament) and PETCO Park (final tournament).

Contact:  Loren C. Thompson, Assistant Vice Chancellor, Student Educational Advancement, UCSD and Festival Community Outreach Director, San Diego Science Festival.  Contact at lthompson@ucsd.edu.

Cost to Attend:  Nothing.