Rubik’s Cube Lending Program
Becky Rahm
Luverne Public School Math teacher (8th & 12th grade)
MCTM Region 2 Director
This fall I attended the Regional NCTM math conference in Minneapolis. Of course I spent some time walking through the vendors. I picked up some pencils, a few t-shirts, stickers, more pencils, some informational pamphlets, and more pencils (can never have too many pencils). But I also stopped by the booth that had Rubik’s cubes. I’ve never tried to solve a Rubik’s cube but it has always kind of bothered me that my husband knows how to solve one and I do not.
The booth was run by http://www.youcandothecube.com/ and they had solution guides available, which was a great start. The part that I want to share with you is they have a lending library of Rubik’s cubes. I signed up at the conference to have a set of 36 Rubik’s cubes sent to my district for me to use on loan. The set came with the cubes, solution guides, a flash drive that includes everything you can imagine and more – including math lessons (volume, surface area, probability, permutations) that can be used with the Rubik’s cubes.
My students have had a blast trying to solve these cubes. It brings me such joy to watch a kid solve it for the first time following the instructions. On the last day of school we will be holding a competition to see who can solve the cube in the fastest amount of time. The students have been checking out the cubes to take home and practice the algorithm used to solve the cube.
So, if you get a chance, check out the website and maybe even sign up for the lending library. There are lots of great things you can do with the Rubik’s cubes and math. I’m going to be very sad when I have to send them back.
