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Breakthroughs begin with the Curiosity Cube Sparking Curiosity in the Next Generation of Scientists

OUR STORY

Always Curious

As a life science company, curiosity has always been the force that drives us and continues to motivate us. The Curiosity Cube is an extension of our desire to put our expertise in science and technology to work for human progress.

The Curiosity Cube program began in 2017 as a platform to increase access to science education for 8-13 year-old students. Building on our Curiosity Labs program, in which our employees go into classrooms and conduct hands on experiments with students, the Curiosity Cube allows us to extend our impact beyond the classroom to reach even more students and their families at schools and public events.

The Curiosity Cube experiments are led by local MilliporeSigma employees, giving students an opportunity to learn from “real life” scientists and ask questions about a future career in STEM!

Focus on Science Education

Inspiring the next generation

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) sector is growing faster than any other in the U.S., yet there are more STEM opportunities than there are students to fill these positions.

With an expanding workforce that calls for more graduates to fill the pipeline, MilliporeSigma is committed to hands-on, interactive STEM education programs. Science industry experts agree that these hands-on experiences are critical to sparking student interest in STEM careers.

Our science education outreach programs are modeled on the principles of inclusion and equity. We focus on underrepresented populations in science, including people of color and women. We model this behavior as diverse leaders and volunteers work directly with students in their own communities.

We want to inspire young students by showing them that scientists all over the world, who look just like them, are working to create a better tomorrow.

Our science education programs are designed to spark scientific curiosity and passion early, paving the way to a future filled with innovative breakthroughs and encouraging students to pursue careers in STEM fields.

INSIDE THE CUBE

Equipped with the latest technology, the Curiosity Cube provides a learning environment that allows visitors of all ages to become immersed in specific science topics. When visitors enter the Curiosity Cube, they are scientists for the day, participating in hands-on science experiments and learning about new technologies. Every visitor is encouraged to ask questions and to be curious.

CURRENT EXPERIMENTS

Environmental Contamination

Students explore evidence of environmental contamination in a variety of sand, soil and water samples and learn ways conservationists try to mitigate the negative environmental impact of contamination.

Surface Contamination

Students learn about different types of contaminants on classroom surfaces. Through the use of virtual reality (VR) technology, students will identify the contaminants and learn about ways to prevent them from spreading.

Food and Beverage Contamination

Students will use scientific instruments to run a quality control check on different beverages. They will test temperature, pH, and sugar content to determine if any contaminants may be present.

OUR IMPACT

Since its inception in 2017, the Curiosity Cube has provided a chance for children to explore science in a structured yet, flexible environment. Research shows that this exposure is key to helping children believe that they can pursue a STEM career. This is especially important for children who lack access to high quality and technology-driven scientific learning experiences. We aim to bring hands-on learning opportunities to students who might not otherwise have these types of activities in their classroom, such as those in schools with fewer resources.

I thought that the Curiosity Cube was very interesting and fun. I learned a lot of things that I didn’t know before, and now I’m more interested in the outside world!
Student at Lowell Charter School, Lowell, Massachusetts

This is a wonderful opportunity for students and really gets them engaged and thinking about science and expanded perspectives of the roles science plays in our community and their world.
Middle School Teacher, Bellefonte, Pennsylvania

415

Communities Served

89%

Title 1 Schools

146,021

Students Reached

22,389

Volunteer Hours

88%

of students say they are more interested in science after visiting the Curiosity Cube.