Big Bird and Elmo will be teaching the ABC's of relativity. The two Sesame Street icons have been enlisted in President Obama's new campaign to get American students more interested in science and mathematics.

The President is slated to announce a major initiative today that also uses the combined talents of video game programmers, TV executives and top scientists and astronauts. The President's speech at 11:40 a.m. will outline how students at every grade level will be urged to beef up their high-tech know-how.

As part of the administration's campaign, a National Lab Day slated for May will be the culmination of volunteer work in classrooms around the country by scientists and engineers.

Xerox CEO Ursula Burns is one of three corporate leaders spearheading the project, along with the first woman in space, Sally Ride. They will try and woo corporations and philanthropists to fund science and math programs.

One such group, the MacArthur Foundation, which gives out the annual genius awards, is sponsoring a contest to develop educational video games. The Science Channel on cable TV will schedule two hours of commercial-free programming every weekday afternoon geared to middle schoolers.

The program will be called Educate to Innovate and is designed to close the gap in math and science scores between American students and those in Asia and Europe.