Arvind Gupta facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Arvind Gupta
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Mr. Arvind teaching students using " Matchstick Mecanno ", one of his ways to create great teaching aids from domestic items
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| Nationality | Indian |
| Occupation | Toy inventor, author, translator |
| Years active | 1975–present |
Arvind Gupta is an amazing Indian inventor, author, and science educator. He is famous for showing how to make fun and useful science toys from everyday things, even trash! He believes that learning science can be exciting and affordable for everyone. The Indian government gave him a special award called the Padma Shree in 2018 for his work.
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A Career in Science and Fun
Arvind Gupta studied at IIT Kanpur, a top engineering school, and graduated in 1975. Later, in 1978, he took a break from his job at TELCO. He wanted to work with a program that taught science to children in villages. This program was called the Hoshangabad Science Teaching Programme in Madhya Pradesh.
Making Science Simple
While working there, Arvind Gupta started creating simple, low-cost ways to teach science. He used things that were easy to find in villages. He discovered that children loved learning science with ordinary items. They also enjoyed turning old junk into fun, new toys.
His first book, "Matchstick Models and other Science Experiments," became very popular. It was translated into 12 different Indian languages. More than half a million copies of this book were sold! Mr. Gupta has also held workshops in over 2000 schools. He has won many awards both in India and around the world.
A Passion for Helping Others
When he was a student in the 1970s, Arvind Gupta believed in helping society. He felt that small, positive actions were more important than just talking. He started by teaching the children of the school's mess staff. These children did not have a chance to go to regular school.
Arvind Gupta was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi's ideas. He joined the Hoshangabad Science Teaching Programme (HSTP) in 1978. There, he developed his idea of making simple toys and experiments. He used local materials and items that people usually threw away.
He found that these simple toys really fascinated children. This became a key part of his mission to make science popular. His website offers instructions and short videos for making hundreds of these improvised toys. He shares all of these ideas freely, without any copyright rules. He gets inspiration from many people, including Gautama Buddha and George Washington Carver.
Inspiring Talks
Arvind Gupta's famous TED Talk is called "Turning Trash into Toys for Learning." In this talk, he shares his work and ideas. His talk was even chosen as one of the 10 best TED talks by Sir Ken Robinson. It was also one of Sugata Mitra's 5 favorite education talks.
Special Recognition
On December 10, 2024, Arvind Gupta received a special honor. He was given an Honorary Doctorate D.Sc. degree. This award came from Veer Madho Singh Bhandari Uttarakhand Technical University in Dehradun.
Awards for His Work
Arvind Gupta has received many awards for his efforts. These awards recognize his lifelong work in making science popular. They also celebrate his designs for teaching aids for young children.
Some of his important awards include:
- The Padma Shree Award from the Government of India (2018).
- The Dr. Narendra Dabholkar Memorial Award (2018).
- Distinguished Math Teacher's Award (2016).
- The Dadhichi Award (2012).
- The Sri Chandrasekarendra Saraswati National Eminence Award (2010).
- The TWAS (Third World Academy of Sciences) Regional Prize for Public Understanding and Popularization of Science (2010).
- The C. N. R. Rao Education Foundation Prize for Outstanding Science Teachers (2010).
- One-India One-People Award (2009).
- The Indira Gandhi Award for Science Popularization (2008).
- The Distinguished Alumnus Award from IIT Kanpur (2001).
- National Association for the Blind Award (1991). This was for designing teaching aids for visually impaired children.
- The first National Award for Science Popularization among Children (1988).
Translating Books
Arvind Gupta has also translated many books into Hindi. He has translated over 290 books, making knowledge available to more people.
