Workshop: Active Science with Arvind Gupta, Oct 23, Bangalore
From: sutradhar education resouce centre [mailto:sutradhar2007@gmail.com]
Subject: Imagine that-Arvind Gupta's Science Workshop
Imagine that!
Active science with Arvind Gupta
October 23
Sutradhar’s workshop for teachers of primary school science
Science is simply common sense at its best.
- Thomas Huxley
'Casual conversations with schoolchildren reveal that science is regarded as not only difficult but also boring… Science teaching in India is characterised by an almost complete absence of experimentation by children in the classroom. Science is taught in the classroom as a body of finished knowledge, as a discipline that is complete and already has answers to all the questions that are worth asking…'
Amitabha Mukherjee and Vijaya S Varma, Science Reporter
This quote from a back issue of the Science Reporter paints a grim picture of science teaching in India. How can we try to make the subject interesting for young students? Arvind Gupta certainly feels that children learn science best through activities – through simple science ‘models’ which spin, jump, fly, twirl, make sound and do something unexpected. What’s more, interactive science in the primary school classroom requires neither expensive labs nor costly material. And this is your chance to learn from the master himself.
The one-day workshop will explore the possibilities of using low-cost, throwaway materials to make science interesting and fun. Over the course of a day, participants will make 15 different toys including centrifuge, straw spinner, cricket cap and ice-cream spindle. They will learn how to introduce joyful science into the classroom; make children see the extraordinary in ordinary activities; and discover how science too can be as creative as art.
Resource person: Arvind Gupta is a toymaker and storyteller, a writer whose wonderful books have been translated into many Indian languages. His tireless efforts to make science accessible to children have led him to work with NCERT, NBT, Hoshangabad Science Teaching Programme, Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics and various other organisations. He has been involved in activity based science teaching for over 30 years.He is also an engineer from IIT Kanpur. All his books and 4000 photos of toys can be downloaded from his website http://arvindguptatoys.com
Venue: ‘Ashirwad’, opp State Bank of India, St. Marks Road,Bangalore.
On 23 October ’09 Timings: 9.30am – 5.30 pm
Ph: Ashirwad 22210154
For NGOs working with children and education, primary school science teachers and interested parents.
Call Sutradhar at 25215191 / 25288545 Tue- Sat for details.
Fees: Rs.750 per participant for NGOs and
Rs. 1000 per participant for schools inclusive of food and material.
Accommodation can be arranged for outstation participants at extra cost.
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Sutradhar’s science kits and toys and books will be on sale at the venue.
Do forward this mailer to friends and colleagues.
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Please register by September 30 by payment of cash /cheque in favour of ‘Sutradhar’
Sutradhar, 59/1, 10A Main, 3 Cross, Indiranagar Stg 2, Bangalore 560 038.
Email: sutra@vsnl.com
Web: www.sutradhar.com
