Turning trash into toys for learning | Arvind Gupta

翻译人员: mengyun kong 校对人员: Angelia King

My name is Arvind Gupta, and I'm a toymaker.

我叫阿尔温德·古普塔。我制作玩具。

I've been making toys for the last 30 years.

过去三十年，我一直在制作玩具。

The early '70s, I was in college.

七十年代早期的时候我还在学校。

It was a very revolutionary time.

那是一个常闹革命的时代

It was a political ferment, so to say --

当时政局并不稳定——这么说吧，

students out in the streets of Paris,

学生们都走上了巴黎街头

revolting against authority.

反抗当局

America was jolted

美国则被

by the anti-Vietnam movement, the Civil Rights movement.

反越南战争运动和民权运动搞得措手不及

In India, we had the Naxalite movement,

我们在印度则有纳萨尔巴里运动

the [unclear] movement.

和一些别的运动

But you know, when there is a political churning of society,

但你知道，当社会上出现政治骚动时，

it unleashes a lot of energy.

也释放了大量能量

The National Movement of India

印度国民运动

was testimony to that.

就是一个很好的例子

Lots of people resigned from well-paid jobs

许多人辞去了高薪工作

and jumped into the National Movement.

转而投入到国民运动中去。

Now in the early '70s,

就在这七十年代早期

one of the great programs in India

在乡镇学校里

was to revitalize

重振初等科学教育

primary science in village schools.

是当时印度的了不起的举措之一。

There was a person, Anil Sadgopal, did a Ph.D. from Caltech

当时有一个叫Anil Sadgopal的分子生物学家

and returned back as a molecular biologist

从加利福尼亚理工学院拿到了博士学位，

in India's cutting-edge research institute, the TIFR.

并回到了印度前沿科研机构塔塔基础研究学会TIFR。

At 31, he was not able

31岁的他没法

to relate the kind of [unclear] research,

将他的研究

which he was doing with the lives of the ordinary people.

与大众的生命联系起来。

So he designed and went and started a village science program.

于是他设计并创办了一个乡村科学项目

Many people were inspired by this.

这启发了许多人。

The slogan of the early '70s

70年代早期的口号是

was "Go to the people.

“走近百姓，

Live with them; love them.

与他们一起生活，关爱他们。

Start from what they know. Build on what they have."

从他们知道的开始，以他们拥有的为基础。”

This was kind of the defining slogan.

口号的定义就是这个。

Well I took one year.

我参加了一年。

I joined Telco, made TATA trucks, pretty close to Pune.

我加入了塔塔汽車Telco, 在浦那Pune附近制造塔塔牌TATA卡车

I worked there for two years,

我在那儿工作了两年

and I realized that I was not born to make trucks.

然后意识到我不是生来造卡车的。

Often one doesn't know what one wants to do,

人们经常不知道他们想干什么，

but it's good enough to know what you don't want to do.

但知道自己不想干什么就已经够好了。

So I took one year off, and I went to this village science program.

所以我休假一年并去参加了乡镇科学项目。

And it was a turning point.

我的人生就在这里改变了。

It was a very small village --

那是一个很小的村子

a weekly bazaar

每周有集市

where people, just once in a week, they put in all the vats.

在这一周一次的集市上人们会把东西都放到大染缸里。

So I said, "I'm going to spend a year over here."

我说，“我将要在这儿过一年呢！”

So I just bought one specimen

于是路边卖的所有东西

of everything which was sold on the roadside.

我都买了一件。

And one thing which I found

其中我就发现了

was this black rubber.

这个炭黑橡胶

This is called a cycle valve tube.

这个叫气门管

When you pump in air in a bicycle, you use a bit of this.

给自行车打气的时候，你会用到它

And some of these models --

这些模型也会用到它

so you take a bit of this cycle valve tube,

所以我们取一点气门管

you can put two matchsticks inside this, and you make a flexible joint.

把两个火柴棍放进去，我们就得到了一个灵活的接头

It's a joint of tubes. You start by teaching angles --

我们可以开始教学角形了——

an acute angle, a right angle, an obtuse angle, a straight angle.

锐角，直角，钝角，平角。

It's like its own little coupling.

这是它本身的组合。

If you have three of them, and you loop them together,

如果我们有这样的三个，并全都连接起来，

well you make a triangle.

我们就有了三角形

With four, you make a square,

4个，就有了方形

you make a pentagon, you make a hexagon,

五边形，六边形，

you make all these kind of polygons.

所有多边形。

And they have some wonderful properties.

而且它们有些很妙的性质

If you look at the hexagon, for instance,

比如说六边形，

it's like an amoeba, which is constantly changing its own profile.

它像个变形虫一样，它可以不停的变化形状

You can just pull this out, this becomes a rectangle.

我们把这个拉出来，它就成了矩形

You give it a push, this becomes a parallelogram.

推一下呢，又变成了平行四边形

But this is very shaky.

但它很不稳定

Look at the pentagon, for instance,

再看五边形

pull this out -- it becomes a boat shape trapezium.

拉出来，它成了梯形

Push it and it becomes house shaped.

推一下，它又成了屋形

This becomes an isosceles triangle --

它可以变成等腰三角形

again, very shaky.

还是很不稳定

This square might look very square and prim.

这个方形可能看上去很方很整齐

Give it a little push -- this becomes a rhombus.

轻轻推一下它，就变成了菱形

It becomes kite-shaped.

也可以是风筝形

But give a child a triangle,

但如果给孩子一个三角形

he can't do a thing to it.

他什么也弄不出来

Why use triangles?

为什么是三角形呢？

Because triangles are the only rigid structures.

因为三角形是唯一的坚固结构

We can't make a bridge with squares

我们不能用方形来造桥

because the train would come, it would start doing a jig.

因为当火车开上去的时候，它会开始上下颠簸

Ordinary people know about this

大部分人都知道这个

because if you go to a village in India,

因为即使在印度的乡村

they might not have gone to engineering college,

人们可能并没有上过工程学院

but no one makes a roof placed like this.

但没有人会造一个这样的屋顶

Because if they put tiles on top, it's just going to crash.

因为如果那样，当瓦片放上去的时候，它会塌掉

They always make a triangular roof.

人们总是用三角形的屋顶

Now this is people science.

这就是大众科学

And if you were to just poke a hole over here

现在，假使你在这个戳了个洞

and put a third matchstick,

然后放了第三根火柴

you'll get a T joint.

你就得到了一个T形连接

And if I were to poke all the three legs of this

而如果我在这个三角形的三个顶点上

in the three vertices of this triangle,

插上这个T形连接的三条边

I would make a tetrahedron.

我就有了一个四面体

So you make all these 3D shapes.

这样一来我们又有了所有立体图形

You make a tetrahedron like this.

我们做了这样一个四面体

And once you make these,

一旦有了这些

you make a little house.

我们就可以搭一个小房子

Put this on top.

把这个放在顶上

You can make a joint of four. You can make a joint of six.

也可以连4个。也可以连6个。

You just need a ton.

可以有很多很多

Now this was -- you make a joint of six,

这个是，你连接了6个，

you make an icosahedron.

得到了一个二十面体

You can play around with it.

你可以摆弄它

This makes an igloo.

这样就成了一个拱形冰屋

Now this is in 1978.

现在，时间到了1978年

I was a 24-year-old young engineer.

我是一个24岁的青年工程师

And I thought this was so much better than making trucks.

而我觉得这比造卡车有意义得多

(Applause)

（掌声）

If you, as a matter of fact, put four marbles inside,

事实上，如果我们放四颗弹子在里面

you simulate the molecular structure of methane, CH4.

我们就模仿了甲烷（CH4）的分子结构

Four atoms of hydrogen, the four points of the tetrahedron,

四面体的四顶点代表四个氢原子

which means the little carbon atom.

这代表碳原子

Well since then,

从这时起，

I just thought that I've been really privileged

我就觉得我应当

to go to over 2,000 schools in my country --

到我的国家里2000多所学校去

village schools, government schools,

乡镇学校，国立学校

municipal schools, Ivy League schools --

市立学校，常青藤联盟学校

I've been invited by most of them.

我被大部分学校邀请

And every time I go to a school,

每次我到一个学校里

I see a gleam in the eyes of the children.

我看见孩子们眼里闪着光

I see hope. I see happiness in their faces.

我看见希望，我看见他们脸上的幸福

Children want to make things. Children want to do things.

孩子们想制造东西。孩子们想动手做。

Now this, we make lots and lots of pumps.

现在，我们做了很多很多泵

Now this is a little pump

这是一个小型的泵

with which you could inflate a balloon.

你可以用它来给气球打气

It's a real pump. You could actually pop the balloon.

它真的能用。你甚至可以把气球弄爆

And we have a slogan

我们还有一句话叫

that the best thing a child can do with a toy is to break it.

小孩对玩具能做的最好的事就是拆了它

So all you do is --

所以这就是我们能做的——

it's a very kind of provocative statement --

这听起来很挑衅——

this old bicycle tube and this old plastic [unclear]

老化的自行车内胎和老化的塑料管

This filling cap will go very snugly into an old bicycle tube.

这个注水盖刚好可以插进这个自行车老内胎里

And this is how you make a valve.

这就是如何做好一个阀门的

You put a little sticky tape.

再在上面贴一个胶带

This is one-way traffic.

这就变成单向流通的了

Well we make lots and lots of pumps.

我们还做非常多非常多的泵

And this is the other one --

这是另一个

that you just take a straw, and you just put a stick inside

你只需要一根吸管，然后放一根小棍进去

and you make two half-cuts.

再对半分

Now this is what you do,

接下来

is you bend both these legs into a triangle,

把这些棱折成三角形

and you just wrap some tape around.

你只需要再缠一些带子在上面

And this is the pump.

就有了一个泵

And now, if you have this pump,

如果你有了这个泵

it's like a great, great sprinkler.

它就像一个洒水机一样

It's like a centrifuge.

就像一个离心机

If you spin something, it tends to fly out.

当把它旋转起来并洒点东西上去，它们就会满天飞了

(Applause)

（掌声）

Well in terms of -- if you were in Andhra Pradesh,

假使你（不清楚）

you would make this with the palmyra leaf.

她会用棕榈叶来做这个

Many of our folk toys

我们民间玩具中有很多

have great science principles.

都蕴含着伟大的科学原理

If you spin-top something, it tends to fly out.

如果你旋转某物，它就会飞起来

If I do it with both hands, you can see this fun Mr. Flying Man.

如果我两只手来做这个，你就会看见有趣的飞人先生了

Right.

对吧

This is a toy which is made from paper. It's amazing.

这是一个纸制的玩具，叫人赞叹不已。

There are four pictures.

这上面有四幅画

You see insects,

你看见昆虫

you see frogs, snakes, eagles, butterflies,

青蛙，蛇，鹰，蝴蝶

frogs, snakes, eagles.

青蛙，蛇，鹰

Here's a paper which you could [unclear] --

这是一张能和你一起跳舞的纸

designed by a mathematician at Harvard in 1928,

它由哈佛的数学家阿瑟·斯通

Arthur Stone,

在1928年时发明

documented by Martin Gardner in many of his many books.

马丁·加德纳则在他的很多书中写到了它

But this is great fun for children.

这对孩子们来说是超级好玩的

They all study about the food chain.

他们都学习食物链

The insects are eaten by the frogs; the frogs are eaten by the snakes;

昆虫被青蛙吃，青蛙被蛇吃

the snakes are eaten by the eagles.

蛇被鹰吃

And this can be, if you had a whole photocopy paper --

如果你有一张照相纸，或者

A4 size paper --

A4纸，你就能做它

you could be in a municipal school, you could be in a government school --

你可以是在市立学校，或者国立学校

a paper, a scale and a pencil -- no glue, no scissors.

一张纸，一把尺子和一支铅笔就够了，不用胶水也不用剪刀

In three minutes, you just fold this up.

三分钟，你就能折好

And what you could use it for is just limited by your imagination.

你能用它做任何你想做的事情

If you take a smaller paper, you make a smaller flexagon.

如果你用小一点的纸，你就有一个小一点的模型

With a bigger one, you make a bigger one.

用大一点的纸，就会有一个大一点的模型

Now this is a pencil with a few slots over here.

这是一只铅笔，上面有一些凹槽

And you put a little fan here.

然后在这儿放上一片扇叶

And this is a hundred-year-old toy.

这是个有百岁历史的玩具了

There have been six major research papers on this.

目前为止关于它已经有六篇重要论文

There's some grooves over here, you can see.

你还能在这儿看到一些凹线

And if I take a reed -- if I rub this,

现在我用一个簧片来刮它

something very amazing happens.

令人惊叹的发生了

Six major research papers on this.

有六篇重大论文来讨论它

As a matter of fact, Feynman, as a child, was very fascinated by this.

事实上，有个叫费因曼的孩子觉得这个很神奇

He wrote a paper on this.

然后他就写了一篇关于它的论文

And you don't need the three billion-dollar Hadron Collider

你不需要一台三十亿美元的强子对撞机

for doing this. (Laughter) (Applause)

就能做这些

This is there for every child,

每个孩子都能玩到

and every child can enjoy this.

每个孩子都玩得很开心

If you want to put a colored disk,

如果你想放上一张彩色磁盘

well all these seven colors coalesce.

七种颜色合在一起

And this is what Newton talked about 400 years back,

这就是牛顿400年前讨论的

that white light's made of seven colors,

白光由七色光组成

just by spinning this around.

仅仅是转转它而已

This is a straw.

这是一根吸管

What we've done, we've just sealed both the ends with tape,

我们已经把两头用胶带封起来

nipped the right corner and the bottom left corner,

封闭了右上边和左下角

so there's holes in the opposite corners, there's a little hole over here.

所以对角有孔，这儿也有一个小孔

This is a kind of a blowing straw.

这是根吹气管

I just put this inside this.

我把它放进去

There's a hole here, and I shut this.

这儿有个洞，我堵上它

And this costs very little money to make --

这几乎不用钱就能做

great fun for children to do.

而对孩子们来说却很有趣

What we do

现在要做的是

is make a very simple electric motor.

做一个非常简易的电动机

Now this is the simplest motor on Earth.

这是世界上最简易的电动机

The most expensive thing is the battery inside this.

电池是它里面最贵的东西

If you have a battery, it costs five cents to make it.

如果你有一个电池，制作它只需要5分钱

This is an old bicycle tube,

这是一个旧自行车管

which gives you a broad rubber band, two safety pins.

一根宽宽的橡胶带，两枚保险别针

This is a permanent magnet.

这是一个永磁铁

Whenever current flows through the coil, this becomes an electromagnet.

当电流经过线圈，它就成了电磁铁

It's the interaction of both these magnets

正是这些磁力的相互作用

which makes this motor spin.

使这个电动机转起来

We made 30,000.

我们做了三万个

Teachers who have been teaching science for donkey years,

老师们教科学已经很长时间了

they just muck up the definition and they spit it out.

他们把定义们弄混并生硬地讲出来

When teachers make it, children make it.

如果老师来做这个，孩子们也做这个

You can see a gleam in their eye.

你就能看见他们眼里闪着的光

They get a thrill

他们感到兴奋

of what science is all about.

想知道科学到底都是些什么

And this science is not a rich man's game.

而科学也不再是一个有钱人的游戏了

In a democratic country,

在一个民主国家

science must reach to our most oppressed,

科学必须为我们广大群众所了解

to the most marginalized children.

为广大边缘儿童所了解

This program started with 16 schools

这个项目从16所学校开始

and spread to 1,500 government schools.

发展到1500所国立学校

Over 100,000 children learn science this way.

超过100000名儿童用这样的方式来学习科学

And we're just trying to see possibilities.

我们正试图去看看这可行性。

Look, this is the tetrapak --

看，这是个利乐包

awful materials from the point of view of the environment.

所有材料都是环保的

There are six layers -- three layers of plastic, aluminum --

他们有六层——三层塑料三层铝——

which are are sealed together.

都封在一起了

They are fused together, so you can't separate them.

他们都被熔在一起，所以我们没法分离他们

Now you can just make a little network like this

现在我们可以就像这样制作一些小的连接体

and fold them and stick them together

折叠并把它们粘起来

and make an icosahedron.

就做成了一个二十面体

So something which is trash,

所以这些垃圾

which is choking all the seabirds,

这些把海鸟们噎住的废物

you could just recycle this into a very, very joyous --

可以被很愉快的循环利用起来

all the platonic solids can be made with things like this.

科学里的很多东西都可以做成像这样的玩具

This is a little straw,

这是一个小吸管

and what you do is you just nip two corners here,

然后你把两个角捏住

and this becomes like a baby crocodile's mouth.

它变得像小鳄鱼的嘴巴

You put this in your mouth, and you blow.

把它放进嘴巴里，吹气

(Honk)

（声音）

It's children's delight, a teacher's envy, as they say.

他们说，这让孩子们高兴，让老师嫉妒

You're not able to see how the sound is produced,

你没法看见这个声音是如何产生的

because the thing which is vibrating goes inside my mouth.

因为振动的东西正在你的嘴里

I'm going to keep this outside, to blow out. I'm going to suck in air.

我把这个留在外面。我将要吸气。

(Honk)

（声音）

So no one actually needs to muck up the production of sound

所以事实上没有人需要把声音产生的原理用线振动

with wire vibrations.

解释得一团糟

The other is that you keep blowing at it,

另外，你可以一直吹气

keep making the sound,

一直发出声音

and you keep cutting it.

然后一直剪短它

And something very, very nice happens.

相当有趣的事发生了

(Honk)

（声音）

(Applause)

（掌声）

And when you get a very small one --

当你剩很小的一截时

(Honk)

（声音）

This is what the kids teach you. You can also do this.

这是孩子们教的，你也能这么做

Well before I go any further,

在我讲后面的故事之前，

this is something worth sharing.

有个东西必需要和你们分享

This is a touching slate meant for blind children.

这是给盲童的触摸板

This is strips of Velcro, this is my drawing slate,

这是尼龙线，这是画图板

and this is my drawing pen,

这是我的画笔

which is basically a film box.

基本上要有一个胶片盒

It's basically like a fisherman's line,

还要有像钓鱼人的线一样的东西，

a fishing line.

钓鱼线

And this is wool over here.

这是毛线

If I crank the handle, all the wool goes inside.

当我转动手柄时，毛线会被转进去

And what a blind child can do is to just draw this.

一个盲童就可以用这个来画画

Wool sticks on Velcro.

尼龙毛线签

There are 12 million blind children in our country --

我们的国家有一千两百万盲童

(Applause)

（掌声）

who live in a world of darkness.

他们活在黑暗之中

And this has come as a great boon to them.

这对他们来说是一个很大的恩惠

There's a factory out there making our children blind,

也许在那里有一个工厂使我们的孩子们失明

not able to provide them with food,

没法给他们提供食物

not able to provide them with vitamin A.

没法给他们维生素A

But this has come as a great boon for them.

但这对他们来说会是一个天大的恩惠

There are no patents. Anyone can make it.

没有专利，所有人都能制造它

This is very, very simple.

这非常非常简单

You can see, this is the generator. It's a crank generator.

你看，这是一个发电机，曲柄发电机

These are two magnets.

它有两个磁铁

This is a large pulley made by sandwiching rubber between two old CDs.

这个大滑轮由两张旧CD夹着橡胶制成

Small pulley and two strong magnets.

小滑轮和两个强磁铁

And this fiber turns a wire attached to an LED.

导线连接这一个LED灯

If I spin this pulley, the small one's going to spin much faster.

当我转动大滑轮时，小的也开始转，但快得多

There will be a spinning magnetic field.

这儿会有一个旋转的磁场

Lines, of course, would be cut, the force will be generated.

磁场线被切割，产生了力

And you can see, this LED is going to glow.

你会看见，LED灯亮起来了

So this is a small crank generator.

这个就是小型的曲柄发电机

Well, this is, again,

再来看这个，

it's just a ring, a steel ring with steel nuts.

这只是个环，有钢螺母的钢圈

And what you can do

你可以做的是，

is just, if you give it a twirl,

如果你旋转它

well they just keep going on.

那么它们就会一直转

And imagine a bunch of kids

想象有一群孩子

standing in a circle

站成一个圈

and just waiting for the steel ring to be passed on.

都在等着传这个钢圈

And they'd be absolutely joyous playing with this.

他们绝对会玩得很开心

Well in the end, what we can also do:

最后，我们还可以做的是，

we use a lot of old newspapers

我们用旧报纸

to make caps.

来做帽子

This is worthy of Sachin Tendulkar.

对沙奇·德鲁卡来说这很值

It's a great cricket cap. (Laughter) (Applause)

这是个很棒的板球帽

When first you see Nehru and Gandhi,

首先你看到尼赫鲁和甘地

this is the Nehru cap -- just half a newspaper.

这是尼赫鲁帽——只是半张报纸而已

We make lots of toys with newspapers,

我们能用报纸做很多玩具

and this is one of them.

这是其中之一

And this is -- you can see --

你看这个

this is a flapping bird.

这个是一只正拍着翅膀的鸟

All of our old newspapers, we cut them into little squares.

我们把旧报纸都分割成小正方形

And if you have one of these birds --

如果你有这么一只鸟

children in Japan have been making this bird for many, many years.

日本小孩折这个鸟已经好多年了

And you can see,

像你看到的一样，

this is a little fantail bird.

这是一只小扇尾鸟

Well in the end, I'll just end with a story.

那么在最后，让我用一个故事来做结尾

This is called "The Captain's Hat Story."

这是“船长帽子的故事”

The captain was a captain of a sea-going ship.

船长是一艘航海船的船长

It goes very slowly.

船开得很慢

And there were lots of passengers on the ship,

船上有很多乘客

and they were getting bored, so the captain invited them on the deck.

大家感到很无聊，于是船长邀请他们到甲板去

"Wear all your colorful clothes and sing and dance,

“穿上你们所有鲜艳的衣服，唱歌跳舞吧，

and I'll provide you with good food and drinks."

我会给你们美食美酒。”

And the captain would wear a cap everyday

船长每天都带着一顶帽子

and join in the regalia.

穿着船长服

The first day, it was a huge umbrella cap,

第一天是很大的伞帽

like a captain's cap.

就像船长帽一样

That night, when the passengers would be sleeping,

那天晚上，当乘客们睡觉的时候

he would give it one more fold,

他折了一下帽子

and the second day, he would be wearing a fireman's cap --

于是第二天成了消防员帽

with a little shoot just like a designer cap,

后面还有一个小尖角，像是一顶设计师帽

because it protects the spinal cord.

因为这可以保护脊髓

And the second night, he would take the same cap

然后第二晚，他把这个帽子

and give it another fold.

又折了一下

And the third day, it would be a Shikari cap --

于是第三天成了猎装帽

just like an adventurer's cap.

就像是冒险家帽

And the third night, he would give it two more folds --

第三晚，他又折了两下

and this is a very, very famous cap.

这次成了一顶很有名的帽子

If you've seen any of our Bollywood films,

如果你看过任何我们宝莱坞电影的话

this is what the policeman wears,

这是警察戴的帽子

it's called a zapalu cap.

它叫Zapalu帽

It's been catapulted to international glory.

它在国际上也已经很出名了

And we must not forget that he was the captain of the ship.

我们不能忘记他是这艘船的船长

So that's a ship.

所以，这是船

And now the end:

现在结局来了

everyone was enjoying the journey very much.

大家都享受这次旅程

They were singing and dancing.

人们唱啊跳啊

Suddenly there was a storm and huge waves.

突然间，暴风雨和巨浪袭来

And all the ship can do is to dance and pitch along with the waves.

船只能随着海浪摆动颠簸

A huge wave comes and slaps the front

一个巨浪打中船头

and knocks it down.

并把它打了下来

And another one comes and slaps the aft and knocks it down.

另一个巨浪打掉了船尾

And there's a third one over here.

第三个巨浪来了

This swallows the bridge and knocks it down.

它打掉了指挥室

And the ship sinks,

于是船沉了

and the captain has lost everything,

船长什么都没了

but for a life jacket.

只剩下救生衣

Thank you so much.

非常感谢

(Applause)

（掌声）