Izah Morales
INQUIRER.net

Is your school engaged in green and eco-friendly activities?

All public and private elementary, high school, and colleges are encouraged to join the National Search for Sustainable and Eco-Friendly Schools.

The competition is the response of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to Republic Act 9512, which is a law promoting environmental awareness through education.

“With their efforts recognized, we can encourage students, faculty and school administrators to adopt and promote eco-friendly practices in their schools, homes and communities,” DENR Secretary Jose Lito Atienza said.

Interested schools are required to submit a brief description of their environmental project in line with the theme, “Sustainable and Eco-friendly Initiatives.” Only one entry per school will be accepted.

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Alexander Villafania
INQUIRER.NET

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines took home the silver medal at the recently held World Robot Olympiad 2008 in Yokohama, Japan.

The Philippine team known as “Gracean Whizkids” from Grace Christian Elementary School beats 21 other schools.

The team is composed of Joseph Aldrin Chua, Edrich Hans Chua and Dominique Hannah Sy. They were coached by Melanie Tizon and Warren John Ong Pe.

Their project, dubbed “The G-Tech Robot Engineering a Better World,” included 12 different types of robots doing various types of activities to save the environment.

The Open Category required contestants to create robots under the theme, “Saving the Global Environment.”

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By Alex Villafania
INQUIRER.net

GRACE Christian High School won a gold medal at the 6th World Robot Olympiad held on Nov. 18 in Taiwan. The team’s project called Operation Security Guaranteed is composed of a city diorama that has a group of security-based robots that fight fire, catch criminals and ensure building protection from would-be terrorist attacks.

The Grace Christian High School team is composed of Bryan Lao, Alyssa Sheena Tan and Mark Ian Tan. They won the gold medal in the Open Category for the Junior Level.

The team also presented their winning entry at the newly opened Science Discovery Center at the SM Mall of Asia.

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By Alex Villafania
INQUIRER.net

TEAM Sinag has finished 11th out of the 21 participants in the Challenge category of the Panasonic World Solar Challenge (WSC) in Australia.

Here’s a photo of the Sinag solar car crossing the finish line in Adelaide.

The Philippine team also finished 20th out of the total 38 participants in the WSC, an international competition for developers of solar-powered vehicles.

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By Alex Villafania
INQUIRER.net

THE SINAG solar car has traveled 633 kilometers as of the second day of the Panasonic World Solar Challenge in Australia. This would be the longest distance yet traveled by the first Philippine-made solar car.

According to the Sinag Team website, Sinag is in 29th place out of 37 cars after they passed the stop at Dunmarra, which is the second stop during the 3,021-kilometer race.

Team Sinag has also avoided failing along the race, despite 10 other vehicles being towed.

The team’s next stop is Alice Springs, which is another 600 kilometers from Dunmarra. They would reach Alice Springs by October 24 where they will be displayed for a while.

The event, which started last October 21, will end in October 28. It will run from Darwin to Adelaide.

Team Sinag is composed of 15 students from the De La Salle University. This would be the first time that the Philippines will join the World Solar Challenge. It joined under the Challenge category.