DOST

The Philippines makes history once again as it joins a review body that would set the science education policy of an international organization for the next seven years.

The only ASEAN country to join the panel, the Philippines joins the big wigs in the international science education scene in reviewing the science education policy of the International Council for Science (ICSU), an international non-governmental organization devoted to international co-operation in the advancement of science.

Deliang Chen, Executive Director of ICSU, said the organization has confirmed the nomination of Science Education Institute Director Dr. Ester B. Ogena by the National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP) to ICSU’s review panel.

In a letter to Ogena, Chen said the panel would be meeting twice a year starting next year in Paris to start its deliberation on the policy directions on science education.

According to Chen, the strategic review would include an assessment of ICSU’s past and current activities in relation to science education, a consideration of the broader context of science education and a recommendation on the future mandate for ICSU on science education.

The review panel will be chaired by Dr. Roberta Johnson, the executive director of the National Earth Science Teachers Association in the United States.

ICSU, formerly called the International Council of Scientific Unions, was founded in 1931 whose members include national scientific bodies, and international scientific unions, including the International Mathematical Union, the International Astronomical Union and the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry.

ICSU was founded to bring together natural scientists in international scientific endeavors. As of 2007, it comprises 113 multi-disciplinary National Scientific Members, Associates and Observers (scientific research councils or science academies) representing 133 countries and 29 international, single-discipline Scientific Unions. ICSU also has 24 Scientific Associates.

In response, Ogena expressed gratitude to the recognition given by the international to the Philippines.

“We will put forward the interest of the Filipino people as well as our ASEAN neighbors as we join the strategic review panel of ICSU’s science education policy,” she said.

Ogena said that it is the first time that the Philippines would be taking part in a science education policy review panel at the international level.

“We hope to take science education at a different level that would be more relevant to the people and to the recent developments we are experiencing,” she said.

By Alexander Villafania

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines may be fighting China in its bid over the disputed Spratly Islands but the country may someday become part of the mainland.

A scientist from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) said the archipelago is moving towards the Asian mainland by approximately seven centimeters per year.

However, it would take another 50 million years to reconnect with the mainland. The Philippine landmass is situated on its own tectonic plate, ostensibly called “Philippine Plate.”

It is also surrounded by four other plates, the Okhotsk Plate to the north, Australian Plate to the south, the Eurasian Plate to the West and Pacific Plate to the east.

The Philippines broke away from a super continent called Rodinia about 1.1 billion to 750 million years ago.

Yumul explained that the breaking up of continents was due to a phenomenon called Super Continent Cycle where the Earth’s continents alternately merge into a single supercontinent, the splits into numerous continents, then merge again.

The Super Continent Cycle is estimated to span 300 to 500 million years.

DOST Undersecretary Graciano Yumul, Jr. said during the recent Earth Sciences International Conference that the one of the indicators of the Philippines’ movement towards the west is the presence of an old submerged railroad off the coast of Cavite.

Another is an old artesian well off the waters of Mindoro Island.

“These scenarios corroborate our researches on tectonic movement since nobody would put neither a railroad nor a well into the sea,” Yumul explained.

But while it may seem that the Philippines is moving towards the same country that is fighting for the Spratly Islands, Yumul still joked that with that happening, Filipinos would not need to have their own visa to visit China.

DOST-SEI

EIGHT teams from seven schools in the Philippines are now gearing up to battle it out with over 1,000 students from 32 countries to conquer the 2009 World Robotics Olympiad to be held at Pohang City, South Korea.

Forming the Philippine contingent are Philippine Science High School – Bicol Region and Science and Technology Education Center for the Regular Category – High School Division; Claret School of Quezon City and Grace Christian College for Regular Category – Elementary Division; Dr. Yanga’s College and Makati Science High School for the Open Category – High School Division; and Grace Christian College and First Asia Institute of Technology and Humanities for the Open Category – Elementary Division.

The said teams won in the recently concluded 8th Philippine Robotics Olympiad (PRO) held at SM North Annex Bldg., Quezon City.

Science Education Institute Director Dr. Ester B. Ogena congratulated all the teams that joined the PRO as she expressed optimism that the winning teams would do great in the international competition.

“Our students have shown their best and given more opportunities like these, we could tap more potential in the field of robotics,” she said.

Ogena said SEI supports participation in competitions like the PRO and WRO to open up the students’ eyes to the world of science and encourage them to venture into careers in science and technology.

“SEI will provide more support to our students who are joining these prestigious competitions so that they would acquire skills for robotics which could be tools for honing their talent in science and math,” she said.

The students in the open category would be competing under the theme: “Artist Robots,” a synergy of artistry, ingenuity and scientific flair that would show their talent, especially in the field of Science and Technology.

In the regular category elementary division, robots would be doing the Iron Robot Triathlon where a robot carrying one ping-pong ball from start area passes through the labyrinth and grey floors up to the base camp where the robot shoots the ball.

In the high school division of the regular category, robots would be competing in the Robot Match wherein a robot follows the obstacle way till mission point and then gets as many ping-pong balls as possible and then travels back to the base camp following another obstacle course.

The PRO is done in partnership with Felta Multi-media, Inc. and the Department of Education.