By Alex Villafania
INQUIRER.net

IN 1994, then US Vice President Al Gore and several high level government officials started the Global Learning and Observations to the Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program, whose goal is to encourage scientists worldwide to share their research with students through an online community. It was part of the Earth Day Celebrations for that year.

The GLOBE Program’s main goal is to provide information in the protection and conservation of the earth’s natural resources by encouraging current and future scientists to work together. Its founding members include the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the National Science Foundation.

But what sets the GLOBE Program apart from other scientific communities is that it allows students to directly contact scientists on specific topics in a sort of mentorship system. Likewise, students and their teachers can follow up on projects with their own researches, then upload the information they gather so as to contribute to the pool of knowledge on specific topics.

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THE COUNTRY held its first ever online ozone layer protection quiz, and two students from Philippine Science High School emerged victorious in the finals, earning the right to represent the Philippines in the Asia Pacific sub-regional quiz in Bangkok.

Here’s an excerpt from the PNA article that came out in Bayanihan.org:

This victory gave the tandem of Paulo Miguel Manzanilla and Lawrence Medina the right to represent the Philippines in the Asia-Pacific sub-regional ozone layer quiz in Bangkok, Thailand tentatively scheduled on June 30 this year, the DENR said.

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STUDENTS and professors from De La Salle University are aiming for the next international event to conquer. This time it will be the prestigious World Solar Challenge in Australia, a competition that pits developers of solar-powered vehicles from around the world.

Forty people from the DLSU and their corporate partners have been developing the first Philippine-made solar-powered car, which has been christened “Sinag” (”sunshine” in Filipino), that will be entered in the competition, which will be held in October 2007.

In an interview with INQUIRER.net, Merritt Partners chairman and former energy secretary Vincent Perez said the development of the first Philippine-made solar-powered car that will be entered in the competition is one of the biggest undertakings related to energy development that brings together various private firms and an academic institution.

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FIVE Filipino students recently bagged major prizes in the recently held Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.

The first winner was Hester Mana Docasao Umayam, a 15-year-old student from Philippine Science High School-Cagayan Valley Campus, who was one of the seven fourth place winners in the individual Behavioral and Social Sciences category.

Umayam’s winning project is entitled “Ethnomathematics in the Geometric Patterns in Woven Fabrics of the Indigenous Kalingas in the Philippines.” As described in the title, Umayam used mathematical techniques, particularly the relatively new ethno-mathematics, in analyzing the cultural significance of patterns used in fabrics created by the people of Kalinga.

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IN A FEW days, nine Filipino high school students will be meeting 1,500 of their counterparts from over 40 countries for the prestigious Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) to be held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States.

This year also marks the 10th anniversary of the annual Intel Philippine Science Fair, the local version of the ISEF, which picks the country’s best young scientists and engineers in high school.

The country’s delegation to ISEF 2007, to be held on May 13 to 19, will compete in the Team and Individual categories and will be vying for scholarships, research grants, scientific field trips, internships and the grand prize of a $50,000 college scholarship.

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