Fifty of Palawan National Schools’ STEM student researchers held an open space exhibit of their projects at the activity center in SM City Puerto Princesa on March 3-5, allowing the general Palaweño public to get a glimpse into the innovative solutions to local problems as addressed by the next generation of educated youth.
The Paranteken exhibit is an annual research showcase under Palawan National School’s (PNS) Senior High School – STEM department, where Grade 12 students would spend three days showing off their final research projects not just to a vetted list of evaluators in public.
The exhibition in SM Puerto was, according to PNS STEM Subject Group Head Geraldine Dangan, the first time that the school activity would be conducted outside of the PNS gymnasium.
”Taon-taon po merong ganyan, requirement ng curriculum, na pagkatapos ng kanilang research, kailangan may expo kung saan isho-showcase nila ito. Napagisipan namin na ilipat ang venue since the previous years, noong tumaas ang heat index, napansin na medyo mainit na talaga from March to April, kaya lumipat kami,” she said.
Dangan has been teaching Science for 26 years, and has been with PNS since the implementation of the Senior High School (SHS) curriculum ten years ago when the first Paranteken was conducted.
She noted that it was apt that the student researchers were referred to as manig’patek, or “harvesters” in Cuyunon, during the Paranteken exhibit, as it harkened back to the agricultural and natural roots of scientific research and innovation in Palawan and Puerto Princesa.
The fifty research projects displayed in rotation at SM Puerto, while separated into life science and physical science categories, mostly tended towards solving local challenges found in Palawan’s agricultural and fisheries sector such as a predictive app that detects mango pulp weevil presence in x-ray scanned mangoes, or a solar-powered irrigation canal gate for farmers that can be operated via text message.
Other researches were also based around the use of technology, with application development a commonality for the researchers- both Dangan and Cyril Serador, Chief of the Curriculum Implementation Division in the Department of Education (DepEd) in Puerto Princesa, noted a particular application that predicts real time flood occurrence and hazard mapping in the city, simply by typing in the barangay and the amount of rainfall.
Dangan likened the research exhibition to a traditional fiesta, or a celebration of the harvest, wherein they also invited several other public DepEd schools in Puerto Princesa over the course of three days to witness the demonstrations and participate in knowledge exchanges with the PNS students.
“Paranteken talaga yung name namin sa program, kasi yung mga results ng research nila pwede nang anihin, pwede nang ipamahagi sa iba,” she said.
Dangan was in a unique position to observe the pattern of research development in Puerto Princesa’s youth over the decades.
She pointed out that while there was a trend towards technological innovation, the students still went back to solving local environmental problems, recalling a research project done in past Paranteken of a natural airconditioning and ventilation unit made as an answer to the rising temperature in the city at the time.
“Karamihan ng mga estudyante ko before, karamihan ng mga nire-research nila ay plants, endangered plants, ngayon papunta na sila sa robotics. Palagi naming ibinibilin sa mga students na, ang kailangan namin sa research ay magso-solve ng problema sa mundo, kaya dito talaga makikita mo sila naka-tune in sa local environmental problems. (…) Yung mga bata na ito, dala na nila ang skills at purpose na iyan hanggang college, hanggang pagtanda.”
Dangan expressed her hopes that the public Paranteken exhibit would also encourage and inspire some mallgoers into taking a bigger interest in community-based and community-led researches.
Serador, in his opening remarks to the PNS students, emphasized the importance of basic education’s role in community building, especially with regards to repairing and enriching what natural aspects that Palawan currently already has.
He commended PNS for raising powerhouse researchers, the cream of the crop that are continuously competitive at the national level in various educational competitions.
He noted that, like the fields of rice and seas of fish harvested in Palawan, that Palaweños themselves were a useful resource, one that could uniquely enrich all other sectors in society.
“Huwag natin sayangin ang ating mga resources natin, ganoon din sa ating mga teachers at resource speakers. Sila ang nakakapagpaunawa sa mga makabuluhang mga bagay na siyentipiko. Ito ang nais ko na maintindihan ninyo. Hindi lang subject, hindi lang requirement, kundi ambag ninyo sa society.”
