Learning science at the field can be fun

IMAGINE yourself journeying to 12

areas in Central and Northern Luzon

with 11 scientists for three days. And

what have you got? An exciting

learning experience on Philippine nature that those outdated

earth science books could hardly offer.

It was Tisha Martinez's first time to be away from home for three

days. Nervous, the petite, wide-eyed student from the Quezon

City Science High School tugged her backpack, boarded the

Banahaw bus and plunged into what Raymundo Punongbayan,

Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology director,

called as ''an opportunity to look at and understand nature

together.''

Tisha sat on the bus, fidgety. Fourteen other students from the

Philippine Science High School, Manila Science High School

and the Polytechnic University of the Philippines' Laboratory

High School felt almost the same.

But the feeling is largely one of eagerness to learn from

Phivolcs' first Science and Technology Caravan.

In real terms

''Our earth science books, though Philippine-focused, are

outdated. I'd like to really see with my own eyes what the books

say,'' said PSHS student Aloysius Domingo.

Teachers Bernard Llaguno and Vivian Paraon, looking much like

teeners themselves, echoed Domingo's view. Both regretted not

being able to take along their whole class to the caravan.

And the bus whirred to life. From July 15 to 17, it was to be

Tisha's classroom and medium to take her from one learning site

to another.

Eleven scientists, taking turns at lecturing on the bus and on

sites, would also be her companions.

From the Phivolcs' office in Quezon City, the bus tailed six

vehicles carrying science advocates, environmentalists,

practitioners of disaster response management and

development workers who were also out to relearn the wonders

and ways of Philippine nature in this part of Luzon.

For this mobile class, Lesty Saquilon of Phivolcs always had

this ubiquitous plastic box with a small karaoke, an equally small

speaker but loud enough for the participants to hear the

lectures.

First stop

The caravan's first stop: Candaba swamp on Pampanga's

eastern side. The lesson: wetlands and wildlife.

In this huge bowl-like area, fisherfolk breed tilapia and shrimps

in ponds in commercial quantity. In the early cold months of the

year, herons from China migrate here in thousands to seek

safety from the Siberian winds and breed.

In other parts of the year, watermelons thrive on the swamp's

moisture left by run-off from rains and water from the Pampanga

River and the Rio Chico.

Except during drought, what a nurturing habitat this was, the

students learned from representatives of the Protected Areas

and Wildlife Bureau.

The students' first encounter with a volcano was Mt. Arayat, 10

kilometers east of Angeles City. At present inactive, Arayat has

an amphitheater-like opening at the summit, the result of a

debris avalanche during its growth.

Arayat, according to Phivolcs, ''forms part of the line of

volcanoes (that include Balungao, Cuyapo, Amorong and

Bangcay) known as the inner arc volcanoes, and is separated

from another line of volcanoes (Pinatubo, Natib and Mariveles)

that formed closer to the west coast of Luzon or the frontal arc

volcanoes.''

For a real look at the destructive might of Pinatubo, the caravan

inched its way to Bacolor. Here, Tisha saw a village buried by

lahar yet its people struggle to live with it by building houses

on stilts.

They see the people's faith in the centuries-old San Guillermo

Church. Buried several times by lahar, the Augustinian baroque

church has been rebuilt by Bacoloreqos from items they could

salvage.

Tisha, in fact, entered through three doors, actually arched

facades on where statues of saints used to stand.

Eng'g intervention

The FVR Megadike on the north side of the church stood as a

testament to the engineering intervention of the government to

deal with lahar.

On board the bus that traveled through the long stretch of the

Gapan-San Fernando-Olongapo Road, 30 km from Pinatubo,

Tisha saw no more gray landscape but paddy ricefields and

fishponds in the plains.

And then it was Subic Freeport and Economic Zone for lessons

on forest, wildlife and ecology. The Subic-Bataan Natural Park's

forest is not anywhere near the virgin forest that it was,

according to Robert Natividad, supervising science and

research specialist of the Forest Products Research and

Development Institute.

Centuries-old diptherocarp trees are rare but young white

lauan, palosapis, tanguile, yakal and apitong grow in

abundance. Over 450 plant species grow in this forest.

The Subic ecology department is planting more because this

area is the watershed of Olongapo City and Subic town.

Wildlife, including reptiles, mammals and birds, teem at Subic,

Marlene Mendoza of the PAWB said.

The Philippine giant fruit bats, two of the largest species of bats

in the world, live in the park. The students saw them clinging

from trees that Thursday noon, looking like large dark fruits.

Toward the port fronting Grande Island, monkeys stayed by the

roadside. At the port, touted also as a big aquarium, students

ogled at colonies of fish that lent red, yellow and orange hues to

the blue waters of the bay.

Clown fish that were one too many tickled the fancy of the

participants.

Lesson on geology

The route to Iba town in Zambales was a lesson on geology.

The landscape on the right is a long uneven mountain range

where the Pinatubo complex is.

On the left is the South China Sea. It is a landscape shaped by

volcanic eruptions millions of years ago, the land mass a result

of the accumulation and welding of volcanic sediments and

when water level ebbed, according to Ronnie Torres of

Phivolcs.

At the Sand Valley Inn along the Iba coast, Punongbayan, like a

dutiful teacher, played volleyball with the students. At night, he

sat in hunches along the coast, answering queries of why

waves repeatedly embraced the shore and why the sand

glistened.

The second day's classroom was still Iba's coast. Gerry Salvador

of the Bureau of Mines and Geosciences talked about coastal

zones and dynamics using the living examples behind him: the

coast and the waves.

Rock formations below the water weakened the waves before

reaching the shore. Long shore currents from northeast to

southeast caused lahar to produce a spit (accumulated material)

on the South China Sea.

Imelda Valeroso of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and

Astronomical Services Administration talked about clouds and

climate in the Philippines and natural ways of detecting bad

weather.

As the bus headed for Dagupan City, Valeroso explained to the

students the difference between a tornado and a severe

thunderstorm.

Video clips on minerals, earthquakes and tornadoes were shown

to the participants on their way to a luncheon forum in the city,

which was hit nine years ago by an Intensity 7.8 earthquake.

Along Fernandez Avenue, a few abandoned buildings with

cracks still visible showed the strength of that earthquake.

Torres said buildings caved in and roads were sundered

because of liquefaction or when the ground softened. It turned

out that most of the damages occurred along the reclaimed area

of the Pantal River.

In the forum, students heard it straight from officials:

Earthquakes come without any warning, kill and injure people,

damage buildings and cause setbacks on development efforts.

Karst topography or land mass partly submerged by water and

chemical weathering was best shown through the Hundred

Islands in Barangay Lucap in Alaminos, Pangasinan.

In a forum in Baguio City, the students learned from Phivolcs'

Jes