BATTLE OF THE BRAINS. Norreen Bautista of the Energy Development Corporation's Corporate Social Responsibility Department for Negros Island and Mt. Apo gives her opening message during the Battle of the Brains science competition in Valencia, Negros Oriental on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2019. A total of 77 schools in Negros Island are participating in the BOTB, which is now on its fourth year. (Photo by Juancho Gallarde)
DUMAGUETE CITY – More schools in Negros Island are increasingly becoming aware of problems, issues, and concerns related to climate change, renewable energy, and the environment in general.
This has been demonstrated by the yearly spike in the number of schools participating in the island’s premier science-based competition, the Battle of the Brains (BOTB), which is now doing the rounds in the island in five separate legs for qualifiers to the grand finals in October this year.
The BOTB, which is already in its fourth year, is a project of the country’s geothermal power leader Energy Development Corporation (EDC), in collaboration with leading environmental advocates.
Norreen Bautista, head of EDC’s Corporate Social Responsibility Department of Negros Island and Mt. Apo, on Monday, noted that this year, a total of 77 schools are competing in the BOTB.
The number is more than quintuple the total schools that first participated in the quiz bee, she said.
“The awareness has actually increased on the fourth year, which is really interesting, and a good indication that what we are trying to inculcate in them such as sustainability has actually become effective already,” she added.
It is obvious that the students have actually prepared for one year and did research and studied hard for the competition, Bautista pointed out.
Taking off recently in Negros Oriental, the science quiz bee started in 2016 with only 14 schools, followed by 45 schools in 2017 and 69 schools in 2018, she added.
As it evolved over the years, the questions have become “trickier” and yet the students have shown in their answers that they have prepared for this battle of wits, guided by their respective coaches, Bautista said.
“It is more challenging this time, and we have seen that students are now more active in learning about geothermal and renewable energy and climate change,” she added.
It is imperative that the young people of today are aware of what is going on around them, especially regarding the environment because it is their future that is at stake, the EDC executive said.
Bautista said an added feature in this year’s BOTB competition is the introduction of the “wild card” for each round, where a question that gets the correct answer will get a double score.
The difficult round has a score of 10 points per question and 20 points for the “wild card”.
Each school gets to send two participants, and all questions are verified by its panel of expert judges.
The BOTB opened last Thursday with 21 schools joining the semi-final round at the Bais City Pilot School in Bais City for schools there and nearby areas.
The following day, 19 schools competed in the last leg for Negros Oriental at the Valencia National High School for schools in Dumaguete and the municipality of Valencia.
The rest of the participating schools are spread out in three legs in Negros Occidental to be held on separate dates and venues early this month.
EDC partnered with Drink Editorial and Design, Inc. four years ago to launch the competition to “help the Filipino youth learn more about our climate crisis and the importance of environmental conservation, biodiversity, and renewable energy in managing it,” the company said in a statement.
This year’s BOTB will tackle renewable energy, the environment, biodiversity, climate change issues and policies, and current events related to these topics.
The top two winning schools per area will move to the grand finals in Dumaguete City on October 3 for a chance to be the 2019 Battle of the Brains-Negros champion. (PNA)
