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1. Description of Our Community
Xianji Rock is situated in Jing-Mei District, Taipei. It is also known as Jing-Mei Mountain. Because it is close to the intersection where Jing-Mei River branches into Hsindian River, local residents also call it Xizikou Mt. Xianji Rock is part of the NanGang Mountain. Xianji Rock hike is approximately 2 kilometers and the whole path is approximately 3.5 kilometers. The hike will take about 3 hours and 10 minutes. Although it is only 144 meters in altitude, it commands a wonderful view because there are no mountains nearly except the Neipu Mountain at west Kungkuan. On a rock along the mountain ridge is a big foot print. It was said to be the place where Lu Tung-pin, one of the Eight Immortals, set his foot on. This is how Xianji Rock (rock that carries the footprint of an immortal) got its name.
There are many wonderful sites with beautiful scenery in front and back of Xianji Rock. Examples are Long life Road, Reaching Immortality Slope, Walking on the Cloud Road, Enlighten Platform, Happy-go-lucky Peak, Wind Surfing Gazebo and Hugging Root Stone. Xianji Rock is not far away from Jing-Mei Station of the MRT system. There are trees along both sides of the hike. It is a pleasure to walk about in summer and winter. There are butterflies flying around and birds singing. Flowers blossom and bugs hum. This is one of the most frequented eco-tourist sites in Taiwan!
2. Summary of Our Project
From the environmental point of view, Xianji Rock is the best ecosystem observation zone. Its dense forests provide fresh oxygen and pythoncidere. There is a large variety of plants, such as magnum forest. Such a pristine land in a metropolitan is a precious gem and nobody should develop or destroy it. Apart from mountains and waters, there are many great sights to behold at Xianji Rock. The changing clouds on the skies and the colorful worlds of animals and plants are for us to enjoy. Natural sights are everywhere, including air, water, sounds, soils, rocks, topology, animals, plants, clouds, starts, the moon and the sun.
Any damages to the natural environments cannot not be undone. We should always be careful not to ruin the environments when we enjoy recreations or outdoor teaching activities. This is for us and for future generations. We should strive to preserve the beauty in nature so that future generations can still have it. Humans are a part of the nature. Our psychology and biology have the same rhythms as those of nature. Only when we are in harmony with nature, can we resonate with it. In other words, we should experience nature the way we are in sync with nature, so that “silent spring” will never befall on Formosa.
3. Our Computer and Internet Access
A. Percentage of students using the Internet at home:more than 50%
B. Number of workstations with Internet access in the classroom:more than 6
C. Connection speed used in the classroom:dedicated connection
D. Number of years our classroom has been connected to the Internet:4-6
4. Problems We Had To Overcome
Progress report We were a late starter so we actually were behind quite a bit. This is why everybody worked at full speed. However, some people experienced minor issues because they had problems finishing schoolwork in time.
Everybody tried their best to finish schoolwork at schools, by helping each other with questions. At home, everybody worked on their assigned parts. This is how we accumulated our results for today.
Time At schools, as it was hoped to minimize disruptions to schoolwork, we worked during lunch breaks. However, due to the pressure of a series of exams, the deadline was indeed a bit tight.
In order to avoid disruptions to schoolwork, we gathered together during weekends and holidays for brainstorming. This eased some of the time pressure.
Experience We made some new attempts for this report. For example, we interviewed some people. As we are relatively inexperienced, we looked a bit clumsy in front of others.
Because we were a bit embarrassed, the situations often got a bit awkward. Fortunately we had the help from volunteer mothers and teachers, so that we could avoid occasional stalls in the interview process. From now on, we will perform better.
Data Sometimes we knew there should be data but could not find them online. This annoyed us tremendously. For instance, there was a camp for Japanese prisoners of wars and the camp was removed. It is difficult to identify the entrance to Xianji Rock. It is indeed a pity that we could not source this wonderful information. Therefore, we used everything we could find in order to fill in the gap. We also filled in the gap with extra efforts.
Team Spirit Even though we have worked together for a while, we occasionally argue over differences and lost our team spirit. Without team spirit, it is impossible to make progress.
Differences in opinions are the reasons for bickering. We worked out our differences through open discussions and collective decisions.
5. Our Project Sound Bite
This research project enabled us to better understand Xianji Rock and the whole Wenshan District. We also got to learn more about history and innovations, as well as the opposition between environment conservation and urban developments. We really hope that more and more people will get involved in environmental protection and preservation of historical heritage and relics.
6. How did your activities and research for this CyberFair Project support standards, required coursework and curriculum standards?
The purpose of school teaching is to pass the knowledge on the textbooks to students. The learning process at classrooms is aimed to inspire students to take initiatives in developing their abilities to learn, organize and apply what they have learned. However, it is not easy to leverage the teaching activities at schools to actually test students to see whether they can meet these requirements or to assist them to cope with potential obstacles.
This research project serves as a vehicle for the school to verify where there is anything missing or insufficient in the daily teaching contents or curriculum. It also demonstrates the potentials of our first year students and the team spirit among them (something that they cannot acquire at classrooms).
This activity can also be a case study in the curriculum so that other students can refer to, review and make evaluations. Meanwhile, our research project is part of the community curriculum. With our activities and findings, teachers, students and community residents know more about everything regarding Xianji Rock.
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