School: Hualien Ruisuei Elementary School
    Hualien, Taiwan, Taiwan

7 students, ages 10-12 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on March 14, 2007. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): 3

Classes and Teachers: Dun-zhi Zhan, Qiu-ping Hao, Yi-mei Pan, Wen-Zhang Xu, Chen-ni Chu, Xin-quang Chen

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://www.zshps.hlc.edu.tw/

1. Description of Our Community

Hualian County, called ' after mountain ', possess pretty mountains and rivers. Chihkeshan is located in Yuli Township, Hualian County. And its administrative division belongs to Guanyin of Yuli Township. Because of its inconvenient traffic, it has been the traditional agricultural production area contacted with the external world very few all the time for a long time. In early periods, Chihkeshan did not mean regularly which one. In the period of being occupied by Japan, Japanese cut down plenty of Chihke tree; and therefore it gained the name.

2. Summary of Our Project

Chihkeshan, one of the three major Jin-Zhen producing regions of Taiwan, lies in the town in Yuli Township Hualian County. The elevation height of Chihkeshan is about 800-1200 meters. It belongs to the ground of forest class of the forest affair office. The early residents came from the disaster of Meishan. Because it was difficult to make a living by afforesting, peasants changed one after another to plant the high industrial crops – Jin-Zhen. From 2000, the government in Hualian County coached Chihkeshan to move towards recreation agriculture to develop tourism. However, because peasants failed to reach the agreement of afforesting, the lease was stopped many years ago. And the final goal of government in Hualian County is to build another place in Hualian of different scenic spot which combine ecology, industry and culture. Besides, it inspired the ability of residents to rely on their own efforts and the development that continued forever.

3. Our Computer and Internet Access

A. Percentage of students using the Internet at home:21-50%

B. Number of workstations with Internet access in the classroom:2-3

C. Connection speed used in the classroom:dedicated connection

D. Number of years our classroom has been connected to the Internet:more than 6

E. Additional comments concerning your computer and/or Internet access (Optional):

The only way to solve problem is that everybody struggles hard for their own home and advance towards the same goal together. The land is the place where pregnant with everything. We can grow interdependently with the land by the only way that we love it and treasure it. The best one visiting resources, is the most natural, primitive kinds of looks and feeling.

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

Because the sightseeing of Jin-Zhen, Chihkeshan began to famous in recent years, and someone took notice of the local topic gradually. Because of the land-usage problem of Chihkeshan, peasants on the mountain are communicating to coordinate with the government. Hence, they all expect our visit. One reason is that they hope we can reach the result propagated; the other one is to arouse masses' concern about Chihkeshan topic. Being simple, pure and honest, they always have their heart filled for our arrival with smile. They did not care for our bothering. And they talked to us without reserving just like talking to their old friends. Their attitude made us more responsible for caring about residents on Chihkeshan. And we should make all-out efforts even more too.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

The earth is our mother. She offers the resources of daily living needs to us. If this land of our excessive use, she will be angry and punishing us. What we should do is treat her well, love dearly and have pity for her. In this way, we can just nestle in her chest happily.

6. How did your activities and research for this CyberFair Project support standards, required coursework and curriculum standards?

The Grade 1-9 Curriculum emphasizes the subject integration and the actual application of discipline ability. Under teacher's appropriate planning, students experience the combination and application of subject ability in the process of real research and get the great fulfillment after finishing the webpage. We believe such successful study experience will contribute to their independent study in the future and promote the study interest.

1) What information tools & technologies did you used to complete your CyberFair project?

In the terms of image,we used digital camera and traditional camera to record images, printing machine to export images, and scanner to process digital images. In the way of material collection, we used TV, computer, newspaper, recorder and some computer software to collect materials, put records in order, process pictures and edit webpage.

2) In what ways did you act as "ambassadors" and spokespersons for your CyberFair project both on-line and in person.

(1)Visit: By use of the chance of interview, we state the theme and content of our study to the person visited. (2)Parents participation: We encourage parents to register as a member of school-net in Taiwan to participate in interviewing the research activities together. (3)The expert consults: We get in touch with and visit the experts, scholars and relevant units in person according to the theme of studying. (4)Participate in the community: We visit residents in the area one by one, introduce our research theme and content, and establish good communication relationship.

3) What has been the impact of your project on your community?

To a lot of sight-seeing resorts, we often thought it should be that the locality should put oneself in order. All regard visitor as the orientation. But when reaching Chihkeshan, we just realized in surprise that it actually should not be like this. People are all wrong. Everybody was used to letting the land adapt to us in the past. In fact, the real method should be that we should adapt to and experience the land. Such understanding will just be deep and touched. Therefore, each time when seeing the purely frank and nature of residents on Chihkeshan, we always have a lot of happiness with happy and admire in the heart. We hope the pure fairyland can meet us with its most primitive kinds of looks forever.

4) How did your project involve other members of your community as helpers and volunteers?

(1)Parents: In the course of whole research, parents' support is our greatest motive power.? Everybody paid the bill, exerted oneself, accompanied the child to go up the mountain and interview, and wrote with the report together. Beside, they help to collect such materials as the relevant newspapers, news reports, and so on. (2)Community personage Mr. Ming-han Huang, Miss Su-yan Pan and a lot of locals offered us quite a lot of oral account materials and shared us with experiences. (3)The experts and scholars Miss Xiu-qing Chen and Mr. Shi-xiong Yan are quite familiar with the research of Chihkeshan.? They offered us a lot of inspiration, suggestion and very abundant materials. (4)Public affair organization Aunties and uncles of the Peasant Association of Yuxi in Hualian County told us kindly the plans and position of the government unit and offered a lot of relevant materials too. (5)Local media Offer us the relevant research reports and propaganda. (6)Company's unit Express gratitude to FengChao Phonograph Disk offering us the background music. (7)School group Principal Ci-lin Lin, director Zhi-feng Qiu, teacher Jia-rong You, teacher Yu-zhen Guan and teacher Wei-yao Hong not only cared about our research process, provided us brilliant ideas and opinions, but also provided us assistance of human resources.

5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)

(1)The earth is our mother. She offers the resources of daily living needs to us. If this land of our excessive use, she will be angry and punishing us. What we should do is treat her well, love dearly and have pity for her. In this way, we can just nestle in her chest happily. (2)Jin-Zhen is the perennial herb. Peasants picked only the flower part as the harvests every year. Therefore, the root of Jin-Zhen will deepen in the soil more and more and grow denser and denser too. So Jin-Zhen couldn’t be defeated by the big tree about the strength of water and soil conservation! (3)On Chihkeshan, we saw a lot of life styles that has never been seen. Because the residents on the mountain, quite a lot were what has been had no money came to Chihkeshan. In order to live in a most economic way, residents thought a lot of methods. As if there is one kind “cow dung Cuo” on the mountain, residents are afraid of the cold wind irritated into in the house. They put up with the wood, fill in the gaps of the room with the cow dung and loess. It made people with deep impression.