School: Sishih Elementary School
    Changhua City, Taiwan, Taiwan

7 students, ages 11 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on March 14, 2005. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): 2005

Classes and Teachers: Ren-Fu Chen

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://163.23.104.1/ssses.htm

1. Description of Our Community

The origin of Fusing in Chinese pronunciation is that those immigrants of Province Fu-Jian immigrate here, symbolizing prosperity. It is located in the west of Changhua county. Because near the ancient town, Lu-Gang, Fushing inherits its tourism resources, like the agricultural products, such as milk junkets, watermelons, and peas, as well as furniture of woody crafts, which are famous in Taiwan.

2. Summary of Our Project

String noodle is common food in each family in Taiwan. But, with the advent of technology, string noodles are made with machines. As a result, the taste of string noodles is lack of organism due to the mechanic, machine-made process. Several businessmen of string noodles in Fushing, with traditional, man-made techniques, create excellent taste which cannot be achieved by noodles made with the machines. The persistence of traditional, man-made string noodles leads to our investigation toward them.

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:1

C. Connection speed used in the classroom:dedicated connection

D. Number of years our classroom has been connected to the Internet:2-3

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

There’re more than fifty personal computers in our school, which makes up an INTRA-Net. Via the net center of Changhua County and an ADSL cable, we can get on TANET. After the participant students are back home, some of them use dial-up or ADSL of HINET to surf the net. But most of the time, we make use of the school’s computer classroom to upload our progress, data, and to make the website.

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

Making noodles by hands is now a declining industry. The masters we interviewed all realized the fact, even being reluctant to let go. They generally spend 10 more hours on noodles making. That’s one of the reasons why the job has less attraction for today’s young people. We have fewer and fewer people who have this technique in Taiwan.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

We are really pleased that the school and the teachers provide us with the chance of joining the activity. In the process, the teachers helped us arrange several locations for survey. This is what we love most since we did not know there have existed rich resources and traditional handicrafts in my country. We hope that the website will make more people understand and know the manufacture of Fu-Shing string noodles.

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

To well design this website, we had a series of activities, such as a photo show, a sketching competition, children’s poetry display, an exhibition of noodles snacks, and so on. We attempted to have more people know more about noodles and to interact with everyone, so we even camp up with some jigsaw puzzles and riddles. To conclude these events, a questionnaire was presented.

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

We took advantage lots of instruments in the process of making the webpages, such as digital cameras, traditional cameras, video recorders, TVs, priinters, scanners, recorders, printers, internet, and libraries. Among them, what really matters most was digital cameras by which the author took pictures for exhibition. In addition to it, the other important instrument was comuter by which the autor could allocate pictures and words to form the website. Web-making technology was the most inistrumental to the author, premarily because it helped the author to make the website smoothly and appropriately.

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

We spent our holidays interviewing these noodles making people, including the companies selling raw materials and those street vendors. Through them, we got to know more about the history, recipe, instrument, current situation, and others of noodles. Back to school, we held a series of events for our schoolmates to get to know further about noodles, including a photo show, a sketching competition, children’s poetry display, an exhibition of noodles snacks, etc. We feel like an ambassador.

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

During the interviews, we realize how many efforts the Lin’s put into noodles making. The two brothers, Qing-Ling Yao and Qing-Tian Yao, from She-Wei Village also devote themselves and life in the industry. And all the other factories we visited, they share responsibilities together so that they can make things done with great efficiency. Everyone is important and contributes in his/her own way.

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

Lots of people have devoted in their own ways to help out this website, such as the noodle makers, Qing-Ling Yao, and Qing-Tian Yao, from She-Wei Village and their family. These two bosses are on their 60s, and they get up every morning around 4 or 5 o'clock am. Every day of theirs starts with dough work, and when they are back home from delivering their handmade noodles, it is about 10pm. Compared to their hard work, it occurred to us that our schoolwork was such a tiny thing. The clothes of two nice elders are covered with flour, and they are fun to be with. Thank you for sharing your precious experience with us. They deserve our most heartfelt appreciation. It is so good to know we work together for a better country.

5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)

It is never an easy task of making noodles. The harsh situation of this industry is also worsened by the change of our country fellows’ diet habits. Less and less people are devoted to the traditional industry of making string noodles. Fewer and fewer young people get involved in noodles making. The makers are now facing shrinking market and no successors for their skills. All these impacts are forcing noodles-making industry to come down fast day by day. Perhaps, the beautiful scene of drying noodles under big sun will become a memory forever.