School: Chung-ho Elementary School
    Changhwa , no, Pitou Town, Changhwa County, Taiwan, R.O.C.

8 students, ages 11-12 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on December 27, 2003. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): no

Classes and Teachers: Mr. Chou, Ms Lin, Ms Chan, and students in Grade 6

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://www.ches.chc.edu.tw/

1. Description of Our Community

Pitou Town is located on the alluvial fan of Choshui River. Old Choshui River passed including Pitou Town, and the town limit of Beidou and Tienwei. It was hard to irrigate our farms because of a bad location on the alluvial fan. Therefore, people dup a pool for irrigation. Pools in Taiwanese were called 'Pi'. Our town is on the upstream pool so it is called 'Pitou'! Our town is in the administration regions of south Changhwa,Taiwan, R.O.C., next to Choshui River and Yunlin County. Our school is in Luk-ko Cou combined by Zhu-wei, Chung-ho, Zhuang-nay, and so on. Luk-ko Cou was called because it was the main path from Si-luo Town to Luk-kang Town. Our town is only 3~4 KM far from Choshui River, and this good location helps us a lot. So, Choshui River is very important for us and very close to our living environment.

2. Summary of Our Project

By living near Choshui River, we have a very close relation with it. No matter in the past or now, it offers our farmlands a very important water source for irrigation use. As time goes by, industrial and business developments, and seeking for convenient life cause various negative effects on Choshui River. Therefore, we decided to research the biological environmental differences in the pastime and present time by looking through the biological environment, non-biological environment, environmental crises, and other aspects. These questions are closely related to us. Also, for Choshui River is no longer the same, we hope to understand an outline of the downstream environment of Choshui River, which is near us, by researching. Furthermore, we may inspire people to pay more attention to this river

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:4-6

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

Our school has one computer classroom with 38 personal computers. With the inclusion of a server and other computers, the number of personal computers increases to 46. And, it forms a LAN. We connect to TANet by ADSL provided by Changhwa Network Center. This room is also open for the students after class. The transmission of ADSL is quick for students쳌f transmitting the searching results; however, only four of the students have ADSL at home. The others have to do it at school.

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

쳌i1쳌jInterviewees We didn쳌ft know much about who deals with Choshui River, but those we visited were happy to be interviewed by us. Here we listed 8 interviews, in total amount of 17 people. We are thankful for these interviewees and their time. We set the interviewing agenda, and completed it within 45 days; also, we summarized it in hard copy. This is really an impossible mission. 쳌i2쳌jPersonnel Our daily agendas were never stopped for this project. We held visits and interviews on Wednesday afternoons, Saturdays and all afternoons after school examinations. Progress reports were made during morning meetings every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, programs before school or after students finished their homework. Sometimes, we took some courses in designing web sites, composition, or interviewing skills. And, we discussed the project and made an arrangement at noon break every day. We can seize time to discuss and learn subjects effectively, and also adjusted our research and web site continuously. Finally, we reach a tacit agreement on arrangements. 쳌i3쳌j Our concerns We hope to experience the relation between people and the biological environments of rivers, know the result of a competition among people and environments, and discover the richness of the biological environments of rivers, which is hardly to understand well in a short time. At the same time, we expect that the administration of rivers can be more practical and putting emphasis on the environmental protection. If we can create a multi-function of Choshui River, the residents will be more close to the biological environments of it.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

The nature was formed thousands of years ago, but could be destroyed by human beings in just few years. The environmental protection and the extension of biological education are more than a description. We have to love where we live and take care of it so as to live with the nature. In the process of researching, we found there are still some people devoting themselves to this issue silently. We hope to pass this spirit to next generations and inspire them to continue the environmental protection.

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

[A topic research- to deepen the understanding of local issues] 쳌i1쳌jTeachers쳌f developments of academic skills Teachers were organized as a small team because of this project. In this project, they used original academic skills and also learned more technical skills. This is really helpful to future teaching and studying. 쳌i2쳌jStudents쳌f Achievements The physical achievements a.Social science: b.Nature science and daily techniques c.Chinese Language learning d.This project offered students complete learning activities and they had a chance to operate various basic skills they쳌fve learned. 쳌i3쳌jschool – based curriculum

The record of this project will be adapted as a school-based curriculum and become a model of native education, biological environmental education, and environmental education. Due to the environmental relation with Choshui River, we have a better chance to design various activities to know more about the environment.

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

쳌¦Vedio쳌i100%쳌j

쳌쳌digitalcamera쳌i20%쳌j;school,teachers;take photos; 쳌쳌camera쳌i10%쳌j;teachers;take photos; 쳌쳌video player쳌i5%쳌j;school;reference to documentaries; 쳌쳌printer쳌i10%쳌j;school,teachers;print; 쳌쳌television 쳌i10%쳌j;school and etc;watch; 쳌쳌computer쳌i20%쳌j;teachers,students;output; 쳌쳌digital쳌i15%쳌j;teachers;record interviews; 쳌쳌scanner쳌i10%쳌j;teachers;digitize photos;

쳌¦Sound쳌i100%쳌j

쳌쳌digital video쳌i100%쳌j;teachers;record interview;

쳌¦Transportation쳌i100%쳌j

쳌쳌cars쳌i80%쳌j;teachers,parents;interview,visit; 쳌쳌motorcycles쳌i20%쳌j;teachers;research;

쳌¦Contact쳌i100%쳌j

쳌쳌telephone쳌i35%쳌j;teachers,students;contact; 쳌쳌computer쳌i40%쳌j;teachers,students;E-mail; 쳌쳌mobile phone쳌i25%쳌j;students쳌fparents,teachers,

쳌¦Gather and organize information쳌i100%쳌j

쳌쳌television쳌i10%쳌j;teachers watch;documentaries; 쳌쳌computer쳌i20%쳌j;teachers, students;Internet; 쳌쳌books 쳌i10%쳌j;library, school;gather information; 쳌쳌library school쳌i10%쳌j; teachers, students;gather information; 쳌쳌searching engine쳌i20%쳌j;Yahoo, Yam, Google,Public Television; gather information; 쳌쳌video player쳌i50%쳌j;school,teachers;watch videos; 쳌쳌computer software쳌i20%쳌j;school, teachers, students; edit photos, and web pages; 쳌쳌pen drive쳌i10%쳌j;teachers;make copies, and transmit information

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

쳌i1쳌jInterviews: We explained our project, research, and CyberFair when interviewing.

쳌i2쳌j Parent쳌fs Participation: Encourage parents to participate in our project- we reported to them and have them recognize our project.

쳌i3쳌j Consult with specialists: Invite related specialists or executive officials to have lectures.

쳌i4)Community: Introduce the International Schools CyberFair to our community.

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

To participate in this project is a very special experience for teachers and students. We learn the biological environment of Choshui River; also, we think of the cooperation between the government and local environmental organizations. We think that the government should both take care of economics and the biological environment. For the nature is easy to be destroyed but hard to recover, all of us should take this responsibility for doing the protection.

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

쳌i1쳌jStudents쳌f Parents In the progress, supports from parents cheer us up and drive us to the goal. They all provide what they have to help us complete this project. 쳌i2쳌jSpecialists Mr. Wu inspired the concept of the biological environment protection in students, and provided us related documents and valuable documentaries. He also led us to the ecosystem he reestablishes by himself, and the biological environment of the old watercourse of Choshui River. Moreover, he gave us a large aquarium and various protists so as to we can do some research accordingly. This is really helpful to the project. 쳌i3쳌jThe government offices Mr. Yao and Mr. Chen of the 4th River Basin Management Bureau taught us about administration of Choshui River construction, and how to gather water sources information. Ms Tue, the chief manager of Water Quality Dept. Ms Kuo, the specialist of Promotion Dept Mr. Sun, Predecessor Village Chief of Chao-Yung Village, Si-Chou Town, Changhwa County. 쳌i4쳌jLocal cultural associations Mr. Chen, the Executive Chief of Louyoung Culture and Education Foundation, introduced us how they maintain and popularize Siluo cultures. The foundation held Siluo Cultural Festival before. They devote themselves to protect Siluo cultures. Mr. Tung, the owner of Tungtso Inkstone Art Museum, introduced us the original of Luo-si stones쳌Cand the process of developing inkstone scriptures. He also showed us his masterpieces. 쳌i5쳌jSupports from our School a. Principle Zhen b. Dean Huang c.Teacher Huang

5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)

In 2 months of observation, we found: 쳌i1쳌j It was low-water period of Choshui River when we researched. So we can have a close view to the biological environment at riverbank. Due to the circadian rhythm쳌Cwe couldn쳌ft observe some of aquatics. And this is the limitation when we researched. (2쳌j All interviewees are very emphasis on the biological environment of Choshui River. Some in culture field also agree the close relation between rivers and cultural activities, and the emergency in the environment protection. They all think this really matter to us and we should pay more attention to it. 쳌i3쳌j Recently, several bridges are under construction and those structures were damaged to the environment more or less. The nature has huge power to destroy bridges or bridge piers; the opposite, those construction will also ruin the nature. Therefore, we should concern about both sides and get the ecological balance. 쳌i4쳌j Students쳌f interviewing skills are getting better and better. Although they had to interview many people in a short time, prepare questions in advance, update reports, and progress, they still felt excited and fulfilled. (5쳌j students are all confident and approving this project. In spite of the gap between cities and countries, they still can complete this project. This is worthy for appreciations.