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1. Description of Our Community
Taipei, being a busy city, is the capital of the Republic of China, Taiwan. The prosperity and affluence of this city is like most major cities in the world, equipped with well developed industries and businesses, and places packed with people and traffic. Inhabitants of the city get to and get off work each day, living busy lives, and their weekend holiday recreation mostly involves indoor activities such as shopping, afternoon tea time and movies. Having lived in an urban environment, very few people rarely enjoy the fun and play of country side. For the average public to engage in various rural activities such picking fruit and vegetable, and planting, they need to travel to distant mountain areas outside the metropolis. However, within the urban area and in the nearby hill valley, there are the so-called “tourism farms”, where agricultural and recreational activities can be enjoyed. There are even such venues where the public are taught to experience the “urban farming” lifestyle. In recent years, “educational recreational farm” has been developed, providing the urban citizens a different type of recreation.
2. Summary of Our Project
We are inquisitive, and want to explore that in a large urban city such as Taipei, what characteristics can a post-modern agricultural industry offer to attract the Taipei citizens who live in an urban jungle? What are sweat and joy that lies behind the scene? Thus, we have decided to develop a web page to explore such issues in further depth. In terms of the information we have preliminary gathering, it was found that although “urban farms”, “tourism farms” and “educational recreational farms” fall under recreational agriculture in the outskirt of Taipei, but the management methodology adopted and functions vary in great length. Hence we would like to investigate and study the strengths and management methodology of each farm, even to the extent of their long term prospective of development. It was also found that marketing agricultural produce in the urban area, as well as beautifying the urban districts are closely related to the development of post-modern agriculture. Therefore, these issues have also been incorporated into the scope of our study. In recent years, in response to the liberalization of international trading by the joining the World Trade Organization (WTO), governments of countries had actively promoted post-modern agriculture. But the farmers who actually engage in agricultural activity, in particular the urban farmers, whether their economic benefit reaches the level of an average civilian are also of interest to us. In summary, through this study program, we would like to investigate the current status of post-modern agriculture management. The direction and goals of the study are provisionally identifies as follows:
1.Compare the differences between “urban farms”, “tourism farms” and “educational recreational farms”, and interview the general public as well as the tourists of their viewpoints. 2.Report the special characters of the post-modern agriculture and greenery in the urban areas, so as to promote the interests of Taipei citizens in engaging post-modern agriculture activities. 3.Interview the management of the farms and understand the characteristics of each farm, their business processes and rewards. 4.Pay visits to specialists, and provide the farming industry references for further development.
3. Our Computer and Internet Access
A. Percentage of students using the Internet at home:less than 20
B. Number of workstations with Internet access in the classroom:none
C. Connection speed used in the classroom:dedicated connection
D. Number of years our classroom has been connected to the Internet:2-3
4. Problems We Had To Overcome
1. No understanding of the current development of agriculture in Taipei. Solution: We have searched the internet for the current operating status of agriculture in Taipei. A program of visit was schedule according to the addresses. Lead by the tutoring teacher, we visited some of the farms and gardens of special feature over the holidays. The farmers and visitors were interviewed, and the whole interviewing process were either voice-recorded or photographs taken. Using time out of the lessons, we arranged all the information gathered. This is how we gained knowledge of the current status of agricultural development in Taipei. 2. What solution is of true benefit to the development of agriculture? Solution: Under the suggestion of the tutoring teacher, we have made contact with a past student who’s now studying in the Department of Agricultural Extensions, National University of Taiwan. Through her contact, we have interviewed the academic professor who specializes in post-modern agriculture. We have consulted him in respect of this issue.
5. Our Project Sound Bite
International Schools CyberFair is an international contest. It does not only bring about inter-school, inter-county competition, it is a competition crossing national and cultural boundaries. Through such contest, we have not only presented local features to the outsiders through the web page, we could also through the web pages learn about the community cultures and characters of foreign cultures.
6. How did your activities and research for this CyberFair Project support standards, required coursework and curriculum standards?
Through this study project, we have gained an understanding of the importance of integration of different disciplines of science and the characteristics that digital learning is not limited to time. The traditional method of instruction is to learn a section of a science discipline, and there is a lack of application in conjunction with other fields of science. But in pursuing this project, it was discovered that there is a vast amount of back ground information, and they are complex. This requires search on the internet and visits to the library for information, and having discussed amongst the classmates, teachers or even university professors were consulted for further details. In this process, a large quantity of information is collected and the problem of integration is the most painstaking issue. At last, we passed each step and solved most of the problems. At the same time, we felt that the learning and assimilation of knowledge should be a complete whole in all directions. Integrated approach of study is really important, this has made us understood why school teachers has combined materials from different disciplines to teach us.
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