School: Hemei elementary school
    Changhua County, Taiwan, ROC

7 students, ages 11 to 12 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on March 20, 2005. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): 2003, 2004

Classes and Teachers: Lee Jia-feng, Wu Wen-chuan, Chang Chun-lang, Yang Tao-bin, Wang Wen-juan

E-Mail contact:

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

1. Description of Our Community

Great Buddha at Baguashan ('Bagua Mountain'), the first attraction in Changhua, Taiwan, has become the best-known landmark. The scenery here is beautiful and it's the best spot for overlooking the whole city. It is also an ideal place for mountain-climbing, hiking and exercising.

Almost every tourist would like to visit Baguashan - the potential scenic spot for developing tourism. We expect the government to cooperate with community residents and develop the tourism of Baguashan Great Buddha scenic area; also increase the tourism of Changhua.

2. Summary of Our Project

Our subject study has focused on Great Buddha of Baguashan as well as the surrounding tourism resources and its future development. Lacking of the integral planning and good management, Baguashan Great Buddha scenic area had been declining. Fortunately, the current magistrate Wong, Jin-jhu, previous magistrates and local personalities has made every effort to change its appearance gradually.

We hope that Baguashan Great Buddha scenic area can be prepared and united with the people in the community well. We also hope to intrigue more tourists to appreciate the beauty of Great Buddha on the Internet.

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:2-3

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):

School Internet Environment: There are two computer rooms at school, which are all available while no classes. All computers in our school are dedicated connection. It's convenient to discuss, look up information and print papers at school.

Member's Home Internet Environment: Each team member can use the Internet at home, linked by ADSL. After school, we continued researching by Web hard disk and interactive Website.

To set an interactive Website: We set an interactive called Jia-Feng Website. There, we can quickly share data and photos, leaving messages and discussing are also available on it.

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

1).Old photos and data are hard to gather: It was very uneasy to find early-day photos and data of Baguashan. Luckily, we got lots of valuable photos and data in the interview with Cultural Affairs Bureau and Local Culture Association. They did help us a lot.

2).Difficulties of making Web pages: We were not well skilled in computer techniques, so we met difficulties in making Web pages and animated drawings. With the assistance of teacher Li Jia-Feng, we had solved all the problems.

3).Uneasy to plan time for research: To avoid members' class time or after-school class time clash, we had to use every Tuesday and Friday's self-study time to do research. Visiting or interviewing was often arranged on weekends or Thursday afternoons. When we could not get together, we used the convenience of computer science like interactive Website or Web hard disk to share or exchange data. Therefore, fewer problems would occur.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

Every place should have its own features, like Ali Mountain's sunrise and a sea of clouds, Ji-ji's painted trains. Changhua is strongly connected with Great Buddha of Baguashan... As long as I appreciate him, I feel quite close to Great Buddha. Hope to introduce Great Buddha to everyone in the world, just as famous as Four-Faced Buddha in Thailand. (By Ting-shuan, 6th grade)

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

1).Integration with 'Art and Humanity': 'Art and Humanity' is the key point of our 'School-based curriculum'. Our project was produced through the use of local community resources and spot visits to introduce Great Buddha. People will thoroughly know the glory of Great Buddha once had and the prospect of its future as well as the beauty of Baguashan.

2).Application with WWW Tech: By means of interactive Web pages, Web hard disk, message board, etc, we learned to do research more efficiently.

3).Integrated Learning Activities: From the research process, we have been more skilled in interviewing, computing questionnaire, investigating, and calculating, also, in cooperating and consulting, which were very beneficial for us.

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

A.Interactive Website - Jia-Feng Website: It let us immediately share information and discuss on line.

B.Web hard disk: The information stored in disks or hard disk in computers in school was often ruined or could not be read. To prevent these obstacles, we used Web hard disk.

C.Technical Equipment: We use computer, ADSL wide network, scanner, printer, digital camera, digital video camera, and recorder.

D.Software we use: Macromedia Dreamweaver - To edit and manage web pages. Macromedia Flash - To make animated cartoon. Ulead PhotoImpact, Photoshop - To deal with image. Acdsee - To manage photos. Microsoft Excel - To compute questionnaires. Microsoft Word - To handle scripted data. Internet Explorer - To browse WebPages, look up information, update and download data. Outlook Express - To interconnect.

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

Let the residents concerned with our project. To understand the history and future development of Baguashan and Great Buddha, We had visited there many times and also interviewed lots of local personalities, including government officials, non governmental workers, residents and visitors. We also looked up the opinions of residents by the questionnaire. After our interviewing, interviewees and more residents had understood the research we were doing and also recalled their concern about Great Buddha.

Combining Teaching: The school painting competition in winter vacation did help school students give more concerns about Baguashan and Great Buddha, also appealed people to participate and share the results of our project.

Spread culture specialty through the WebPages: We tried hard to do our research and created the best Web pages, hoping to invite you to have further understanding on Great Buddha of Baguashan , also becomes… famous all over the world.

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

A.We tried hard to do our project on the Web pages, hoping people who have seen it would appreciate the specialty about Baguashan Great Buddha. In Changhua, there are lots of resources like Great Buddha. We have to cherish and enrich them as well.

B.To integrate with local teaching and spread our culture and history, We invited school students to participate and share the achievements of our project, and also made them understand local history, culture and tourism resources.

C.Let everyone know the government's concern for developing the tourism of Changhua County. The staffs were very passionate as we went visiting Cultural Affairs Bureau, Tourism Bureau, Baguashan Landscape Association, and Local Culture Association. They spoke the development tendency of Baguashan and that they were excited because our project would introduce Great Buddha on the Internet.

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

We got many local personalities' help as we preceded the project. It would be hard to complete the research without their assistance. Especially, director general of Cultural Affairs Bureau, chief of Tourism Bureau Mr. Yang, chief of Information Bureau Mr. Chang, chief of Local Culture Association Mr. Lai, chief of Baguashan Great Buddha Scenic Spot Association Mr. Ting all provided us precious information and valuable advice.

Thank Miss Wu of Ecological Tourism Association, tour guides of Tourism Bureau Miss Chiu and Miss Chen lead us to visit and search on the spot, and the volunteer Miss Lu helped us connect with the interviewed organization and groups also played an important role in completing the research.

5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)

A.Wonderful Discoveries: While paying a visit and researching to Baguashan, I had found a variety of new look here, such as the bouncy seeds of Africa-Touch-me-not, the unforgettable fragrance of Artocarpus Communis' baked fruit, and the round fruit grows on the trunk of Ficus variegata Bl. In addition to these impressive plants, stone carvings made by Ms. Hung, Mi-hua, a self-taught artist also gave us an inspiration---Nothing is difficult unless you block your own.

B.The Experiences I Got: I have found getting an entry to the CyberFair is really significant, not only interesting but also a good opportunity to get in touch with the fantastic world. Bagushan, a mountain with a lot of history and culture, had existed numbers of different buildings on the same site of Great Buddha previously. I've learned if everyone prepares well and keeps working on certain things, will gain more knowledge and skill.

C.Surprises: Due to the study, we had the opportunity to take a look at the inside of Great Buddha. The most impressive one is viewing the relics of Great Buddha. The Statues inside were all vivid handicrafts. They were amazingly exquisite. I hope that visitors may also have the chance to see it's inside beauty. Besides, the famed Ta-Hsiung Great Hall, on the 3rd floor of Great Buddha Hall, with handmade bronzed Eighteen Arhats Statues was on either side. (By Ping-keng, 5th grade)