School: No.4 Middle school of Pingluo County, Ningxia
    ShiZuiShan, Ningxia, china

4 students, ages 12~14 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on March 10, 2010. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): no

Classes and Teachers: LiHongYan

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://nx000054.edu.17888.com/alltemp/tempdiy/index.php?isinner=0

1. Description of Our Community

My hometown Pingluo County, Ningxia province lies to the west of Ertuokeqianqi in Inner Mongolia, to the north of Helan County in Yinchuan City, to the east of Ho-lan Mountains and Alashanzuoqi in Inner Mongolia, and to the south of Huinong district in Shizuishan City. It is a main thoroughfare connecting Gansu province and Shaanxi province to the south, Inner Mongolia to the north, Ordos Plateau to the east, and Alxa Prairie to the west crossing Ho-lan Mountains. The Yellow river flows across the land from the south to the north. The lakes and wetlands spread everywhere on the boundless plain, where the ditches vertically and horizontally drain. It is wooded near the cultivated field. Pingluo County is historically a fertile land where fish and rice are abundant in the western China. It is famous for the name of “the land of honey and milk in the Northern frontier”. Taole town in Pingluo County is located at the edge of the Ordos Desert which is a boundless mysterious place full of imaginaries. Our ancestors stayed here and made living by their industrious spirit and knowledge to change the desert from uncultivated land to the land of life.

2. Summary of Our Project

We did a serial of activities on sand mustard to promote our hometown publicity.

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:dial-up modem

D. Number of years our classroom has been connected to the Internet:4-6

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

We have benefited immensely from the net fair this time. Our teachers and us cooperated to set subject and collecting materials. We experienced life that our parents never taught us and knowledge from outside of the class. When Ms Lee invented us to attend the competition, we were very proud. She told us that the net fair could help us communicate with friends from all around the world and we would introduce our hometown to them. In the following days we had a meeting to set subject for the competition. Principal Mo also participated in our meeting. Ms Lee proposed several plans through discussion. At last we decided to introduce sand mustard, the desert vegetable in our hometown. We divided the groups and the theme of our group was that teamwork and striving bring us confidence and success! It was easier said than done. We began to collect materials in order to create a website but a new question came. We needed a camera to take pictures. Luckily Wang Xueli borrowed a camera from his friend and we could record our activities and information of sand mustard. We were busy during the whole semester and The H1N1 flu pandemic appeared to be easing. So it took a long time for school considering allowing us to do activities in desert. Only Tian Pengfei and I went with teachers because other people were busy doing farm work at home. We rode to grandfather Cao, an expert on planting sand mustard, and knew much from his introduction. Then we went to Ningxia Taole Spring Trade Company and saw processing sand mustard there. Manager Fu told us about the workshop, their website, and the future of sand mustard industry. Aunt Wang told us that sand mustard is used as medicine besides vegetable. We really gained a lot and love our hometown more.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

We did a serial of activities on sand mustard to promote our hometown publicity.

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

The No.4 Middle Schoo of Pingluo is built in city but near to rural areas. 70percent of students come from countryside. This is an advantage that can provide ground for biology courses including planting, cultivating and Environmental Protection. Taole in Pingluo County, Ningxia, is near to the famous Ordos Desert. We make use of the sandy plant, sand mustard to do the project. By getting familiar with the local plants and conducting biology courses and activities, students are encouraged to take advantage of science to do investigations, and love their homwtown.

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

We inferred to the following website in the material collecting and sorting: Baidu Wikipedia,We collected the written materials and some image information of sand mustard and its values from the pages here. Chinese Medicine,Here we learned medicinal value of sand mustard. And we also learned medicinal value of sand mustard in the book of Chinese Herbs and Medicines and Mongolian Medicine. We got information of sales of sand mustard from Taole Spring Store. Hardware: computer, digital cameras; software: Photoshop, Microsoft Word editor, FrontPage; network: Information query, the site upload, technical support.

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

Fu Qiang, a manager from Ningxia Spring Trade Cooperation, who set up an enterprise at Yueyahu township in Yinchuan city and a branch enterprise at Taole forest farm in Pingluo County of Ningxia. We interviewed him at Taole and he told us about sand mustard and its growth environment, planting technology, production and processing technology.

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

We rode to Cao Meng’s home and got to know the information of sand mustard from his grandfather. His grandfather was very glad to tell us that sand mustard can be used as vegetable and medicine when he knew we were going to make sand mustard known by all round the world. He introduced the planting environment and harvesting method. And we also knew an important clue that there was a Ningxia Spring Trade Company at Taole township processing wild vegetables like sand mustard. We rode to Ningxia Spring Trade Company and told their manager that we came to learn something about sand mustard. The leader of workshop Wang Cailian received us in manager’s office and we met Fu Qiang, a famous person there graduated from college. He told us a lot about sand mustard industrialization and its future when he knew that we were going to attend net fair. He also showed us his company’s honor medals and their exhibitions of wild vegetables. We really learned a lot from him.

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

The principal of the Luoping No.4 Middle School provided great material aids and spiritual supports to the competition of website design. Wang Yuan, a college student came here in August 2009. She was graduated from Xi'an Jiaotong University, major in computer application. She offered a lot and taught us making pictures. She said she would attend the website design competition next year. Wang Cailian is a founder of Ningxia Spring Trade Cooperation. She works with ordinary workers together and she told us that sand mustard is a kind of wild vegetable growing in desert which is is nutritious and tastes good. We all thank a person that is not a member in our group because there grows sand mustard in his home and he introduced a lot for us. Qianxiangwancai company organized its membership schools to attend the International Schools CyberFair. Qianxiangwancai company would like to create a environment that win win for all parties and offered us a FREE competition platform.