School: Luzhou Elementary School
    New Taipei, Taiwan, Chinese Taipei

9 students, ages 12 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on March 16, 2012. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): 2005,2006,2008,2011

Classes and Teachers: Yi-ying Chan, Yu-rui Wu, Tse-ling Chen, Hsien-ming Hsien

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://www.lces.ntpc.edu.tw

1. Description of Our Community

In 1997, Luzhou’s population reached over 150,000, thereby qualifying it as a county-controlled city of Taipai County, and it was then that it received its current name of “Luzhou City.” In 2010, Taipei County was elevated in its administrative status to become a direct-controlled municipality, and, added to the completion and operation of the MRT Luzhou line in the same year, the convenience in travel and transportation made visitors flock in to explore the beauty and wonders of the Luzhou area. Luzhou became a popular new weekend getaway, a trend that also propelled the development of non-industrial commercial activity in the area. By marketing the new image of a “beautiful Luzhou,” the city has already received a complete new makeover, and is en route to becoming one of the satellite cities of Taipei with the most developmental potential. The area of Luzhou is now busy and bustling, and is in close connection with other areas of outer Taipei such as Bali, Sanching and Wugu, with many commercial activities in place and thriving.

2. Summary of Our Project

In recent years, as part of the cultural and festival event promotion under the developmental scheme of “one town one product” as enforced by the Municipal government’s Department of Cultural Affairs, the city has striven to cultivate its unique local culture, such as: temples of folklore religions, religious ceremonies for local festivals, performances of traditional skills and etc., which all contribute to helping people learn more about temples and religion; at the same time, local cultural workers actively promote the unique local lifestyle of Luzhou by encouraging residents to participate in artistic events, thereby elevating the quality of their cultural environment. One of the attractions of the area is the Luzhou City Forbidden City Museum, often called “Little Palace Museum,” established by Mr. Liang-chuan Wang. Mr. Wang is the fourth generation descendent of Quanzhou Prefecture’s Buddha sculpture artists, his family background in the arts instilled in him a love for antique works and art pieces. Over the decades, his collection has grown to be numbered in the tens of thousands, and is made up mostly of officials’ uniforms, jade, wood sculptures, antiques, paintings, weaponry, calligraphies and etc. A few years ago, in accordance with his generous wish of giving back to the community, he refurbished his collection and established “Luzhou City The Forbidden City Museum,” the premises of which boasts beautifully designed gardens, and is an importance cultural heritage site of the Luzhou area.

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:more than 6

C. Connection speed used in the classroom:dedicated connection

D. Number of years our classroom has been connected to the Internet:more than 6

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

Our Computers and Internet Access: FTTS optical-fiber broadband internet 100M bps connected to the servers at the Department of Education, New Taipei City

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

Unfamiliarity with Antiques: In our learning process, we got to know of many antique pieces, such as: golden thread gowns, leaf scrolls, the history of the four principles (Loyalty, Filial piety, Integrity, and Justice), and etc. These artifacts opened our eyes to their history meaning and value, as well as the fact that the antiques themselves are a cultural and historical heritage. After numerous visits, we came to understand that the heritage of antiques is a kind of spiritual concept: Antiques are my masters, I am slave to the antiques,” and “Antiques are my master, I am just a passerby on Earth.” These are phrases Mr. Wang said to us, and it was because of his perseverance that the unfamiliar antiques came alive right before our eyes. It is also owing to Mr. Wang’s thoughtful efforts that we, strangers to antiques, learned of the endless regeneration and continuation of history, and that: antiques are only objects, the museum is a mere form, but what is truly touching are the meanings behind object and form. Playing our roles well: Learning is something pleasurable, listening to teachers or other elders talk is an easy thing to do, listening, observing, then writing down our responses is also something we often do. But when it comes to performing on the stage in front of the entire school, acting as guides to visiting gentlemen and ladies, even foreign visitors, we became really uncomfortable. Our teacher also arranged for us to practice again and again, and we had already gone through many rehearsals before we really acted as tour guides for visiting tourists. In addition, we also guided the juniors and classmates from our school when they took field trips to Luzhou City The Forbidden City Museum. By means of repeated practice and corrections, we gradually improved and became more confident, and at last we were able to fluently explain the curiosities to tourists that were complete strangers to us.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

Participating in this project meant a lot of hard work, but everything was worth it. “God helps those who help themselves,” and we hope that our perseverance and hard work will bring us many sweet fruits of success.

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

1. Classrooms in the Community: The reason we embarked on this research project on Luzhou City The Forbidden City Museum was to help enrich the teaching agenda of “classrooms in the community.” In this teaching agenda of “classrooms in the community,” higher graded students, from grades 5 and 6, were designated to engage in learning about the local culture of Luzhou. In accordance with this event, we showcased poster exhibitions on the theme, advocated knowledge of the antique collection at Luzhou City The Forbidden City Museum to the entire school, and especially engaged the higher-grade students to learn and understand. All in all, we hope this event was fruitful on all sides. 2. Social Studies: We enhanced and strengthened parts of the curriculum that pertains to learning about local cultures and traditional customs in social studies classes for various different grades, and we hope the students have learned and grown with us by taking part in these activities. 3. Arts and Humanities: We led our classmates on a journey of appreciation for the beauty of traditional customs, and then we wrote project reports and responses in order to share with others our experiences of the museum; moreover, we used dramatic performances, props, and promotional posters to demonstrate to our fellow students what the graphic designs and performing arts really are that were taught in our Arts and Humanities classes.

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

Telephones and mobile phones: Communications between team members, interview subjects, and arrangement of tours and visits computers: Webpage design, word processing, image processing T1 academic network: Team member communications, project research Color laser printer: Printing covers for learning passports and project proposal, stickers and cards Copier: Printing the inside pages for learning passports and project proposal, Inkjet printer: Printing interview sheets, project proposal, manuscripts for written material Copystand: Photographing student works and portraits Digital camera: Taking photos of project events and of Luzhou City The Forbidden City Museum Digital video camera: Taking videos and photographs of project events Plotter: Printing posters Voice pens: Recording audios of interviews and guided tours

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

1. Interaction with the Community It was only after we got to visit Luzhou City The Forbidden City Museum and interviewed its curatos that we came to understand the meaning of “one minute on the stage takes ten years of practice,” that the unprepossessing faded antiques actually have so much meaning in local culture. The lessons in antique history we received were both eye opening and rewarding, and we were surprised to find that “each little piece of antique could have so much historical and cultural meaning.” Moreover, with the concept of “giving to society what you take from it, and the lesson we learned from Luzhou City The Forbidden City Museum, which was established in conjunction with the completion of the MRT Luzhou line in order to attract visitors, we decided to act as little tour guides for the museum, and introduce the ladies and gentlemen who come to visit Luzhou City The Forbidden City Museum the thousand years’ worth of deep historical meaning captured within the small building and garden premises. 2.Interaction with students and teachers at our school With the completion of a new teaching building at our school, a performance venue became readily available for our use, so we took advantage of the relaxed atmosphere at the beginning of the semester to ask our juniors at school to give us their free time, and listen to our introduction and explanation of the antiquities of ancient Chinese culture for the duration of one class. We also promoted our projects to the entire school on Wednesday morning assembly and held a prize quiz, during which our fellow schoolmates got to learn that antiques are not just objects from a certain period in time, but the best evidence for history and culture. This event, which included exhibition of posters and guided introductions, allowed for the entire student body and faculty to learn from the past, look into the future, and appreciate the historical meaning of antiques and heritage.

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

1. Life can be meaningful and fruitful When we first joined in the Cyberfair project, we felt like we never had enough time! We spent every lunch break in discussion, every Friday visiting the Luzhou City The Forbidden City Museum whether for learning how to make “Gong Dao Cups” of about the background histories of the antique collection, Fridays mornings were always dedicated to learning about the essence of antique artifacts. Then, we had to devote the lunch break hour of every single day in turning our individual experiences into written reports, all of which left us with the impression that although we’d sacrificed much time for pleasure and play, it was a good feeling to have accomplished so much. We were exhausted by our exertions, but we felt that everything was worth it, because our visits were not just for show, but were for the benefit of our knowledge and experience! We really found the visits pertinent to our projects very interesting indeed! 2. Learning outside the classroom We used to think that learning meant what we were taught in the classroom at school, and that knowledge meant what was written in our textbooks, but this project has completely changed our point of view. We found that knowledge can be obtained from life’s experiences, that everything we see, hear, and feel contain indestructible elements of history. This experience verifies what the ancients say: “knowledge is everywhere as long as you seek it,” and sparks the interest and curiosity we have for the space in which we live. Our experience is also testimony to the idiom “better done than said,” that by challenging ourselves with actions, we may learn to be creative and be united in our purpose.

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

1. We would like to thank Luzhou City The Forbidden City Museum for providing us with guided tours and detailed explanations of the historical and traditional meaning of the antique collection, for teaching us how to be good tour guides, and for giving other items of advice and assistance. 2. We would like to thank Mr. Wang Rong-ming for organizing our visits to Luzhou City The Forbidden City Museum every Friday, and for introducing us to its antique collection. 3. We would like to thank Luzhou City The Forbidden City Museum’s curator Mr. Wang for his detailed introduction of the antique collection. 4. We would like to thank the faculty and staff at Luzhou Elementary School for their help, and for making our promotional activities on campus successful.

5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)

1. Discovering a “treasure” of Luzhou The Museum may be a well known place among adults, but is completely unknown to us kids. Our only impression of the place is its quaint antiquity, but our visits to the Museum have brought pleasant surprises time and again, and given us an experience we will never forget. After the antique collection at Luzhou City The Forbidden City Museum became part of our daily lives, we began to understand that all the objects and tools in our lives, after passing through the historical ages, have become deeply infused with the rich meanings of Chinese culture. After participating in this project on Luzhou City The Forbidden City Museum, we not only feel more capable and skillful, but most importantly, the idea of “cultural heritage” has become deeply rooted in our minds. 2. “Things” are done by “People,” cooperation and mutual learning enables us to continue learning Throughout the entire project, one thing we discovered was the importance of teamwork. Because introductory material to the Museum is quite complex and covers many aspects, each of us were obliged to be responsible for tasks that were somewhat difficult. We were a team of ten, and each one of us possessed different abilities and personal traits. For example, Hung-hsuan’s and Cheng-ru’s skillful writing livened up our written reports; Shi-han and Yi-ting were good speakers; Ya-han and Chia-ling were thoughtful and detail-oriented; the boys were the happy characters of the team, and brought us a lot of fun and merriment. We worked in teams of two, and all of us felt like we had to be multifunctional in order to clearly and succinctly express our thoughts and experiences. If it weren’t for great team and mutual learning, we could never have come through the challenges we faced!