School: Lu Jiang Elementary School
    New Taipei City, , Taiwan

9 students, ages 11-12 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on March 3, 2018. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): 2010, 2011,2012,2013,2014,2015,2016,2017

Classes and Teachers: Chao-yang Chu, Ta-chien Chang, Feng-yu Cheng

E-Mail contact:

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

1. Description of Our Community

Luzhou District belongs to New Taipei City. It is located in the northwestern part of the Taipei Basin, facing Shezi Island across the Tamsui River in the northeast, adjacent to the Wugu District in the west and the Sanchong District in the southeast. In terms of topography, this area looks like a parallelogram surrounded by river gullies and the magnificent Mount Guanyin. The mountain and water is totally natural and fascinating. A long time ago, egrets were often discovered in Luzhou because Luzhou used to be a habitat for egrets. But what is the situation now? Egrets disappear, and the beautiful scenery of countryside is replaced by high-rise buildings! New Taipei City was upgraded to a direct-controlled municipality in 2010 and the Luzhou MRT was opened. The development of Luzhou is accelerated step by step. Today, Luzhou has been transformed into a new metropolitan region with small area and large population density.

2. Summary of Our Project

Luzhou's landscape has been increasingly urbanized in recent years, but Luzhou won many environment-related awards in 2017, including Taiwan Health and Environment Award (the only award-winning local government in Taiwan), No. 1 in Environmental Protection Assessment Group A and No. 1 in Landscape Assessment Group A, etc. We can know from it that Luzhou is a quality city with small area, which is densely populated but tidy and clean. Why does Luzhou obtains so many environmental-related awards? Why does Luzhou's streets are more clean than neighboring Sanchong and Wugu? Whether Luzhou people attach more importance to environmental protection? These questions arise our curiosity. We heard the wonderful sound of the garbage truck from our childhood, and we could not help but sing the music with it. However, we never have it in mind that when we take the dirty rubbish to dump, there are a group of people silently helping us deal with those smelly rubbish. Why do they do that kind of work? What do they think in their minds? What are their pains unknown to others? These are the things we want to explore and investigate.

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

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

(1) Our school work should be balanced with Cyberafir project tasks During the mid-term and final exams, we must get good results and give consideration to the progress of the Cyberafir project at the same time. Therefore, it is our biggest challenge to get the homework and the Cyberafir project's report to achieve their goals with a limited amount of after-hours. Therefore, we must sort out the Cyberafir project data on holidays and go over the lesson on weekdays. None of the 9 students participating in the Cyberafir project fall behind in their school work because of the Cyberafir project. Instead, they learn how to plan and use the time more efficiently. (2) Limited ability to interview and research While participating in the Cyberafir project, we must search related data, visit Luzhou City Cleaning Squad and the store owner personally and sort visit document. Such experience is something we have never experienced before. Fortunately, the teachers have taught us the methods of visiting and asking questions from the beginning. During the visit, they keep reminding us of some matters need attention. When we are faced with accumulational interview recordings after the interview, the teachers carefully guide us to organize and simplify these interview documents. I think the biggest gain of this activity is to learn how to interview and how to sort out the data. (3) Numerous and jumbled information, not easy to sort out Since June last year, our 9 students of the Cyberafir project had started a series of Cyberafir project activities. Among these activities, there are 5 off-campus visits, 2 experiential activities and 3 store visits, plus a variety of campus promotional activities. A few months later, there are a lot of text data in each activity and interview, as well as the accumulation of information, and they make us suffer a great deal. Fortunately, the teachers remind us that we must record the study log every time the activity is over. During the course …

5. Our Project Sound Bite

During the long 8 months, we participated in many activities and encountered many difficulties and disputes. In the end, however, we have overcome all of them one by one and successfully completed the task. Regardless of the final result, I believe that the fruits of the effort will certainly be particularly sweet. During this period, we uphold the spirit of division of labor and cooperation, give play to each other's best parts and support each other. It lets us realize that as long as we can unite as one, we are able to accomplish impossible tasks. During the activity, we realize Luzhou City Cleaning Squad's work and aspirations, knowing that they are always working diligently in their own posts, quietly working for the cleanliness of our environment. We expect more people will have the same experience with us and work together for Luzhou with their own effort.

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

Lu Jiang Elementary School has participated in the Cyberfair project for a dozen times. Each research result will be shown on the school's website to be read and learned by teachers and students and they have become one of the key school-based curriculum. The Cyberfair project like this is a very suitable course for all teachers and students to participate in. Students can know the local environment and culture personally during the activity so that children may be more concerned about the community and local culture, people, construction and environmental issues, so as to make the education of the school more localized and diversified.

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

What we use to complete our CyberFair project are listed as below: 1.Recorder pen:Recording the interview 2.Internet:searching for relevant data, email delivery, and transmission of files. 3.Digital camera:Taking photos at the scenes of a variety of activities 4.Digital camcorder:Presentation making in each class, barrier passing activity, and Global Day. 5.Printers, poster machines Printing of data, large posters, Luzhou Cup questionnaire, Luzhou Cup store map. 6.Internet & EMAIL:Search for information, communicate, and hand in the interview records. 7.USB Drive:Storage of the data related to the CyberFair project. 8.Computer software:Dreamweaver - production of web pages, Photocap - image processing, Inkscape - vector drawing, Microsoft Word - data log and typewriting, Microsoft PowerPoint - make the presentation, Google Drive - store data

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

In order to let everyone know Luzhou City Cleaning Squad and promote the Luzhou Cup designed by us, we plan a lot of advocacy activities and look forward to making our teachers and students understand our requirements in a lively and diversified manner. We have the following specific practices: (1) Announcers Using the 'Sound of Lu Jiang' radio drama of the Academic Affairs Office, we introduce the work of Luzhou City Cleaning Squad's seven teams in a comic show style to all teachers and students of the school. (2) Poster campaign in classrooms Our classmates design a variety of ingenious poster and visit every classroom to promote the environmental protection concept of Luzhou Cup during morning self-study and extracurricular time. We also encourage everyone to actively participate in the “Call for Cup and Badge Design” activity. (3) Record Global Day video We recorded the Global Day video in English with foreign teachers, which was produced in the form of drama and dialogue, and it introduced the work contents of the Luzhou City Cleaning Squad's 7 teams in lively and interesting words. (4) Promotion of the Luzhou Cup project In order to promote Luzhou Cup, we personally visited neighboring stores around the school and invited them to join us. We look forward to making our community be a better place through the promotion of the Luzhou Cup.

(5) Barrier passing activity In order to make students appreciate the work of Luzhou City Cleaning Squad, we planned four Barrier Passing activities, namely 'Shura Shadowless Hands', 'Wisdom of Three Eyes', 'Descendants of Giants' and 'I am Hercules'.

(6) The Achievements Presentation of Associations of our school At the end of every semester, the school will organize achievement presentation of associations. Our Cyberafir project team also takes this opportunity to apply for a booth to promote the knowledge we have learned and lead the students to hold a series of related activities.

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

(1) Impact on us:The Cyberfair project is a new learning experience for us. The output of all knowledge comes from the actual collection, interview, investigation and propaganda with our own power. During this period, we learn to plan activities with our counterparts, design the contents of the questionnaire, interview persons outside the school, and sort out the collected information. These capabilities will certainly be of great help to our future development. In addition, during our interviews, we come to understand the work of Luzhou City Cleaning Squad and then we feel their sacrifice and dedication for Luzhou. We will do our part in the future and strive to implement environmental protection, so as to jointly guard our hometown with the cleaning crew. (2) Impact on the local:Through this Cyberfair project, we hope to attract more people to pay close attention to the work of the cleaning squad, respect those unsung heroes working hard for the neatness and tidiness of our environment, reflect their inappropriate behavior in the past, such as laziness, waste and lacking civic virtue, etc., and then cultivate the concept of environmental protection everyone of all people in everyday life. We design Luzhou Cup and invite neighboring stores to join us. We hope that with the promotion of this eco-friendly Cup activity, everyone can reduce the use of disposable drink cups and make our community environment better. We hope that our web pages made with great efforts can awaken everyone's awareness of environmental protection so that more people will pay attention to the environment around them and everyone can work together to create a better living environment.

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

(1) Thanks to the team leader Mr. Ping-yen Tsai, sub-team leaders and the cleaning crew of the seven teams in the Luzhou City Cleaning Squad. They sacrifice their vacation on Wednesday for many times in order to cooperate with our interviews and they provide a lot of precious first-hand data.(2) Thanks to Ms. Jia-wei Huang of Luzhou City Cleaning Squad for arranging various trivial matters for us, such as interviews and experiences, as well as providing us with many precious data.(3) Thanks to the breakfast and beverage store owners near Lu Jiang Elementary School for their support to the Luzhou Cup project and giving us many valuable suggestions.(? )?????????????????????????,?????????????? (4) Thanks to Teacher Ta-chien Chang, Feng-yu Cheng for their efforts in the Cyberafir project, which makes students can participate in various activities. (5) Thanks to Principal Chun-sheng Chen of Lu Jiang Elementary School for his support and encouragement of this research, Director Li-chen Lu, Supervisor Ming-gui Tsai and other teachers for their help to deal with many administrative affairs, solve with the information problems and give a lot of substantive guidance. We also thank all the teachers and students of Lu Jiang Elementary School and the administrative team for their support and assistance to all our activities.

5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)

(1) Our biggest discovery: Luzhou has received many environmental awards, and the streets in Luzhou are neatly cleaned than the neighboring Sanchong and Wugu because there is a group of quality cleaning crew in Luzhou. Under the leadership of Mr. Ping-yen Tsai, they have demonstrated their teamwork spirit and have effectively transformed Luzhou into a better living environment. What the cleaning crew does is to deal with the disgusting waste that everybody detests, and their works are hard-working and dangerous. However, some people look down upon their work and think they are dirty or even smelly and make them sad. However, as long as people’s quality is improved, they can really make environmental protection and express their thanks to them, the cleaning crew will do their utmost to maintain the clean and tidy environment. (2) Our biggest lesson:In the past, we sometimes made some rubbish inadvertently, and we did not really implement the rubbish sorting because of being lazy, and we always thought that would not matter. They don’t know that those small moves will not only increase a lot of burden to the cleaning crew, but also bring more trouble to them and undermine our environment. If everyone is willing to spend a little more time in classifying the trash first at home, cleaning the recyclable materials, throwing the trash into waste containers, not spitting areca nut casually, etc.(3) Our biggest surprise:At first, we think due to the work of the cleaning squad is so hard and often not respected by the people, they may often complain and surely dislike this kind of work. However, after many interviews, we find out that they are all optimistic about their work. Therefore, even if they are tired of work, people's small actions, such as the simple words of saying 'Thank you' or “Thanks for your hard work', will make them feel relieved and provide them with greater motivation to complete the task of maintaining clean and tidy environment.