|
1. Description of Our Community
The most appropriate area to grow tea trees is that with the following climate conditions: the mean annual temperature between 13.7? to 21.6?, a wide daily temperature range and the annual rainfall above 2000mm. In terms of topography, tea has to be planted in acidic soil with favorable drainability. Fortunately, the landform of Linkou is tableland. With much red soil, the gravel bed that provides Linkou tableland with great drainability, dense fog at the season between spring and winter, and appropriate climate in summer, Linkou turns out to be a proper place for growing tea trees and was also known as the land of tea from the past. Linkou Long-Shou tea can be traced back to the Jiangqing period of Qing dynasty (C.E. 1796-1820). In 1895, the Japanese occupied Taiwan, and established “Learning Institute of Tea” in Linkou. Despite that the production reached its peak at C.E. 1972 as a result of the farmers’ effort, the tea industry in Linkou still declined gradually because of the modernization of city and the high cost of tea production.
2. Summary of Our Project
In Qing dynasty, English merchants came to Taiwan, and successfully sold the Oolong Tea planted in the Northern Taiwan to New York in the U.S. Therefore, planting tea started to become popular in Taiwan. Different area sold their high-quality tea to places all over the world. The topography of Linkou was capable of growing the most delicious tea. As time passes by, the tea industry in Linkou disappears gradually. However, to preserve this cultural asset and recall locals’ common memory, we decided to enable local students and resident to gain a deeper understanding of this history. Our motivation of research, which includes: -To let Taiwanese people know more about tea in Linkou -To make foreigners start to care about the speciality of Linkou -To pass down tea culture -To enhance the competitiveness of tea industry in Linkou -To enable the common public to learn more about the production process of tea through participating in tourism tea garden.
3. Our Computer and Internet Access
A. Percentage of students using the Internet at home:none
B. Number of workstations with Internet access in the classroom:none
C. Connection speed used in the classroom:dial-up modem
D. Number of years our classroom has been connected to the Internet:1
E. Additional comments concerning your computer and/or Internet access (Optional):
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): Currently, our school provides us with an adequate e-learning environment. Not only do we have two well-equipped computer labs available for our use, but each teacher is also provided with a desktop computer for his or her personal use. In addition, there is Wi-Fi throughout the entire school.The students who participated in this year have 5th and 6th grades. They all take information courses and use chromebooks in this project. Exchange data with each other through Google Drive.
4. Problems We Had To Overcome
We looked at some secondary sources on the topic, collated sources, and asked questions based on the lack of data. Then, we start assigning work. This is an important step. We found that the tea industry in Linkou has declined and the production has dropped sharply. There are only three tea gardens left. In order to understand the historical story behind the community, it took a lot of time to find the development of the Linkou tea industry.
5. Our Project Sound Bite
We have been living at Cambridge International School's Linkou campus since the establishment of the school four years ago. The school has adhered to the belief of 'thinking about the world and being based in Taiwan' from the very beginning, and is committed to cultivating us to become global citizens who care about society. With this in mind, we hope that through our research, students from all over the world who come to Cambridge will have a better understanding of Linkou and build a deeper attachment to this place in the early days of the school. The tea industry in Linkou gradually disappeared. Therefore, the club members decided to help the development of the traditional tea industry and give local students and residents a deeper understanding of the history of the tea industry.
6. How did your activities and research for this CyberFair Project support standards, required coursework and curriculum standards?
| 
