School: KANG CHIAO INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
    New Taipei City, New Taipei City, Taiwan (R.O.C.)

10 students, ages 10-12 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on March 14, 2022. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): 2020?2021

Classes and Teachers: CHEN,JUN-HONG

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://https://www.kcislk.ntpc.edu.tw/zh/index.html

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:more than 50%

B. Number of workstations with Internet access in the classroom:more than 6

C. Connection speed used in the classroom:dial-up modem

D. Number of years our classroom has been connected to the Internet:2-3

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

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?

During the Internet Expo, we learned that research methods can be qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative research involves conducting interviews or gaining in-depth knowledge about a specific topic. Quantitative research methods include the use of surveys to conduct large-scale surveys. In class, we first checked the Internet pages of former members of Internet Expo and tried to use mind maps to master the research topics. Then, starting from the eight themes of the Internet Expo, we tried to use ' Linkou’s tea ' as the final theme and put forward themes related to Linkou's Kangqiao community. We looked up some second-hand information on the subject, sorted out the data, and asked questions based on the lack of data. Then, we started to assign work. This is an important step because the information about Linkou’s tea includes various categories, such as the development history of the tea industry in Linkou, the specialty of Linkou’s tea. Collecting this data requires collaboration. Finally, we entered the interview stage and interviewed the tea manufacturing factories. The interview is very important because it can help us learn more about the the current situation of the tea industry in Linkou and make people understand tea culture.

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

We use telephone and email to contact people who want to visit. We use a chromebook to record all information and download information.We arrived at the scene to interview.

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

We discovered that most locals in Linkou actually do not know much about the history and background of Linkou’s tea, despite the fact that Linkou’s tea is an important culture center for residents in Linkou. Nowadays, most youngsters in Linkou are from other cities and countries. Because of the high pressure at work and various options of recreational activities, they wouldn’t like to spend time on knowing local historical stories. They rarely go to local tea garden to experience of tea-picking and tea tasting .

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

In the past,Linkou is the birthland of tea. Farmers exported Long-Shou tea of Linkou to world. During the interviews, we found that despite our interviewees’ identities as Linkou locals, some of them still didn’t know much about the local history of and knowledge of Linkou tea. By searching data the information about the tea industry in Qing dynasty, Japanese colonial period and at present, we learned about Linkou’s tea history, culture and the difficulties it once confronted.For instance, the tea industry in Linkou declined gradually because of the modernization of city and the high cost of tea production. This also the reason why we share and pass down the Linkou tea culture.

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

With so many tall buildings in Linkou nowadays, it is difficult to imagine that in the past, the Linkou tableland was covered with green tea garden. In the past, tea industry has been an important farm produce in the Japanese-ruled period. As the first talents cultivating institution in Linkou, the learning institute of tea was eastabilsed in the Japanese ruled period, making a significant impact on the development of Linkou’s industry. Altough the learning institution of tea has moved away and the industry is disappearing, but local enterprises such as Sheng-Jin tea manufacturing factory still strives to spread the tea culture in Linkou, letting younger generations to know this history and cultivating interest in tea. We also brought this sprit to hold events back at school, which is widely responded by students. Many started to feel the fresh aroma and sweet, nourishing taste of Long-Shou tea genuinely. Hope that Linkou tea can pass down continuously.

5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)

Recalling the first time we picked tea, we wore bamboo hats, tea baskets, headkerchiefs, did the preparation with joy. Although we couldn’t differentiate at the beginning, picking a lot of useless old leaves, we gradually became more and more familiar with the hang of it. It is required to pick one tip with two leaves without bitten by bugs and with smooth leaves. When finished, we went to the restaurant to write down our tea-picking process, and realizing that although every piece of tea leaves conforms to the tea manufacturing standard, because we picked it by hand, the production amount is low and the cost of time is high. It is evident that to be a tea farmer takes enthusiasm and perseverance to create one’s own brand in this competitive market.