CyberFair Project ID: 7179

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International Schools CyberFair Project Narrative
Title: The Rice Expert: Sanhao Rice
Category: 3. Business and Community Organizations
URL: http://librarywork.taiwanschoolnet.org/gsh2012/gsh7179/
Bibliography: http://librarywork.taiwanschoolnet.org/gsh2012/gsh7179/i/index91.htm

School: Tuku Elementary School
    Changhua County, Changhua County, Taiwan

10 students, ages 11-12 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on March 14, 2012. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): 2007

Classes and Teachers: Chia-Wei Hsu, Shu-wei Chen, Shi-lun Guo

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://163.23.76.193/xoops2/

Project Overview

1. Description of Our Community

Chutang is in the southwest of Changhua County and where Chuoshui River flows by, and is adjacent to Yunlin County. It is located in the center of alluvial fan, which is formed by erosion and aggradation of Tungluo River, Hsiluo River, New Huwei River, and Old Huwei River. “Chutang” used to be called “Neiluchutang Zhuang,” and was renamed “Chutang Zhuang” in 1920. In 1946, “Zhuang” was replaced by Township. The name of Chutang was firstly found in Changhua County Historical Record during the reign of Daoguang in the Qing Dynasty. There are two stories about how it was named: one is that because there were many low-lying ponds in this area where numerous natural plants reside, it is commonly called “Luchutsai” or “Ludi.” Therefore, past residents called it “Luchutang” for its landform, and it was renamed “Neilu Chutang” for its location by the sea. In the end, it was called “Chutang” for short.

2. Summary of Our Project

Sanhao Rice – king of rice in Taiwan. The current rice storage at Dingqietang Rice Mill, Chutang Rice Mill, Siluo Rice Mill, Hsichou Rice Mill, and Erlun Rice Mill are as many as 50,000 tons. In addition, the daily milled rice yield is as many as 1,500 tons, delivered to 20,000 rice traders. The Sanhao Rice Chutang Rice Mill Specialized Rice Production and Marketing Zone was found in 2005 in Chutang Township nearby Chuoshui River. With the unique fertile black clay and the irrigation water of Chuoshui River rich in trace elements and minerals, Taigeng No. 9 Premium Rice produced here is rich in mouthfeel, flavor and sweetness. Chutang is the best place for production of Taigeng No. 9 Premium Rice in Taiwan. The farmers who plant such rice have won prizes every year in national competitions. Moreover, the rice is entitled “Top Ten Classic Rice in Taiwan.” This specialized zone was the first one passing the Traceability Verification in 2007. Besides, the state-of-the-art 15? low temperature rice storage equipment in Taiwan for Sanhao rice can slow the aging process of rice to ensure its quality. The rice mill applies the most advanced techniques to all the processes from field production to harvesting, storage, and processing of the rice in order to provide consumers with the most delicious and safe Taigeng No. 9 Premium Rice. Tuku Exploration Team will pay a visit to Sanhao Rice Chutang Mill and used a monographic study to completely present the production processes of rice, to unveil the secret of one of the Top Ten Classic Rice, and to perceive “the word hard in rice agronomy.”

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:not sure

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):

Our school provides optical fiber internet access at the transfer speed of 100mbps. There is one computer classroom with two servers in our school. The operating systems of these two servers are Linux and windows 2000, respectively. All the computers in the computer classroom are connected to internet cables, and various internet services are provided through the servers. The internet connection is stable. There is one internet accessible computer in each classroom as well. In our team, every member can use an internet accessible computer at home to visit website mainly via broadband internet service (e.g. ADSL). We completed some of the assignments at home and uploaded them. However, most of the assignments were completed at school.

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

1. Lack of Team Tacit Understanding The members of our team were students of different grades. Moreover, a seismic retrofit construction project was ongoing in our school. Therefore, we could not use the computer classroom. Furthermore, the original after-school class was suspended due to our participation in the Cyberfair project. It was really hard for the members of our team to cooperate with one another. We had to use the time of flag-raising and siesta to engage in various research activities. As for the progress reports, we had to use the spare time after class to complete the reports and asked our teacher to help upload the files. In the beginning, we spent a lot of time waiting for the coming of all the members. Afterwards, we learnt to grasp the opportunity of joint discussion to complete the research and interviews more efficiently. Moreover, our teacher would also assist us in each research process, and schedule the time and interviewees of visits, which enabled our team to learn more and better understand the focuses of the project. 2. Lack of Information Equipment: Chutang Township is a small agricultural town. Therefore, only a small proportion of students in our school have computers at home, and most of the students are unfamiliar with computer operating skills. Consequently, our team encountered a lot of problem in writing the project report and had to seek for the assistance from our teacher.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

The Cyberfair project was a big challenge to us. We encountered many difficulties, including development of interview questions, design of website structure, presentation of contents, etc., especially there were only six classes in our school. There were only a few teachers and students in our school. Out teacher was usually busy in teaching and administrative work, and still had to spend a lot of time teaching us. What was valuable was that we all made efforts without complaining about the fatigue and enhanced out friendship instead. Therefore, we would assist one another in website design and interviews. We would take turns to complete the progress reports, which enabled us to understand the concept that “unity is the strength.”

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

During our research, we had to upload our interview contents, discussion results, and feedback to internet hard disk, and then shared and discussed with one another about our ideas. Therefore, the repeated writing could help us train our writing ability. We explored the production process of Sanhao rice, investigated its history, and interviewed the important personnel involving in it. We used internet to search rice agronomy-related information, used digital camera, DV, and recorder to record our research process, and used internet hard disk as the platform to transfer data and share our feedback. Besides, we used various website production techniques and image processing software to design the website of research results. We made the best use of various information tools to improve our ability in using information technology. During the research process of Cyberfair project, because most of the equipment in the rice mill require mechanical operation, our teacher particularly contacted the grandfather of a classmate in our class to enable us to experience the hard work of farming. We used our spare time to assist the grandfather of our classmate in weeding, transplanting rice seedlings, and irrigation. Although it was exhausting to personally participate in farming, the fixed lifestyle and labor work enabled us to train our physical strength and develop a healthy living habit. We used PhotoImpact image processing software to modify photographs, and put the modified photographs on the website. Unity is strength. We cooperated with, helped, and encouraged one another by division of labor. We used this opportunity to jointly create a beautiful memory. We also made efforts together in acting as the reporters of rice, in order to achieve the ultimate purpose.

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Project Elements

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

1.Internet and library: looking for articles relevant to “knowledge of rice.” 2. Cameras and digital cameras: shooting the films of work, interviews, rice husking process, and some continuous movements which cannot be presented by a single photograph at Sanhao Rice Mill and putting such films on the website after editing and dubbing. 3. Scanners: editing the pictures collected from library or leaflets into image files to facilitate computer editing. 4. Telephones and mobile phones: since we all intended to better understand the R&D and production process of Sanhao rice, we used telephone contact the interviewees in advance to schedule for the time and location. The teacher would take us to visit the interviewees and record the interviews. Moreover, we could take the chance to pay a visit to the rice mill. Furthermore, we would also use telephone to discuss with one another about the research progress and schedule for time and place of discussion. 5. Digital recording pen: in order to precisely record the overall interview process, in addition to keeping hardcopy records , we also used the digital voice recorder provided by our teacher to collect more complete interview data. 6. FileZilla, Word: we used FTP to upload the data we found, and distributed the work to use Word for data arrangement.

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

To fully unravel the secret of Sanhao rice, we paid visits to the rice mill to understand the overall production processes of Sanhao rice and to conduct interviews with representative personnel. Our school principal Hong-tian Huang contacted the interviewees for us, and Mr. Hsi-quan Chen at the rice mill fully assisted us. Moreover, we conducted an interview with the winner of Shen-Non Prize – Chi-hua Tsai, who planted Taigeng No. 9 Premium Rice. During the overall interview process, we were absorbed in learning and understanding relevant knowledge in order to be competent spokespersons.

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

The Cyberfair project enabled us to pay visits to the local industry in Changhua County – “Chutang Township Sanhao Rice Mill” where we acquired the knowledge about the benefits of rice and learn to design our own “creative rice-made food.” In this research, because the members of Tuku Exploration Team always helped one another and the farmers around our school would also provide valuable comments for us, our friendship was further enhanced. Moreover, the interviews and conversations with the chairman of Sanhao rice and neighbors in our community enabled us to learn to be more generous and polite. It seemed to us that we really were “Little correspondents of rice knowledge.” Cyberfair project made us feel excited because other students participating in this project would leave messages on our message board to encourage us. The members in Tuku Exploration Team were strongly moved by their messages. Consequently, we tried our best to design a website introducing Sanhao rice in Chutang Township, which enables all the website visitors to understand the beautiful scenery and industry in Changhua, as well as the nutritional value of rice. Furthermore, children can learn to cook creative rice cuisines from the website. During this period of time, we acquired a lot of knowledge and life philosophy either in class or in extracurricular activities.

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

We would like to express our gratitude for the teacher and members of Tuku Exploration Team, as well as many tutors. The Manager of Sanhao rice, Mr. Hsi-quan Chen, Mr. Wei-Chang Lin of Chutang Township Farmers’ Association, and the winner of Shen-Non Prize all helped us clarify our doubts and master the research focuses by answering all the questions in detail. Our school principal Hsun-fei Yang and Teacher Shu-wei Chen and Shi-lun Guo also helped us coordinate various interview activities. We appreciated for the sincere instruction they provided. Moreover, the enthusiastic teachers (e.g. Director Chi-rong Pan and Teacher Ya-hui Huang) at our school provided us with many valuable comments. Furthermore, we would like to express our gratitude for the personnel, community general public, students, and parents who received our interviews and enriched our research. In the end, we would like to express our gratitude for Teacher Chi-wei Hsu, who instructed us, planned the daily research progress, reminded us of writing feedback, taught us how to design personal website guided us in the discussion of relevant questions, and provided past Cyberfair-related information to enable us to grasp the research direction and progress. In addition, the technical instruction of website design and amendment and integration of website contents also enabled us to learn a lot of precious knowledge to further smoothly complete the overall Cyberfair project.

5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)

Discoveries: We had no idea that the Sanhao rice we eat at home is from the rice mill in our community. Moreover, we paid visits to it to understand the production processes as well. In the beginning, rice is divided into dry one and wet one, and the screening process of rice is very strict. To pass the government’ certification, in addition to offering high-quality products, it also has to possess unimpeded marketing channels and attaches importance to environmental protection. When we used computers to understand more about rice knowledge, we also found that computers are significantly beneficial to information searching and we should make the best use of them. Lessons: By participating in the Cyberfair project, we perceived that we should cultivate a sense of responsibility and should not always rely on someone else. In addition, we should face everything with a “sincere attitude” and realize what team spirit is. The power of teamwork is usually superior to the effort of one person alone. With the encouragement and reminding constantly provided by our teacher, we could persist until the last moment even though the research process was tough. Surprises: To our knowledge, it seemed that farmers only have to harvest and deliver the rice they have planted into the mill to produce bags of rice. If any of these processes is not executed in detail, the quality and marketing of the overall products will be affected. We should learn such “attitude towards perfection” rice agronomy.

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