CyberFair Project ID: 8203

Close this Window

NOTE: Due to URL changes, some links may no longer be valid.

International Schools CyberFair Project Narrative
Title: The Lost Lukang Train Station
Category: 6. Historical Landmarks
URL: http://librarywork.taiwanschoolnet.org/gsh2017/gsh8203/index.htm
Bibliography: http://librarywork.taiwanschoolnet.org/gsh2017/gsh8203/bib.htm

School: Yangming Junior High School
    Changhua City, Taiwan, Taiwan, ROC

10 students, ages 14-15 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on March 6, 2017. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): 2012,2013,2014,2015,2016

Classes and Teachers: Huang Zheng-Jie, Chen Hong-Jie, Tsai Jia-Wei

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://www.ymsc.chc.edu.tw/

Project Overview

1. Description of Our Community

Lukang Town locates in the north-west part of Changhua County, and it’s in the middle of Taiwan western coast. Lukang faces Xiushui and Homei in the east, the Taiwan Strait in the west, Fuxing in the south, and Xianxi in the north. The area of Lukang is about 39 km². During the Qing Dynasty, the proximity to Mainland China made Lukang an important trading port, and Lukang was praised as the second largest city in Taiwan at that time. However, in the middle of 19th century, Lukang port declined relative to other cities because the port was stuck with mud and the railroads didn’t pass through the city.

2. Summary of Our Project

The theme of our project is “Lukang Train Station,” and our project includes several parts as follows: 1. The brief introduction of Lukang Train Station 2. The history of Lukang Train Station and Changhua Sugar Refinery 3. We interviewed some famous people and visited Lukang, trying to bring back the lives and stories about the missing Lukang Train Station. 4. From the missing Lukang Train Station, we try to rethink about how to keep the common memories in people’s lives in Taiwan 5. From the preservation of Kaohsiung Cishan Station and the construction of Kaohsiung Light Rail Transit, we try to think about the future of Taiwan Sugar Railway.

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 team members have extra-curricular activities after school during the weekdays, even on Fridays. So, we have to make our group discussion during break time at noon, the self-study time on Wednesdays and Fridays. Therefore, the progress of our project is sometimes delayed. ?Solution & Strategies?We started our project earlier. We made our interview and field trip during the summer vacation. After the school began, we made good use of the break time during each classes to read the written information, and make some group discussion. In this way, we can make sure our project is on the way.

2. Our members have different ideas and attitudes about how to finish their assigned tasks and how to work with each other. Each member just did his part, failing to communicate with other members. Even worse, some members lost themselves in online games when they needed to look for information on the Net. ?Solution & Strategies?Our teachers asked us to share ideas with each other during the group discussion and then taught us better ways to cooperate with other team members. Moreover, we learned to encourage each other to finish project. In this way, we grabbed the limited time to finish our project.

3. It was our first time to make a project website, so we encountered many problems when making the website. Most of us knew how to surf the Net, but we had little knowledge on how to use the web-editing software and the photo-editing software. ?Solution & Strategies?We registered to join the workshops about how to build a website. The instructor in the workshops taught us a lot of useful skills. In and after the workshops, we practice a lot and finally built a project website on our own. Moreover, we asked the computer teacher for help if we encountered problems.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

Through our project, we reminded people to be aware of the importance of preserving the historical buildings and keeping the best memories alive in our daily life.

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

Through the Cyberfair project, we learned to know the history of Lukang Train Station and the development of the sugar industry. Moreover, we learned to know more about the land we live and the memories and stories that had taken place on the land. In the process of our project, we found out that many historical buildings about the sugar industry were torn down. In the other hand, however, we learned that someone started to make an effort to preserve the good memories in the sugar industry. In our project, we learned a lot of things related to the major goals of curriculum guidelines in Taiwan. We learned the way to summarize and organize the information we collected, which are related to the course of Language Arts. We learned the historical development of the sugar industry in Taiwan and developed the concerns of the public issues, which are related to the course of Social Studies. We learned how to interview others and how to work with our team members, which are related to the course of Integrative Activities. We learned how to take good pictures and how to design a nice website, which are related to the course of Arts and Humanities. We learned the way to surf the Net, gather useful information on the Net and build our own project website, which are related to the course of Information Technology Education.

Top
Project Elements

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

Our team used many information tools and technologies to complete our CyberFair project. We used our smart phones to keep contact with team members and the interviewees. We used a pen recorder to record our voice during the interviews. We used a USB flash drive to store the information we needed for building our website. We used a digital camera to take photos and videos. We used the computers to gather and edit information to build our website. We used the printer to print our resources, learning sheet and relevant documents.

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

(1) For the people who visit our project website, we hope to play the part of “introducers.” Many young people have no idea about Lukang Train Station. We hope they can learn something about Lukang Train Station when they visit our website. (2) For the ONLY and the LAST line of sugar raw materials in Yunlin County, we hope to play the role of “reminders.” During our interviews, we found that many drivers in Taiwan would run through the railway crossing, which is quite dangerous. So we will try our best to remind anyone who plan to visit the only and the last lind of sugar raw materials. Just be careful and follow the rules. (3) For the preservation of sugar industry culture, we hope to play the role of “cultural heirs.” When interviewing Mr. Yang and locals in Lukang, we found that many life memories disappeared because the buildings were torn down. The prosperous sugar industry is just disappearing from our lives. So, we hope to be the cultural heirs to awaken more consciousness of preserving the historical buildings in the sugar industry.

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

Before the project, we knew little about “the preservation of historical sites” and “Taiwan Sugar Railway.” We spent most of our time studying, chatting with classmates or surfing the Net. We had no idea about the public issues. However, after we worked on our project, we found that there were once sugar railway, salt-field railway and even airports in Lukang! But, sadly, all of them were torn down because of the economic development. So how to balance between the cultural preservation and economic development becomes a big problem. Through our project, we learned to care more about things around us, get closer to public affairs and get well-prepared for being Future Citizens.

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

In our project, we interviewed Mr. Yang, Ms. Lee, Mr. Shih, and some other locals. They not only introduced Lukang Train Station but also shared their ideas and thoughts with us. Moreover, we visited several important sugar factories in Taiwan. The staff there were friendly and kind. They did a great help to our project.

5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)

Before the project, all that we knew about Lukang is its delicious food, temples, and other historical buildings. We have never heard of the railway or train station in Lukang. Through the project, we surprisingly found that the sugar railway had played an important part in people's lives in the past. Although the station is gone now, we still learn a lot more about the charming town-Lukang Town.

Top

View our CyberFair Project (Project ID: 8203)

Close this Window