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1. Description of Our Community
Taipei Municipal Changan Elementary School is located Zhongshan District and south of the downtown Taipei City. School is closed to the business district and has convenient transportation. There are Songjiang-Nanjing MRT Station and Jilin-Nanjing bus Station. We can take the MRT or bus from Changan Elementary School to Daan Forest Park, Guandu Nature Park, Huajiang Wild Duck Nature Park. Of course, the MRT or bus can also transfer us to any bird watching site in the Greater Taipei area.
2. Summary of Our Project
Bird watching has been the leisure and fun for a lot of people. However, bird-watching is not only showing our love and understanding of birds, more important, it reacts the importance of environmental conservation. The survival of birds represents a perfect ecosystem. So through the bird watching activities, we hope to let people understand birds, pay attention to their habits and characteristics, and then affect themselves and others' willingness to protect the environment and jointly maintain and promote bird conservation.
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:more than 6
E. Additional comments concerning your computer and/or Internet access (Optional):
Our teacher built the Changan CWSC web platform for us to upload and update data as well as handing in assignments. When we had no time to meet together, we also used the website discussion forum to discuss. Our teachers also let us use the computers in the classroom of gifted students during lunch and recess to complete our study progress.
4. Problems We Had To Overcome
Change of thoughts In the past, we only saw birds flying passing our eyes in an instant, could not figure out their appearance, and we never put them in mind. But after a couple of bird-watching activities, we began feel differently. In addition to watch birds in the wild, we were reminded of other issues in the nature again. We also began to recognize the name of a good variety of birds, and we began to discuss bird species in the school, in the park, and areas around home! In the past, we knew nothing about birds, and some of us were afraid of birds. However, with the progress of this project, we could slowly learn to accept and appreciate birds. We were surprised by this change! We harvested a lot in every bird watching. We watched the crested goshawk eating mice in Daan Forest Park, we saw eagle soaring in the air in Neigouli, and we saw yellow-browed bunting from afar in Tianliaoyang. These are even more vivid than the descriptions in the textbook. In the past, we were indifferent to birds, however, we slowly changed to loving and caring about birds, which is the biggest change of us. Collecting data After the interview, we needed to organize the text. Because it took a lot of time, it would delay the team's progress as long as anyone was not serious or active. As time passing by, we not only accelerated our word processing speed, but also used artificial intelligence for speech recognition to assist computer typing when typing the text. New technology brought us a lot of fun. We needed to sort out histogram from questionnaire analysis, and we also learnt how to interpret the histogram and make a qualitative description of the text. With the passing of time and growing of experience, we were more proficient in the use of text, and we could also calm down to finish the task better and faster.
5. Our Project Sound Bite
During the study, we found that there were many things to consider when observing birds, such as the need for a telescope, bird-watching illustrations, bird-watching vests and hats. We knew from this project that birds were so close to us, but no one ever noticed or only knew the sparrows and pigeons. In fact, we could often see the tracks of crested mynas, turtledoves, magpies and starlings on campuses, homes and parks as long as you observe them studiously. Because birds are close to humans, we should remind us to give them a better habitat when we admire the bird friends next to us. Human beings often only destroyed the quiet life of animals. When we care for the environment, and “Cherish Resources” is no longer a slogan, birds will have a stable home, and the beneficiaries will be we human beings, which is what we call 'birds’ today, humans’ tomorrow'.
6. How did your activities and research for this CyberFair Project support standards, required coursework and curriculum standards?
Language Arts /Mandarin: Lesson 9 “Brook Bird” in the fifth grade text describes the kingfisher, and when we watched the birds in Neikou Village, we experienced the vivid and beautiful picture of kingfisher fishing in the text. Mathematics: After completing the questionnaire, we had to figure our how much time was needed to perform statistics. We were confronted with discrepancy in figures, and all statistical figures were corrected after correction. Social Studies: There are many injured birds that need help, and it requires everyone to learn together how to make the right measures. This project allows everyone to understand how to conserve birds, and it can also promote these concepts to the general public and let the public understand the meaning of environmental protection. Arts and Humanities: Learn about the patterns of various birds in nature and the sounds of different creatures in nature through bird watching, and learn to appreciate natural artworks in nature. Science and Technology: Birds are also part of nature, and play some important roles in the food chain, learn more about their foraging ways during bird-watching. Integrative Activities In this project, we learned the spirit of teamwork and we also realized that unity was strength. We classmates helped each other, repaired other's gaps, made concerted efforts to complete the project, and learnt to show our best side. We spared no pains to complete everything.
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