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1. Description of Our Community
Beidou Township, Changhua County was called “Baodou.” “First Fucheng, second Lugang, third Manka, and forth Baodou,” this proverb indicates Beidou’s glory in those days. Beidou is next to the old Chou-shui River. It was Taiwan’s important port and cargo distribution center in Qing dynasty. The townships around Beidou includes Tianwei, Xizhou, Tianzhong, and Pitou, so Beidou is an important pivot point of south Changhua. Beidou only have about thirty thousand residents, which is at the eighteenth place in the county. However, the population density isn’t lower than other townships and it is at the sixth place now.
2. Summary of Our Project
Because of Teacher Wu’s appeal in the book, we really stepped onto the streets in Beidou, having the field survey and recording the growth of street trees and the problems in person. We began with the trees closest to our lives, hoping to reflect the concept of “planting the proper trees at the proper places” in Techer Wu’s book. Also, we desired to spread this great concept by the cyberfair website creation, to make more people know it and practice in their lives.
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):
At school, we searched for information via the Internet (The Internet speed was about 270Mbps) in the computer laboratory and uploaded the documents to the shared folder on Google Drive. When we were doing the field survey, the members who had unlimited Internet would share it. If it was still not enough, teachers would share theirs. At home, we used the home Internet and the school laptops borrowed from teachers. We also had discussion via Facebook. Usually, we uploaded the finished parts to Google Drive so teachers could inspect them.
4. Problems We Had To Overcome
When we created the website, we faced the problem of using the wrong software. In the beginning, we used WIX to create the website. The website created with this software was attractive and user-friendly. However, when the member uploaded something and they disappeared, the computer teacher found that the software is easy to use but it tends to make the file over the size limit which the competition sets. Therefore, we should give up using this software and recreate the new website. Although rebuilding the website was tired, it was fortunate that we had had completed the text files and image files, so we only needed to learned HTML, and then half of the website would be built. We learned a lesson from this experience. In the same time, because of it, we got the opportunity to build the website from the beginning. It’s not bad!
5. Our Project Sound Bite
Participating in this “cyberfair” competition, we not only learned more about the planting problem of street trees but knew more about our hometown. For the process, we appreciated that everyone in the team was reliable. All of us were on schedule. We thought it was what everyone should do in the teamwork. As everyone took his or her responsibility, the power of teamwork would be showed and the members would be harmonious. It was what we learned from this cooperation. Additionally, with the teachers’ help, our work reached a certain level. We thank the teachers for helping us complete our work even when they were busy and hope our work will be recognized by people.
6. How did your activities and research for this CyberFair Project support standards, required coursework and curriculum standards?
(1)We learned website creation, plan discussion, outline planning, information integration, cooperation, and interview skills. (2)Facing debated problems, we expressed our thoughts by communication with respect and realization. (3)When we were learning about the street trees, we were aware that environmental perception and respect for lives are very important. (4)For the street tree research, we began from the neighbor of the school, and then expanded to the urban area of Beidou, hoping to understand the local area. (5)Interviewing people, we were too shy. If the school curriculums could provide us with more opportunities to train our self-expression or more time to learn computer science, we thought the interview would be closer to life. (6)In the interview, we found that the residents would try hard to think about the problems of the street trees because of the questions we asked. Also, we conveyed their feedback and suggestions to authorities concerned. It was a good interaction. (7)Learning creating a website through the Internet is more interesting than leaning in class. Because classmates could use different software and had different thoughts on typesetting, we felt we were inspired in the discussion.
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1) What information tools & technologies did you used to complete your CyberFair project?
(1)The equipment we used when we did the research project: ?10 Smartphone, usage for contact with LINE, tree species searching with App, map looking up, picture scanning, picture taking.(provider by parents) ?10 Computer, usage for information searching, document editing, website creating.(provider by School) ?1 Digital Camera, usage for picture taking.(provider by School) ?1 Printer, usage for document printing.(provider by School)
?Google Drive, usage for file sharing, file uploading, file backup ?Facebook, usage for file uploading, process recording, contact and discussion
?LINE, usage for contact and discussion, picture sending ?Visual Studio, usage for text generation by HTML?picture editing, etc ?Flower & Plant Identification(application) , usage for tree species searching and .picture comparing ?Search by Image(application) , usage for tree species searching and picture comparing
(2)We thought the most convenient tools were smartphones, because, with them, we could search for information, create documents, take pictures and contact each other at any time and any place. Downloading the related App, we could even scan or edit pictures with a smartphone. It’s very convenient! (3)Although using these information technologies made the website creating more convenient, we found that communicating with people face to face brought warmth. Technology is not entirely good or bad. It depends on users’ attitude.
2) In what ways did you act as "ambassadors" and spokespersons for your CyberFair project both on-line and in person.
When we did the research on the species of the street trees and human factors in planting, besides the field survey of the distribution of the main street trees in our hometown, Beidou, we had interview with Agriculture Section of Beidou Township Office, and then had interview in Facilities Maintenance Section, Department of Public Works, Changhua County Government. Finally, we communicated with the residents. We told them our thoughts about the project, and they responded with their thoughts and gave us suggestions. Chief Lin from the County Government also let us test the convenience of the QR code ID of street trees on county highways and wanted us to give some feedback. We hope these interactions can bring a better growing environment and the public’s attention to the street trees in Beidou Township and Changhua County.
3) What has been the impact of your project on your community?
(1) There is no “wrong tree,” but the wrong selection of tree species and the wrong planting ways. We hope that after our webpages launch, the residents, via the school link, can browse the contents on the website, realizing our thoughts, and be more concerned about street trees. (2) Beidou is the hometown of saplings. This time, instead of interviewing sapling suppliers, we took the government as the interviewee. We thought this research direction could make people be more clear about what man-made problems the street trees are facing. (3) Perhaps there are the residents of Beidou, with us, care for the street tree in our lives. Our webpages show the controversies of street trees in recent years and provides research findings. We hope that the residents can give us more feedback and tell us their thoughts. (4) Street trees, around the world, are the main point of city greening and landscaping. We believe our research project can provide those who are interested in this topic with more thoughts and knowledge. (5) Through the interviews and the field survey, Beidou Township Office and the residents also began to be concerned about our research. Chief Lin from the County Government conveyed his concept of Changhua County street trees plan. We thought it was a good communication! (6) The school teachers expected the presentation of our works, too. Because the research was about street trees, biology teachers and faculty members who love trees gave us lots of advice and we appreciated it. (7) We hope that our research project will help residents to be more concerned about street trees in their lives. The interviewees from the Township Office and the County Government expected us to tell them the residents’ thoughts. We will do our best.
4) How did your project involve other members of your community as helpers and volunteers?
http://163.23.85.65/web/2020/S05/S05--0.html
Interview with Zhi-liang, Xie in Agriculture Section, Beidou Township Office Totally, the group members are 7 people. With the instructors’ company, we visited Beidou Township Office to ask Zhi-liang, Xie in Agriculture Section the questions about the street trees in Beidou Township, in 21st January morning, one day of the winter vacation. Mr. Xie has been in charge of the street tree maintenance for 10 years so he can be seen as a professional. He invited us to go to the meeting room in the township office and answered our questions passionately.
Interview with Qing-hao, Lin Chief of Facilities Maintenance Section, Department of Public Works, Changhua County Government In 22nd January morning, one day of the winter vacation, the team members requested two teachers to drive us to Changhua County Government to visit Qing-hao, Lin, Chief of Facilities Maintenance Section, Department of Public Works, on the second floor. Chief Lin took our questions about the street trees to heart. He even asked Sheng-yuan, Qing, the man who was in charge of the related works, to answer our questions.
5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)
(1) Through the research of street trees, we found that to complete a research project, we needed many people’s assistance, and the communication between the members was also important. Certainly, we felt the same way about the change of our attitude to street trees -- from disregard to value. (2) In the beginning, we used Wix to create the website. Not only the software was easy to use, but the work was beautiful. At that time, we thought creating website was not very difficult. After we found that we couldn’t output the file by Wix, the instructor taught us using Visual Studio to learn HTML to generate texts and edit pictures. Certainly, success was not easy to reach. Only doing it step by step could we make a good work. (3) Although the street trees had many pest problems, observing the Taiwan golden-rain trees, we found that Leptocoris augur is actually a kind of beneficial insects instead of the pest. When there are too many Leptocoris augur gather on the tree, the tree will be full of red, which make people get goosebumps. However, it is fascinating to the male classmates who are interested in biology.
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View our CyberFair Project
(Project ID: 8535)
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