School: School
    Zhang jiakou , Hebei , China

3 students, ages 11-12 worked together to complete this CyberFair project on February 21, 2012. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): 2011

Classes and Teachers: Liu Ping , Zhang Hai-ping

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://hb000007.edu.17888.com/module/a0011/index.php?isFromTag=1&intModulePK=A0001&tagorder=0&isinner=0

1. Description of Our Community

Shangyi County is located in the northwest of Heibei Province, on the edge of Inner Mongolia Plateau and at the junction of Shanxi, Hebei and Inner Mongolia. It belongs to the temperature zone of East Asia and enjoys a continental monsoon climate. The county is abundant in resources. It is a large county with an area of 2632.47 square kilometers. There are rich animal resources especially birds in the county. More than 40 mineral varieties of 10 types has been verified and discovered. It is not only rich in metallic mineral, such as gold, silver, copper and iron, but abundant in non-metallic mineral like coal, plumbago, diatomite and purple shale. It possesses rich water resources which are widely distributed, and the annual total rainfall reaches 1.089 billion cubic meters. With stable and rich wind resource, it is the one of the zones possess best wind resource in North China. In addition, its ecotourism is the most distinguished one among all the advantageous tourism resources. There are three types of travel – ethnic customs, humanity history and ecological tourism.

2. Summary of Our Project

Through the field investigations in surrounding environment and interviews with relevant departments, we have better understood the current state of environment. The special study has made all us realize the importance and urgency of protecting environment as well as raise the awareness of environmental protection. We should urge all people to protect environment starting from ourselves and minor things around us. Besides, we should mobilize local governments, the common people or even whole society power to protect our homeland.

3. Our Computer and Internet Access

A. Percentage of students using the Internet at home:less than 20

B. Number of workstations with Internet access in the classroom:1

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):

There is only one computer room connected to the internet in our school with one sever (windows2003 system) and 30 client computers (windows XP system), among which only a dozen are linked with ADSL of 2M. We three are from rural area and have no computers in our families, so we have never surfed the internet before. Moreover, we are all students in Grade Five and have a lot of work to do, so we have to use spare time to check information and design webpage in computer room.

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

1. We encountered many difficulties in interviews. Because of “8•28”extrodinarily serious traffic accidents, strict management was put on automobile safety. According to the rules, unqualified vehicles were not allowed to run on road; the numbers of passengers on (in) vehicles should be in strict accordance with specified capacity; a motorcycle was allowed to be ridden by no more than two persons. Because we had to go many places to make interviews and some were really far away, and school insisted that we put safety at the first place, all of those brought a lot of inconveniences to our interviews and investigations. Sometimes in order to make interviews or do investigations in a place, we had to go by bike with our teacher, which would take us the whole day. However, all our efforts were paid off, because what we did was for the sake of our future generations. 2. We had only a little time. All of us are students in Grade Five and we always have a lot of work to do, so we had to use spare time to make interviews, do investigations and design webpage. 3?We had problems with internet, too. The former computer room in our school had been moved to a smaller classroom because of reconstruction. As a result, fewer computers with slower network speed were available for us. Moreover, we had less time to use computers apart from the time taken by other students. 4. We were lack of technology of webpage making. Because this was the first time for us to participate in such contest, we had no experience at all, neither in computer operation nor in webpage making, and we had to rely on the instructor’s help to do by learning and learn by doing, and we got improved by learning from mistakes.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

The activity has enriched our knowledge, broadened our minds as well as enhanced our ability of practice and cooperation. In addition, we have learned technology of taking and processing photos, operating computer, designing and making webpage and making interviews. And we have learned to be strong and brave as well. What’s more, our interviews and investigations have made more people to know about the relations among environmental protection, economic development and people’s health and to realize the importance and urgency of protecting environment. At the same time, we have fully realized the significance of the responsibility on our shoulder. We must study hard to make contributions to economic development and environmental protection. Let’s make our homeland beautiful forever.

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

The school courses like Chinese, Science, School-based courses and Information and Technology all involve earth and environment to varying degrees, so we could carry on our practical activity with theoretical knowledge gained from these courses. The practical activity of special study extended simple teaching content outside class. In this way, not only the teaching contents were enriched, but our knowledge and vision were improved. Through the investigation in the environment around our school, we knew well about environmental pollution and energy crisis, and we also fully realized the importance and urgency of environmental protection. Internet Exposition made us realize both the importance of learning and necessity of the special study.

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

Hardware: Computer, Digital camera, Scanner, SD card, U Disk, Software: Macromedia Flash MX, Photoshop, Microsoft Word, Internet Explorer, ACDSee Ftp

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

It’s our bounden duty to introduce the current state of environment in our hometown and educated people around about the relations among environmental protection, people’s life, economic development and energy crisis. Through our interaction with local governments, communities and other departments, people have known well that it is important to love life, cherish lives and protect environment. Through the Internet Exposition, we call out to people all over the world: Let’s pull together to protect the earth – May our earth beautiful forever!

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

Through our interviews, investigations and propaganda, local governments have realized their wrong way to care about economic development regardless of damages to environment. Environmental protection departments have set up bulletin board in communities and on key roads and allocated a large number of environmental protection workers. Our project has influenced and changed people’s view on protecting environment. It also has raised their awareness of environmental protection and helped them get rid of the bad habit of littering.

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

Our project has gained great substantial support from local governments. Persons of some relevant departments were positive to take our interviews and introduced us to the knowledge about environmental protection and relevant regulations as clear as possible. We have informed about the measures local governments have taken to protect environment as well. Some departmental staff even led us to do on-the-spot investigation and learn current state of local environment. Our activity was warmly welcomed by local people. They were positive to take our interviews and investigations. Some residents even gave us much rational advice on environmental protection.

5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)

During the activity, we realized the seriousness of environmental pollution from both on-the-spot investigations and material we consulted. Energy crisis, acid rain, atmospheric heating, ozone hole and the phenomenon of El Niño alert us to protect the earth. What’s more, the activity has made us realize the importance and urgency of protecting environment. To our delight, the environmental protection awareness of local governments, relevant departments and common people are quietly undergoing changes. Better still, we three have been selected as propagandists of environmental protection by local government. We encountered many difficulties in the activity, but with instructive teacher’s help and encouragement as well as joint efforts, we finally fulfilled the glorious but difficult task, which made us further understand the meaning of the old famous saying – Nothing is difficult when you work hard.