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1. Description of Our Community
Yuanlin Township (hearafter refer to Yuanlin) used to be an important geographical spot where Taichung City Hall located. Because the town is closed to Bagua Mountain region, it therefore became a key to connection of Nantau County to western plain (known as Choshuishi Plain). Since Yualin has been built in 285 years ago,
2. Summary of Our Project
On conducting this project, we bumped into countless challenges: first is the scarce references issue at the beginning; then, we found it’s even problematical for us when we actually experienced the bamboo hat making at Granny Huang’s workshop. Because Granny Huang’s workshop only handles the end products assembly, the info we could collect there was just a small fraction, which is far less then we needed for the project. Advised by Mr. and Mrs. Huang, we searched any possible clues trying to map the history of bamboo hat in Yuanlin: from the local records/gazette of Yuanlin Township, from references of neighbor counties, from the ancient maps of Qing Dynasty and Japanese-Occupied Period. We tried to find the clues that tell us why bamboo hat making had such shinning success in Yuanlin early. Luckily, with many helps around us, we finally could map every piece of the story.
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:dedicated connection
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):
For this project, we first used the Internet and search engine to collect data and narrow down the targets. The traditional way of data collecting is mainly to browse information from books, which is just like to look a needle in a haystack. We found that is more efficient for us to use modern technology on this project.
4. Problems We Had To Overcome
During this project, we came across many challenges. Fortunately, with the instructors and our parents’ guidance, we were able to find ways and learned how to solve the difficulties. The followings are the challenges we encountered: a. Webpage making: Although several team members had some Webpage making experiences, it was still quiet challenging for us to deliver a perfect Webpage. To advance our skills- not only on graphic design, but also on Webpage constructing, we consulted many books, references and teachers’ advices. Finally, we were able to make this project possible.
b. Data collecting: At the beginning, we couldn’t find the right direction for the project, let alone collecting data. After meetings with our instructor, we finally knew what to start. However, there were little paper documents of Bamboo hats. Therefore, we collected information from interviewing elders and our on-site craft making. We even traveled to neighbor town for further references.
c. Team communication: During the project, we had different opinions on several issues: data collecting, tasks distribution, and page layouts. By several discussions, we reached the common agreement and goal.
d. Process control and timetable: We were behind schedule at the very beginning. Luckily, with our parents’ kind warning, we were able to catch up.
5. Our Project Sound Bite
During this project, data collecting and interviewing elders let us not only earn a lot of experience, but also have more profound understanding of the place we live. Making the Webpage about the bamboo hat also grants us the responsibilities to make others know the importance it to Yuanling Township, and get other people to know more about our town- Yuanlin on the Net!
6. How did your activities and research for this CyberFair Project support standards, required coursework and curriculum standards?
Language Arts area:During the interviews, the elders all spoke in Taiwanese local dialect. The slangs, idioms, and terminologies they used were all unfamiliar to us. With our parents’ help on translation, we realized those terms and theirs relating historical background. Those terms enable us to learn more. We also put a doggerel on every front of the passage as the introduction to the documentary of town. The whole webpage making process much improved our language ability. Social Studies area:The maps of different periods (Qing, Japanese-Occupied, and modern) enable us to better understand Yuanlin’s geographic development. We found bamboo shops on those maps. It proved the importance of bamboo hat in this area. As a part of the community, we had the obligation to introduce this brilliant history to others. Information Technology area:In order to make the project, we looked for any useful information from the books in library, the references online, and the stories from interview. We advanced our techniques on photo editing, animation producing, and Webpage perfection from Webpage constructing. The whole process perfected our skills on information technology and software applications.
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