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1. Description of Our Community
Our community is the Mafu area of Guangfu Township, Hualien County, on Taiwan’s east coast. It is a rural community shaped by mountains, streams, farmland, Indigenous culture, and local faith. For the students of Xifu Elementary School, community is not just a place on a map. It is where we live, learn, and build our identity.
Nature is a central part of our community. The Mafu River and its floodplain support local life and provide an important ecological environment. At the same time, this landscape faces serious challenges, especially the spread of *Leucaena leucocephala*, an invasive species that threatens native plants and changes the riverbank ecosystem. Because of this, protecting the land has become an important shared mission for our school and community.
Our community is also rich in cultural traditions. Renshou Temple is a spiritual and social center where local beliefs, festivals, and stories are preserved. Through temple activities and the worship of the Messenger God, residents maintain strong connections across generations and deepen their understanding of coexistence between people, nature, and belief.
In addition, our community is closely connected to Amis cultural values. Trees such as breadfruit are more than plants; they represent family memory, sharing, and living in harmony with the land. These traditions help us understand that community is built not only by geography, but also by relationships, memories, and responsibilities.
Therefore, we define our community as a living homeland where ecology, culture, faith, and education come together. It is a place worth understanding, protecting, and uniting for.
2. Summary of Our Project
Our community is located in the Mafu area of Guangfu Township, Hualien. Here, there are streams, Indigenous villages, temples, and the land that shapes our daily lives. For us, the students of Xifu Elementary School, community is not just a word in a textbook. It is the ground beneath our feet, the stories told by our elders, the changing ecology along the riverbanks, and the culture that generations of residents have worked together to protect. The theme of CyberFair 2026 is “CONTRIBUTE & Unite
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):
Our school has stable and sufficient access to Internet resources for research, communication, and digital project work. In the classroom, we have enough Internet-connected workstations to support group collaboration, online investigation, multimedia production, and website editing. Students also have relatively good access to the Internet at home, which makes it easier for us to continue discussions, collect information, organize materials, and complete project tasks after school.
This access allowed our team to combine fieldwork in the community with online learning. We used the Internet to search for background information, communicate with teachers and teammates, organize data, and present our findings in a clear and creative way. Reliable Internet access made it possible for us to connect local issues with global learning and to share our community story more effectively.
4. Problems We Had To Overcome
One of our biggest challenges was turning several rich research topics into one clear CyberFair story. Our project included ecological restoration, temple culture, snake worship, and Amis breadfruit traditions, so we had to decide what should be the main focus and what should serve as supporting background. In the end, we chose **“Reclaim Our Land, Battle the Leucaena”** as the core theme because it best connected environmental action, student research, and community impact.
Fieldwork was also difficult. We had to visit riverbank sites, observe invasive plants, record restoration data, and organize repeated measurements. Weather, transportation, and time management made this work challenging, especially for elementary school students. At the same time, other groups had to conduct interviews with elders, temple members, and community residents, which required preparation, courage, and respectful communication. CyberFair also emphasizes teamwork, planning, and documenting challenges, so we needed to coordinate tasks carefully and keep our work organized.
Another challenge was transforming our learning into a digital project. We collected far more information than we could include, so we had to choose the most meaningful content, write clearly for outside viewers, and make our website easy to understand. We also had to check facts, cite sources properly, and connect local stories to the CyberFair 2026 theme, **“CONTRIBUTE & Unite!”**.
Most importantly, we learned to overcome these problems by working together. Teachers guided us, community members shared knowledge, and students contributed observation, interviews, writing, photos, and presentations. Through this process, we discovered that challenges were not obstacles to stop us; they were part of the learning journey that united our team and community.
5. Our Project Sound Bite
Starting from one tree, we chose to protect the land; through science and action, we gave nature the chance to breathe again.
6. How did your activities and research for this CyberFair Project support standards, required coursework and curriculum standards?
Our CyberFair project supported multiple curriculum areas, including language arts, science, social studies, arts, and information technology. Through researching invasive plants, river ecology, temple culture, and Indigenous breadfruit traditions, we connected classroom learning with real community issues. This matched our school’s project-based learning goals by requiring students to observe, investigate, interview, analyze, write, and present.
In science, we studied ecosystems, invasive species, restoration methods, and field data. In social studies, we explored local history, community identity, religion, and cultural continuity. In language arts, we practiced reading sources, asking questions, conducting interviews, organizing ideas, and writing clearly for different audiences. In technology, we used the Internet to search for information, verify facts, organize materials, and create digital project content.
We learned many new skills, including field observation, note-taking, interviewing, teamwork, time management, digital literacy, and public presentation. We also practiced group concepts such as cooperation, shared responsibility, peer discussion, and problem solving. This helped us better understand that learning is not only about memorizing facts, but also about applying knowledge to real-life situations.
The project fit our school’s educational goals because it turned local issues into meaningful learning. It also helped us discover that students can play an active role in the school community by preserving local stories, protecting the environment, and sharing community knowledge.
Using the Internet made learning more effective because it allowed us to combine fieldwork with online research, compare information quickly, and share our findings more widely. It helped us move beyond traditional textbook learning into a more active, collaborative, and authentic learning experience.
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1) What information tools & technologies did you used to complete your CyberFair project?
We used a variety of information tools and technologies to complete our CyberFair project. Our main tools included classroom computers with Internet access, students’ home Internet access, online research resources, books, school library materials, field notes, oral interviews, digital cameras, and mobile devices for photos, video recording, and data collection. These tools helped us combine online research with real community fieldwork.
The Internet was one of our most valuable tools because it helped us search for background information, compare sources, organize materials, and prepare digital content for our project website. Classroom computers allowed us to write, revise, store, and share our work as a team. Reliable access at school and at home made collaboration much easier.
Field tools were equally important. During our ecological research, we carried out site observation, planting, replanting, measuring, and long-term monitoring in the Mafu River floodplain. We also used interviews to learn from scholars, ecological professionals, local elders, tribal elders, and community members. These methods gave us first-hand information that could not be found in textbooks alone.
For our cultural topics, we used interviews, observation, documentation, and creative production to record local temple culture and Indigenous knowledge. Photos, videos, maps, and student-created materials helped us present community stories more clearly and vividly.
The most helpful technologies were the Internet, digital photography, and online collaboration tools, because they allowed us to connect field investigation, local interviews, and digital storytelling. These tools turned our project into a true combination of research, teamwork, and community action.
2) In what ways did you act as "ambassadors" and spokespersons for your CyberFair project both on-line and in person.
Our students acted as ambassadors for both our school and our community in many ways. During the project, they interviewed community elders, teachers, temple members, and local knowledge holders to learn about ecological restoration, temple culture, and Indigenous traditions. In every interview and field visit, students had to explain who we were, what our CyberFair project was about, and why we wanted to share our community’s story with a wider audience. Through these contacts, they represented not only the project, but also the learning spirit of Xifu Elementary School.
Students also served as spokespersons by presenting their research publicly. At our school’s project exhibition and appreciation event, they shared their findings in person through presentations, discussion, video, and displays. Guests were invited to see student work on Leucaena restoration, temple belief, tribal interviews, and cultural research, and students explained their ideas directly to parents, teachers, and community visitors. This helped turn the project into a true dialogue between school and community.
One meaningful outcome was that community members could see that children were not just studying from books; they were seriously documenting local stories and protecting local knowledge. Elders and interviewees welcomed the students, shared their experiences, and became important partners in the learning process. People were impressed by the students’ confidence, sincerity, and sense of responsibility, especially when they saw the students speaking publicly about real issues in their hometown. In this way, our students became young ambassadors who connected school, community, and culture with pride and respect.
3) What has been the impact of your project on your community?
Our project has strengthened the relationship between our school and community by turning local issues into shared action. Through research on Leucaena restoration, temple culture, snake belief, and Amis breadfruit traditions, students did not just study the community—they entered it, listened to it, and worked with it. Elders, temple members, parents, and local residents became partners in learning through interviews, field visits, and public sharing.
The project has already made a difference inside our community. It helped students understand that their hometown is worth protecting and that they can become its young guardians. It also helped community members see that children’s work can preserve local stories, support ecological awareness, and bring attention to the value of Mafu. Our school held a project exhibition and appreciation event where families and guests were invited to watch videos, view research displays, join discussions, and listen to student presentations. This created meaningful dialogue between school and community.
Our website extends that impact further. It allows people outside our community to learn about Mafu’s ecology, culture, and local knowledge, while also showing how students in a rural school can contribute through research and action. In this way, the project supports the CyberFair 2026 theme, “CONTRIBUTE & Unite!” by connecting students, families, elders, and the wider online audience.
Most importantly, the project has built new trust and pride. Parents and community members can see that student learning is not limited to textbooks; it can protect the land, honor culture, and bring people together. That is the lasting impact of our work.
4) How did your project involve other members of your community as helpers and volunteers?
Our project involved many helpers and volunteers from both the school and the local community. Teachers guided the entire process, helping us plan research, organize fieldwork, revise our writing, and prepare presentations. Our parents supported us by encouraging participation, helping with schedules, and joining school events where student work was shared. The strong support of teachers, parents, and community members became an important part of our learning journey.
Community members also played a key role. For our environmental research, we learned through field visits and restoration work connected to the Mafu River area. For our cultural topics, we interviewed temple members, local elders, and tribal elders, who generously shared their knowledge, stories, and life experience. In the breadfruit study, for example, village elders and an important local mentor accepted our interviews and helped us understand deeper cultural meanings that could never be learned from books alone.
We found these helpers by asking respectfully through our teachers, school connections, and community relationships. Once they understood that our goal was to document and protect local ecology and culture, they were willing to help us. Their support gave us reliable knowledge, encouragement, and real-world perspectives.
We are especially grateful to the adults who walked alongside us throughout this project. Their patience, trust, and willingness to share made it possible for students to turn curiosity into meaningful research. Even when support was not long-distance or highly technical, it was deeply valuable because it connected our school to the wisdom and care of the community. Together, these helpers showed us that CyberFair is not only a student project, but also a community effort.
5) Discoveries, Lessons and Surprises (Optional)
One of our most meaningful discoveries was that the best classroom is often the community itself. By going to the river, the temple, and the tribal community, we learned that real knowledge does not come only from books. It also comes from observation, listening, and respectful relationships with the land and with local people. Through this project, we discovered that even elementary school students can study complex issues such as invasive species, ecological restoration, faith, and Indigenous cultural memory in serious and meaningful ways.
We also learned important lessons about teamwork and responsibility. Students practiced observing, asking questions, recording information, cooperating with teammates, and presenting ideas clearly. One surprise was how much students grew in confidence. Some were nervous before interviews or public presentations, but later they were able to speak bravely and thoughtfully about their hometown and research.
Another important discovery was that our hometown holds far more wisdom than we first realized. The Leucaena restoration project showed us that science and action can help damaged land recover. Our cultural projects showed us that temples, elders, and family traditions preserve knowledge that is deeply connected to identity and community values. These experiences helped us understand that our land is worth cherishing, and that we can become its young guardians.
This project also led to important recognition. In the 12th Pacific Cup National Student Research and Local Action Competition, our school received **two Gold Awards, one Bronze Award, and one Merit Award**. These honors encouraged us, but the greatest reward was discovering that our learning could make a real contribution to our school and community.
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View our CyberFair Project
(Project ID: 8840)
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