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1. Description of Our Community
About our hometown Wanhua, we feel the temperature is getting higher. Expert Hsu told us that Wanhua is the hottest district in Taipei. We thought, no wonder we feel very hot! He also explained why our hometown is so hot. After that, we started thinking about how to slow down the heating in our district. We followed Expert Hsu’s guidance, studied some information, and tried to take actions. We hope our Wanhua district can stay cooler in the future. Expert Hsu even told us that we may not have winter in 2060.
2. Summary of Our Project
The summary of our International Schools CyberFair Web Project introduces our research motivation, group members, book study, expert interview, and final presentation. Recently, we have felt that the weather is getting hotter and hotter. Many schools now install air conditioners in every classroom. However, using more electricity may make global warming even worse. As junior high school students, we began to wonder what we can do to help solve this problem. After collecting information about global warming, we wanted to learn more from an expert. Therefore, we invited Expert Hsu to give us a valuable class and share his research. Unfortunately, we learned that Taiwan may not have winter by 2060. However, Expert Hsu also told us that people can still take action to slow down climate change. Although we cannot control factories or reduce large amounts of carbon dioxide, we can still make small changes in our daily lives. For example, we can take public transportation, use stainless steel water bottles, and remember to turn off electricity before leaving home. If everyone makes small efforts, our Earth can slowly become a better place.
3. Our Computer and Internet Access
A. Percentage of students using the Internet at home:none
B. Number of workstations with Internet access in the classroom:none
C. Connection speed used in the classroom:dial-up modem
D. Number of years our classroom has been connected to the Internet:1
E. Additional comments concerning your computer and/or Internet access (Optional):
Since our students are in junior high school, their computer time is limited. Our classroom has six computers, so each student can use one only once a week. This makes students’ cooperation and organization very important.
4. Problems We Had To Overcome
Creating a website for junior high school students is not easy. Fortunately, older students shared WIX, a free website platform. However, it has a limitation: only one person can edit at a time. To solve this, our students created one account and took turns completing their tasks until the website was finished. Through this effort, we became closer than ever.
5. Our Project Sound Bite
It’s our pleasure to participate in this International Schools CyberFair. Our students enjoy discussing challenging issues with their partners. Even though these issues are taught by other subject teachers, conducting research, finding data, and listening to expert presentations provide experiences different from what they learn in class. Learning by doing makes knowledge more real and allows it to become fully integrated with their understanding.
6. How did your activities and research for this CyberFair Project support standards, required coursework and curriculum standards?
In our class called Individual Research, the main goal is to train students and give them the opportunity to discuss and find information on their own. This class is different from regular classes, where the teacher directly teaches and explains, because we have limited time. Even though the research class meets only once a week, students learn how to cooperate. For example, when there is only one account for a task, students take turns completing their parts, allowing the work to be finished on time. When students present on stage, the teacher can see that they have a positive attitude toward learning. This project also helps strengthen students’ friendships.
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