Category: Environmental Awareness and Issues
Project Description:
The school district of Jingsiou Elementary School is next to Sanyi Neighborhood, Hsinsheng Neighborhood, and Nanping Neighborhood, which are in the west of the railroad, so it is a veritable railway community school. In the past, the smell of coal cinders, sound of trains, and the fear when passing the railroad crossing or underpass were deeply rooted in the hearts of children. In 2014, the Yuanlin Railway culture and environment was undergoing tremendous changes. Many buildings and facilities that were built for railroad shipment are now discarded, such as South Yuanlin Station, Railway Silo, and Yuanlin Bike Path. How to activate these places? How do we plan the space under the railway viaduct to meet Yuanlin residents’ needs? Let’s explore them all!
Local Community::
Yuanlin Township, Changhua County is a very important township of Taiwan. Many important small and medium sized enterprises are settled here. Since the railway was built, in 1905, the Taiwan Railway Bureau, sugarcane railway, and privately operated light railway have met here. The special three-rail scene is well known in the country. In November 2014, Yuanlin Station, the first station with the elevated railway in Central Taiwan, opened to traffic, and Yuanlin became a milestone of Taiwan’s elevated railways again.
Our Computer and Internet Access::
1.Currently our school has two computer labs that provide 70 computers for students to use.
2.The teacher of each classroom is given a desk or notebook computer, and each classroom is equipped with a single gun projector.
3.In 2009, the school set up e-classrooms with the electronic whiteboard for teachers to use in class.
4.The school’s major network is T1 line connecting to the academic network, and the school also uses a fiber-optic network for backup.
5.The school has three outdoor wireless transmitters, so the entire campus have access to the Internet using Wi-Fi.
6.The school bought three 3.5 wireless routers for teachers and students to use.
Problems We Had to Overcome::
1.Selecting the category for the project:
The project was to study the history of the Yuanlin Railway for which we focused on the impact of environmental changes on living, heritage preservation, and awareness and implementation of loving hometown, so we registered for the category of Environmental Issues.
2.The research project requires professional ability:
Yuanlin Township, formally named Linzai Street, has a long developmental history. Yuanlin Station, built for business purpose in 1905, has been more than a century now. Both railway heritage and elevated construction are difficult knowledge, so it is a big challenge to equip students with fundamental knowledge in a short time.
3.Understanding the decisions made by the public sector:
What will the plan, construction, and completion of Yuanlin Station’s elevation project that costs over six billions NTD bring to Yuanlin? How to preserve South Yuanlin Station, a sugar railway relic? How to activate the space of the left two Taiwan Railway Silos in Yuanlin? We interviewed the Yuanlin Township Mayor, borough chief, community chairman, director of the elevation construction, and expert of the Railway Culture Office in order to understand the decisions made by the public sector.
4. Improving reliability and validity of the questionnaire:
In order to know how Yuanlin residents feel about the activation of Railway Silo, preservation of South Yuanlin Station, protection of Yuanlin Bike Path, construction of elevation, and space design under the viaduct, besides visiting and interviewing 588 residents, we conducted a Love Yuanlin Railway survey for which we used Google to design a questionnaire, and invited parents, teachers, and students of Yuanling Township to take the online survey, and received 1180 feedbacks. In total, there were 1768 participants, 92% registering in Changhua and 66% living in Yuanlin.
Our Project Sound Bite:
Taiwan’s railways have been longer than the history of ROC, but the railway culture has always been preserved, promoted, and taught by railway fans. Jingsiou Elementary School is inside the railway community. In 2014, the construction of the elevated station was finally completed. By that moment, we had suffered a dark period of environmental changes while waiting for a city with brand new design and appearance. Isn’t it worthy our efforts to record and study? If we don’t know the history of our community, how can we implement the love for family and hometown? Through this project, we learned a lot about our hometown and now love it much more. We now know very well that all good things come from the efforts of all people, and we can contribute too even though we are still very young.
Project Description:
The school district of Jingsiou Elementary School is next to Sanyi Neighborhood, Hsinsheng Neighborhood, and Nanping Neighborhood, which are in the west of the railroad, so it is a veritable railway community school. In the past, the smell of coal cinders, sound of trains, and the fear when passing the railroad crossing or underpass were deeply rooted in the hearts of children. In 2014, the Yuanlin Railway culture and environment was undergoing tremendous changes. Many buildings and facilities that were built for railroad shipment are now discarded, such as South Yuanlin Station, Railway Silo, and Yuanlin Bike Path. How to activate these places? How do we plan the space under the railway viaduct to meet Yuanlin residents’ needs? Let’s explore them all!
Local Community::
Yuanlin Township, Changhua County is a very important township of Taiwan. Many important small and medium sized enterprises are settled here. Since the railway was built, in 1905, the Taiwan Railway Bureau, sugarcane railway, and privately operated light railway have met here. The special three-rail scene is well known in the country. In November 2014, Yuanlin Station, the first station with the elevated railway in Central Taiwan, opened to traffic, and Yuanlin became a milestone of Taiwan’s elevated railways again.
Our Computer and Internet Access::
1.Currently our school has two computer labs that provide 70 computers for students to use.
2.The teacher of each classroom is given a desk or notebook computer, and each classroom is equipped with a single gun projector.
3.In 2009, the school set up e-classrooms with the electronic whiteboard for teachers to use in class.
4.The school’s major network is T1 line connecting to the academic network, and the school also uses a fiber-optic network for backup.
5.The school has three outdoor wireless transmitters, so the entire campus have access to the Internet using Wi-Fi.
6.The school bought three 3.5 wireless routers for teachers and students to use.
Problems We Had to Overcome::
1.Selecting the category for the project:
The project was to study the history of the Yuanlin Railway for which we focused on the impact of environmental changes on living, heritage preservation, and awareness and implementation of loving hometown, so we registered for the category of Environmental Issues.
2.The research project requires professional ability:
Yuanlin Township, formally named Linzai Street, has a long developmental history. Yuanlin Station, built for business purpose in 1905, has been more than a century now. Both railway heritage and elevated construction are difficult knowledge, so it is a big challenge to equip students with fundamental knowledge in a short time.
3.Understanding the decisions made by the public sector:
What will the plan, construction, and completion of Yuanlin Station’s elevation project that costs over six billions NTD bring to Yuanlin? How to preserve South Yuanlin Station, a sugar railway relic? How to activate the space of the left two Taiwan Railway Silos in Yuanlin? We interviewed the Yuanlin Township Mayor, borough chief, community chairman, director of the elevation construction, and expert of the Railway Culture Office in order to understand the decisions made by the public sector.
4. Improving reliability and validity of the questionnaire:
In order to know how Yuanlin residents feel about the activation of Railway Silo, preservation of South Yuanlin Station, protection of Yuanlin Bike Path, construction of elevation, and space design under the viaduct, besides visiting and interviewing 588 residents, we conducted a Love Yuanlin Railway survey for which we used Google to design a questionnaire, and invited parents, teachers, and students of Yuanling Township to take the online survey, and received 1180 feedbacks. In total, there were 1768 participants, 92% registering in Changhua and 66% living in Yuanlin.
Our Project Sound Bite:
Taiwan’s railways have been longer than the history of ROC, but the railway culture has always been preserved, promoted, and taught by railway fans. Jingsiou Elementary School is inside the railway community. In 2014, the construction of the elevated station was finally completed. By that moment, we had suffered a dark period of environmental changes while waiting for a city with brand new design and appearance. Isn’t it worthy our efforts to record and study? If we don’t know the history of our community, how can we implement the love for family and hometown? Through this project, we learned a lot about our hometown and now love it much more. We now know very well that all good things come from the efforts of all people, and we can contribute too even though we are still very young.