Shulin is named after the local woodland. In 1759, due to massive floods in the region, much of the land around the Shulin area became swampland, leading the locals to move into the highlands where the woodland groves were located; the people would name their new home “Shulin”, but because of the many ironworks in the area, Shulin also has the moniker of “ The Forge-blower.” The Shulin area is located across from the Dahan River and Datong Mountains, with a variety of natural landscapes such as hills, forests, plains, and wetlands, providing it with an abundance of tourist attractions and leisure locations.
In Shulin’s early days, it had earned the title of “The Hometown of Anka.” Our special project’s goal is to introduce the local ''Anka Culture'' of Shulin. The content includes an introduction to Shulin’s geographical location, winery culture, the incorporation of Anka in our school’s home economics curriculum’s cooking class, and the diverse uses of Anka. It also promotes Shulin’s local festival, the Anka Cultural Festival. We hope that through this project, more people can learn about Anka and the unique “Anka Culture” of Shulin.
(1) Our School’s Internet and Computers:
Currently, our school has one computer lab that uses the Windows 10 OS; each classroom has a computer and other classrooms also have computers that have access to the Internet. In addition, the library also allows students to access the internet to research at any time.
(2) Internet Usage at Home:
At home, our team members access the internet to continue work, with the teacher utilizing Google Drive so students can upload and organize the collected data at any time.
| Problem | Description | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| Technology |
1. It was a challenge for us to make the web pages since we haven’t received any instructions on web design since elementary school, thus requiring us to constantly discuss and practice together. 2. As for the use of other types of equipment, we used digital voice recorders, printers, and cameras; we were unfamiliar with these equipment and had to learn how to use them. |
After seeking our teachers for help, they taught us a lot about the use of different software and hardware. As we slowly overcame our difficulties, our members continued to discuss with each other and helped each other, working to constantly improve together. |
| Time history |
In terms of timing, there are two especially difficult parts: The first being scheduling meetings with the district office, since they are responsible for the Anka Cultural Festival that is hosted once a year. We needed to visit the the district office to collect the relevant information from the district office personnel. However, our school hours conflicted with the hours of the district office. In order to meet with the director of the district office, we had to communicate back and forth multiple times to set up our interview. The second part was finding time for group members to work together. Because most members are very busy with schoolwork, cram classes, and have short class periods, it made finding time for discussions and group work very difficult. |
After receiving help with contacting the district office, we used email and phone calls to communicate with the office staffers after school, and used after school hours to visit the district office. In terms of scheduling, we used after school hours for in-person discussions and research planning, and used the Line app to discuss our plans further. In addition, during winter break, we had scheduled intense web design and content discussion sessions, but due to the threat posed by the Wuhan Novel Coronavirus, we could not meet at school. We began to use Google Drive and Line discussions to complete our discussions of the research and images for the web page before the start of school. After school starts again, we will continue to discuss once a week after school and adjust the design and contents on our webpage. |
| Team | The 6 of us are all 7th graders. Other than us, our Dean of Education, computer lab teacher, and literature teacher helped us throughout the whole process. Our team’s main problems arose from our lack of web design experience, as not everyone was familiar with the process. |
The computer lab teacher assisted us greatly throughout the project, teaching us how to make web pages, organize visuals, and edit more effectively. Our literature teacher also provided us with many valuable suggestions for our website’s content. Our Dean of Education also assisted us with outreach and resource integration to help make the content on our webpage even more fleshed out than before. The 6 of us are all very grateful for the assistance all of our academic advisors provided throughout, which allowed us to overcome the many challenges. |
| Data | During our data collection phase, the biggest difficulty we encountered was how little information there was on Shulin Anka, since it is a local specialty. Other than the district office, nowhere else, even the Internet, had any information on Shulin Anka. We needed to frequently consult with the district office to obtain information. Much of the information on Shulin’s historic wineries are historical documents, so we were unable to access them. | To address the problem that we outlined previously, where we often had limited information to work with, we arranged with the district office and our academic advisors to discuss together. |
| Figure interview | In addition to the problems we faced with design and discussions, we also found it difficult to organize the information systematically. | Our solution was to divide up our work and cooperate with each other. We asked our group members to help sort out the key points and lay them out in an outline. All our members worked together to avoid any unnecessary omissions. |
| Experience | We had no experience in making an entirely new website, so each stage of the process was a bit difficult for us, and they came at us one after the other! | Throughout this process, our academic advisors gave us a lot of tips and continuously encouraged us. Whenever we felt frustrated, they would give us instantaneous encouragement. Although we were tired, it was worth the effort and we learned a lot through it. |
During our research, we learned a lot. As it turns out, in addition to Anka being made into wine, cooked with, and being used for scientific research, it can also reduce high blood lipids and high blood pressure and be made into health supplements for maintaining people’s health. Besides all the information we learned about Anka, we also learned various skills, such as effective methods for collecting research, making websites, etc..
During this research process, we were able to visit a winery, interview the district head, and learn about his work in promoting the local culture and the hardships that came with it. This project allowed us to make very valuable memories to leave in middle school.
