Niaosong Wetland Park

Narrative

Project Overview

1.Category We Enter: 7. Environmental Awareness

2. Local communities Description:

A few years ago, Kaohsiung was still a highly-developed industrial city, which gradually evolves into a metropolitan where businesses are booming now. In 2010, the central government reorganized jurisdiction of some major cities and counties. Because of this, Kaohsiung city and kaohsiung county were merged into a single municipality, endowing Kaohsiung not only businesses, but scattered agricultural industry mostly in the suburbs of the township.In recent years, The environment in Kaohsiung is positively transformed. While there are still factories causing ecological damage and air pollution around us, there are also an increasing number of green parkland and wetlands lying from north to south. Still, Kaohsiung City Government’s actively improving the ecological environment, aiming to upgrade the quality of life, really creates a better livable Kaohsiung Municipality for its citizens. Therefore, Niaosong Wetland Park, situated in the suburbs, is an index manisfesting that Kaohsiung is a city suitable for living. By setting up a website guiding eco-tour for Niaosong wetland. And as volunteers we can help people learn to use IT QR-Code barcode to secure information about our wetlands, enhancing Kaohsiung citizens’ recognition of it. As long as the citizen are willing to participate in the wetlands activities and really learn something, then the ecological environment in Kaohsiung is sure to improve. Let’s get together to change Kaohsiung for the better.

3. Project Description:

The pivot of this project is Kaohsiung Niaosong Wetland Park. In order to create more opportunities for people to have much more understanding of it, and be willing to spend more time exploring its ecological environment, appreciating birds, insects, plants etc., there. Therefore, cooperating with Kaohsiung Wild Bird Society, our team explores Niaosong wetlands and sets up a website for Niaosong wetland ecological tour, so that people can know more about Niaosong wetlands, and learn of the educational activities held by Kaohsiung Wild Bird Society. Doing so, people can learn the habotudes of birds, insects and plant, as well as ecological situations. Hopefully, Niaosong wetlands can become a shrine of entertainment and education.

4. Project Outline:

Niaosong Wetland Park, situated in the east of the gate of Chengching Lake scenic area of Kaohsiung suburbs, is the first wetland park monitored by NGO group in Taiwan. Its area is roughly three hectares, abundant in all kinds of plants, birds, insects, and amphibians. Taking a trip to Niaosong Wetland Park not only equips us with much extra knowledge on ecology, but also helps us relax ourselves. It actually is greatly loved by Kaohsiung residents.

We, students of Information Processing Department from Kaohsiung Commercial High School, regard it our responsibility to do a project to set up a guiding website on Niaosong Wetland. To give more people a chance to familiarize with it, and also be willing to spend more time exploring its ecological environment and appreciating birds, insects, plants, etc. living there, we act as Niaosong Wetland information volunteers, devising guiding website on its ecology, also connecting it to much-used portable devices and QR-Code. Hopefully, when visitors take a trip to the wetland, they can use their devices to scan the QR-Code with the in-built app, immediately learning something about the wetland, activity information, and habits and ecology about birds, insects, and plants living there from the web page and voice mechanism. Through this website, we hope that Niaosong Wetland Park can become the best place where the community residents and students alike do their action learning.

5. Internet Environments:

As students, normally we spend most of our learning at school. The school computer software and hardware are so advanced that we take good advantage of Computer Classrooms, doing our project, collecting data, and writing wet pages. Web lines on campus are wide-band 100Mbps FTTB from Chunghwa Telecom., which can easily and smoothly connect with other schools. The actual out-bound test speed is 86Mbps. We also do our assignments and communicate with one another using our own computers and ADSL provided by the Chunghwa Telecom.

6. Difficulties Encountered and Overcome:

(1) About Time and Rate of Progress:

Our team includes students from the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth graders, making it hard to come to an agreed schedule. For example, when the twelfth graders are to take simulation tests or prepare for certificate-awarding tests, they cannot make much time doing the project. As a result, we divide the job according to our grades. The twelfth graders are responsible for the first part of the project, while the tenth and eleventh graders are in charge of interviewing, questionnaire writing, monitoring the lunch break meetings, and doing the later part of the project, making it much more convenient for everyone to coordinate. To make up for periodical exams, we schedule a timetable to check and main the whole team assignments.

(2) About Assignments:

Because course arrangements in the three grades are so different that team members are also different in both skills and knowledge. With the instructors’ aids, we divide our assignments according to the difference of grades. Thus, in work allocation, we assign jobs which need more advanced skills to the twelfth graders, because they are already equipped with web page manufacturing skills, which makes them suitable for preliminary web page and QR-Code manufacturing, while the other two graders take charge of the other jobs, such as data collection, questionnaire writing and analysis, data sorting and arrangement, and recording. If necessary, our instructors also assign some of us to give a helping hand to the twelfth graders to ease them of their burden.

(3) About Data Collection:

Data collection poses two difficulties to the team. One is that the Niaosong Wetland Park gives many instructional activities to the public. These scheduled and particular activities make it impossible for us to clearly remember the activity information. Thus, we often miss opportunities to collect necessary data. To make up for it, we get the required activity information through the help of the Wild Bird Society of Kaohsiung. The other problem is that we are laymen to all the abundant varieties of birds, insects, plants, and amphibians. Luckily, with the aids of professional volunteers and our instructors as well as the valuable information from professional books and journals, we are able to cut down the errors and misuses of pictures in doing the project.

(4) About Interview Jobs:

Because of the regular classes during work days, we have to make time for interview subjects after school or on weekends. We seek relevant from information secretary-general and executive council member of The Wild Bird Society of Kaohsiung. We spend most of the weekends interviewing volunteers and visitors having a trip there. Often is the case that when we go there, the targeted volunteers are so busy guiding tours or doing chores that we have to patiently wait for their free time to do the interviews.

(5) About Questionnaire Dispatching:

There are two types of questionnaires that we offer to visitors and volunteers. One is a list on Google, used to have an understanding on the degrees of satisfaction about ecology guided tours given by the Niaosong Wetland Park. The other is a piece of printed physical questionnaire that is dispatched to visitors in the Park area asking the information of using the Park’s QR-Code.

When doing on-the-field research on the use of the Park’s QR-Code, we find that some people have never used in, so that we just don’t know what we are asking about. To ease the burden of answering the question, we devise a working procedure to teach those who have never used QR-Code. After the instruction, people know how to immediately save and retrieve the web pages of the Park through the use of the Park’s QR-Code. Thus, they reward us with finished questionnaires.

7. Reflections:

We are very glad that we have grabbed the opportunity to take part in doing the Cyberfair 2016 Project. Most of us never had the experience of doing any project. In the beginning, we only had a blurry understanding. With the instructors’ teaching, we gradually gtet the whole picture. It is not easy to do a project, which needs everyone’s working together and cooperation. During the process, we not only are familiar with web page writing software, but also learn the SOPs of writing web pages. Though collecting the data from the Park and dispatching the questionnaires have cost us many holidays and lunch break time, the team members cultivate feelings of comradeship. Learning the importance of teamwork is a rare opportunity.

Though quite busy and tiring, we still hope to come up with the best result. It is easier to understand the word “teamwork” than to carry it out. Teamwork needs every team member to adjust and cooperate to bring out the best result. Luckily, we are teamed up. The experience of doing the project cannot not be learned from books, which makes it much more valuable. One's effort will pay off. Though there is no telling what the final result will be, the learning process is the most precious experience. Doing the Cyberfair 2016 Project makes us realize the true meaning of “No pain, no gain.”