>>> Posting number 1925, dated 20 Feb 1995 09:09:02 Date: Mon, 20 Feb 1995 09:09:02 +0800 Reply-To: Special KIDLink Projects Sender: Special KIDLink Projects From: "Jim Zahn, HKIS" Subject: "VIRTUAL CHINA": Project Announcement Comments: To: fischers@ms.hkis.edu.hk "VIRTUAL" CHINA! 1995 A call for participation! Hong Kong International School is pleased to present its seventh annual grade 7 trip to China as a KIDPROJ activity. As you read the following information, we hope that you catch the sense of excitement that all the seventh grade teachers and students at HKIS share as we begin our study of China. One of our primary goals for this unit and the associated travel experience is to have each student "Grow in his/her understanding, appreciation and respect for the Chinese people and culture". This year the grade 7 students have two wonderful trips to choose from: A one-week biking trip in rural Southern China and the brand new week-long trip to Xi'an, home of the famous Terracotta Soldiers. Both trips offer the opportunity to create memories that will last a lifetime. Half of the HKIS 7th graders (approximately 90) will be traveling the week of March 13th through March 17th, 1995. The other half will travel the week of March 20th through March 24th. Two biking groups and one Xi'an group will be traveling each of the two weeks, so a "virtual trip to China" for those "following" the activities could last for two weeks. The seventh graders are delighted to be able to share their experiences with other "virtual travelors" from around the world. They will be posting their daily experiences o the KIDPROJ using the subject heading of "Virtual China". All three HKIS groups (each week) will be taking a laptop computer, modem, and appropriate software to make a daily connection with KIDPROJ. KIDPROJ students from around the world are encouraged to "travel along" and ask questions of the groups throughout the two weeks. Each group traveling in China hopes to answer questions sent to them while they are traveling. To do this, they will combine the responses to your questions in one "document", then e-mail that document to KIDPROJ "Virtual China" ..... in much the same way the daily experiences will be posted. As a result, all questions and all answers can be monitored by all participants of KIDPROJ. Please keep in mind that communications may, on occassion, be less than desirable, especially for the bikers who will be traveling through rural Southern China and staying in a different "hotel" each night. If it becomes impossible or too difficult to transmit from one or more of the stops the groups will simply make the transmission as soon as possible .... the latest being soon after their return to Hong Kong. BIKING ITINERARY (Note: Each week two biking groups start at opposite ends of this itinerary .... they meet briefly, halfway through the trip.) Sunday, March 12 or 19, 1995 Students will board a high speed ferry in Hong Kong bound for Kwang Hai (Kong Hoi). After arriving in Kong Hoi the group will mount up and bike 40 km through the countryside to Taishan where they will spend the night. Monday, March 13 or 20, 1995 After an early morning breakfast students will visit the markets of Taishan, visit a Church and tour a modern factory that takes raw cotton and turns it into denim. After lunch on a lake the students will bus to the edge of town before getting on their bikes for a beautiful 18 km ride through the country visiting several points of interest along the way. The evening will be spent in Kai Ping (Hoi Ping). Tuesday, March 14 or 21, 1995 The group will visit a joint venture cracker factory after breakfast. A bus ride will take them to the city of Xinhui (Sun Wooi). The group will spend the rest of the day biking to their evening destination, Heshan (Hok Shan). Wednesday, March 15 or 22, 1995 A brief morning bus ride will bring the group within biking distance of Zhaoqing (Siuhing). The day will be spent biking, sightseeing, visiting villages and meeting with their friends from the other biking group (traveling in the opposite direction) in the early afternoon. By evening the group will be at its hotel in Siuhing. Thursday, March 16 or 23, 1995 After breakfast the group will visit a kindergarten in Siuhing before bussing to a mountain-top monastery. After lunch the students will tour the beautiful Seven Stars Crag area. Later in the afternoon the group will make its way over to the ferry terminal and prepare to board the overnight ferry bound for Hong Kong. Friday, March 17 or 24, 1995 Students will be arriving back in Hong Kong Friday morning on the overnight ferry from Siuhing. After breakfast they will be bussed back to HKIS where they will spend the balance of the school day doing "debriefing" activities: a mural of the week long experience, helping clean bikes, etc. XI'AN STUDY TOUR The Shaanxi Province city of Xi'an has been a political and cultural capital of China longer then any other - over 1,000 years! It was the capital of China during the Zhou, Qin, Han, Sui and Tang Dynasties, from the eighth century B.C. until the tenth century A.D. Because Xi'an has been of prime importance in the development of Chinese culture, it offers much to our students. Xi'an's impressive, Ming Dynasty 14th century wall still stands intact today. It is probably the most important city wall in China today, with a perimeter of almost 14 kilometers. It is 12 meters high and averages 15 meters wide and is almost entirely surrounded by a moat. The modern city of Xi'an has expanded outside of the walled city, but much of the city still bears the flavor of traditional China. So much history exists in the Xi'an area that magnificent archaeological discoveries are made eac year. Our four days in Xi'an will be spent visiting sites of historical importance including the Shaanxi History Museum, the Tang Dynasty Big Goose Pagoda, the 14th Century Great Mosque, the Temple of the City God, long sections of the city wall, Ching Dynasty "Scholars" Street and the Hwa Ching Baths. One highlight of the trip will be our visit to what is said by many to be the "eighth wonder of the world", the Qin Terracotta Warriors Museum, including a newly opened Third Pit. Besides historical sites, we will also make study visits to a factory and a rural village. In addition we will visit and develop links with a top school in the province, the Xi'an Middle School, which is hoping to bring some of its students to Hong Kong next summer. Round trip air transport will be by Dragon Airlines. Only a few tour visits will be by tour bus, as an emphasis will be placed on small study group walks to many of the above sites. This trip option will be an immersion in Chinese life and will deepen the students' understanding of Chinese history and culture. XI'AN CITY TOUR ITINERARY DAY 1: Monday, March 13 / Monday, March 20 Transport to the Kai tak Airport in Hong Kong for an 8:00 AM breakfast flight to Xi'an. Arrival in Xi'an at 10:45 AM. Small study groups walk along sections of the west and south walls of the city. Sack lunch on the wall. Dinner with small study group along Ching Dynasty "Scholars" Street. Evening Tang dynasty show. DAY 2: Tuesday, March 14 / Tuesday, March 21 Morning visit to the Shaanxi History Museum. Lunch in small study groups during walk to the Big Goose Pagoda. Late afternoon tour of the Great Mosque and exploratory walking tour of the Moslem Quarter of the city. Visit to Ming Era Drum Tower. Late dinner at Shaanxi style dumpling restaurant. DAY 3: Wednesday, March 15 / Wednesday, March 2 Morning tour of the Qin Terracotta Warrior Museum. Lunch at Hwa Ching Baths. Early afternoon exploring/hiking around Hwa Ching Baths area. Late afternoon walks, in small study groups, of remaining sections of the city east and south walls. Exploring, shopping and dinner along Ching Dynasty "Scholars"Street. Evening visit to Luo Ma Night market. Day 4: Thursday, March 16 / Thursday, March 23 Morning study visits to a factory and rural village. Lunch at a local restaurant. Afternoon visit with students of Xi'an Middle School. Dinner at a local restaurant. Evening small study group walking tour of old city center near Ming Era Bell Tower and the old Temple of the City God.. DAY 5: Friday, March 17 / Friday, March 24 9:00 AM departure to airport in Xianyang. 11:45 AM lunch flight to Hong Kong. Arrive in Hong Kong's Kai Tak Airport at 2:30 PM. Transport to HKIS. Student Activities: How can you and your students participate? First, for those teachers and students who may not yet be subscribed to KIDLINK, student participation is limited to those who are 10-15 years old. Students then need to subscribe to KIDLINK and KIDPROJ by sending an email message to: listserv@vm1.nodak.edu In the body of the message include the following text: SUBSCRIBE KIDLINK SUBSCRIBE KIDPROJ (you must subscribe to KIDLINK before subscribing to KIDPROJ, therefore the order is important) Once subscribed to KIDLINK, each student needs to answer the following four questions and send his/her answers to: RESPONSE@vm1.nodak.edu The questions are: 1. Who am I? 2. What do I want to be when I grow up? 3. How do I want the world to be better when I grow up? 4. What can I do now to make this happen? All messages from the groups traveling in China will be posted in KIDPROJ. Our students will be "working" in small groups which will be responsible for observing, recording, and researching topics such as education, transportation, agriculture, religion, industry, pollution, etc.... as they travel. If you have any questions for a group(s) they should be sent to: KIDPROJ@vm1.nodak.edu On the "Subject" line please type the following: Virtual China: For example: Virtual China: Bikers/Agriculture Virtual China: Xi'an/Transportation Virtual China: Bikers & Xi'an/Education Virtual China: Xi'an/Week 1 This will help us direct the question to the appropriate student group(s) for a response. A complete list of the areas of emphasis will be provided after March 1st, when the students have made their choices. We hope you can "Virtually" join us in China sometime during the two weeks the traveling will occur. REQUEST FOR INFORMATION: This is our first attempt to "globalize" our annual China field trip. We'd like to get a handle on how much responsibility our students will have in terms of responding to your questions. If you believe that you and your students will be participating in our "Virtual China" field trip please send a message to: KIDPROJ@vm1.nodak.edu On the subject line please put: Virtual China:Participation In the text of your message please answer the following quetions: 1. Number of students who will be involved: 2. Grade level of participating students: 3. Anticipated frequency of e-mailed questions: 4. School name: 5. School location (city, state, country, longitude, latitude): 6. Particular areas of interest in China: 7. Contact person: >>> Posting number 1926, dated 20 Feb 1995 07:29:46 Date: Mon, 20 Feb 1995 07:29:46 -0500 Reply-To: Special KIDLink Projects Sender: Special KIDLink Projects From: "Patricia A. Weeg" Subject: *Virtual China: Participation Jim, Count us in! Patti ------ 1. about 10 students 2. grades 5 and 6 3. We'll try to send a question a day 4. Delmar Elementary School 5. Delmar, Maryland USA 38 27 21 N 75 34 40 W 6. We are interested in all areas of China ;-) We are checking the air in our virtual bike tires right now! ======================================================= Patti Weeg Chapter 1 Computer Teacher Delmar Elementary School Delmar, Maryland USA pweeg@source.asset.com pweeg@umd5.umd.edu =======================================================