Ms Lin, a nature lover since childhood, began with a project aimed at conserving butterflies at Tamshui Elementary School. The project ¡¥Bring the Plain Tiger butterfly into the Schoolyard¡¦ was highly successful. She also wanted her pupils to extend their ¡¥antennae¡¦ further than the schoolyard, and took them to the nearby coastline of Lioukuaicuo, which is a 20-minute bus ride from the school, and provides a safe and smooth terrain, easy for excursions. Along the coast, they started nature observations, and also chose the hermit crab as their conservation project.

Visiting Lioukuaicuo was something of a refreshing experience for the Tamshui pupils. It also offered them a glance at rich diversity and beauty of nature. Meanwhile, the teacher¡¦s happiest moments were when she saw how the students¡¦ minds and views expanded through these activities. The children were at first unaccustomed to the sticky sand and seawater, but eventually became engrossed with the many creatures residing in the shoreline. The most interesting part of their excursion was sitting on rocks, where they felt all kinds of things moving around under them as if someone was scratching their butts to their surprise, the rock turned out to be a barnacle. They also found creatures like small fish, tiny shrimp, teeny crabs, starfish and sea slugs. The rocky reef area is just like a playground for the animals on tidal flat.

The members of Roots and Shoots group saw how souvenir shops in the area sold all kinds of products made from seashells, and how tourists would come to the seaside to collect shells; then they noticed that the hermit crabs, who need empty seashells to live in, became homeless. They spread the word around school and collected all their shells from home, then took them to the beach, thereby ¡¥returning¡¦ shells to the hermit crabs. But first, they marked the shells with environment-friendly paints, to see how many shells would be inhabited. This turned out to be a tremendous success: many hermit crabs moved into the new shells. As they discovered, the crustaceans preferred shells with not too much sand in them. Meanwhile the students counted numbers, drew up reports, held discussions and beach clean-up activities, and even constructed a special habitat for the hermit crabs (see http://mail.tsps.edu.tw/~hermit/)

Sometimes street vendors can be found in Tamshui selling hermit crabs. Ms. Lin explains to her students that people living by the sea tend to make a living out of the things they find nearby. Then she left some questions to think and see whether they can come up with solutions. ¡§All kinds of activities can provide knowledge, not just books can do that,¡¨ said Ms. Lin.

Through the Roots and Shoots program, the Tamshui Elementary pupils have turned into intelligent and caring members of their environment. ¡§Most children coming across tiny animals will just shriek, grab them with their hands, or even squash the creatures to death; but our students are not like that at all,¡¨ said Ms. Lin. They¡¦ve learned how to approach the animals with calm, and how to coexist with them peacefully. This is ultimately how they learn the importance of respect for life.

Ms. Lin would like to tell all our readers that tidal flat is a part of our lives, which many of us do not fully understand; it harbors many mysteries which are just waiting to be explored. ¡§Go take a walk along the shore, just to enjoy it. Don¡¦t miss the beauty! ¡¨ she said with a big smile.