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Nursing
the Fireflies---- Taipei County Jian-An Elementary School |
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from Jian-An learnt the ecology by stream tracing.
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台北訊 圖：Jian-An
Elementary School
Think deeply, modern
people are rather pitiful - getting super amazed
when they fortuitously see a firefly; trudging over
long distances to participate in activities like
Fireflies Festival. However, students from Jian-An
Elementary School at Taipei County are not only
accompanied by 3000 fireflies, but they also acted
as firefly babysitters! There are various kinds
of butterflies, frogs, singing bugs, nectar and
food plants, traditional plants…what an impressive
environment! No wonder so many students from other
school districts are trying to transfer to Jian-An! |
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Why
is Jian-An so successful in promting nature conservation?
Mr. Lin Hong Sheng, the English teacher of Jian-An said
that Jian-An is located in a mountainous area with streams
behind the campus. All they have to do is to protect this
exceptionally endowed natural environment. Take the stream
behind the campus for instance. Five years ago, this stream
was extremely dirty and full of rubbish. However students
from Jian-An not only cleared the rubbish to protect the
stream, but also sought help from the mayor to promote the
concept of stream protection. Gradually, the sense of conservation
reached consensus among the community, and there are fewer
and fewer litterbugs. The stream became so clean that people
can now play in the stream. After this, Jian-An even started
nurturing fish fry and released them into the stream. With
the efforts of teachers and students from Jian-An, the stream
turned from a stinking ditch into a vital stream.
As for the nurturing of fireflies, Jian-An, progresses properly
and persistently. They selected higher form students to
be firefly babysitters responsible for taking care of the
larva till they could be released in nature. They also formed
a “Firefly Family” with other schools to promote the building
of small holes for the living of fireflies. This encouraged
students from different schools and ages to conserve fireflies
together.
With the success of nurturing fireflies, Jian-An holds “Firefly
Festival” from mid April to early May annually, This has
been a key feature of this elementary school. Guests are
invited not only to observe the fireflies and also to tour
the campus. These tours are guided by the students and parents
of Jian-An!
In spite of being the English teacher of the school, Lin
Hong Sheng, who has been a boy scout since he was a student,
was especially interested in nature and had been trained
in this aspect. He said that guiding students to learn in
the nature often gives wonderful results. Students always
discover lots of wonders that “adults would not think about”.
Watching the students progress bit by bit, from knowing
nothing about the nature to having interest, buying books
by themselves and then knowing the insects well, is most
delightful to him.
Lin Hong Sheng also reminds readers of this e-paper the
importance of protecting fireflies. He said fireflies are
sensitive to the environment and that they need a clean
environment to live. A little change in the environment
results in the immediate drop in the number of fireflies
and even total disappearance. “How would the environment
good for human beings if it is not even good for fireflies?”
Lin said.
Normally the best season for watching fireflies is mid April
to May. However Lin Hong Sheng said actually we may find
fireflies throughout the year. This year Jian-An will launch
a“Winter Fireflies Tour”. We are looking forward to your
participation to save the environment of the fireflies,
and of our environment too!
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