Teaching Area: Social Studies

Unit Name: Dingshan Creek - Where the River Goes and Comes From

Age Group: Senior Years - Adults

Teaching Materials Source: Self-made

Instructor: Wang Zhiwen

Teaching Focus: Observation through the Five Senses, Understanding Dingshan Creek Water System, Changes in South City Landscape

Teaching Resources: YT Videos, Field Interview Data Collection, Outdoor Exploration

Teaching Activities:

l  Phase One: Introduction (Ten minutes)

1. Play the song "River Bank" by singer Misha, using the lyrics to guide students to think about the metaphor of streams.

2. Explain the metaphor of the stream's purity through various religious rituals such as baptism, sending off the king boat, offering rice dumplings, and releasing water lanterns.

l  Phase Two: Graves and Bull Carts (Fifteen minutes)

1. Present the "Taiwan Fortress Map" to showcase the texture of Hsinchu during the late Qing Dynasty and early Japanese rule.

2. Guide students to observe changes in contour lines outside the South Gate of Zhuqian City.

3. Introduce the content of the stone tablet "Prohibition Inscription", showing the mountainous and grave-filled conditions outside the South Gate.

4. Use Google Maps to present the contemporary Hsinchu cemetery areas, linking them to the historical land attributes of Dingshan Creek.

l  Phase Three: Schools and Parks (Fifteen minutes)

1. Use the "Taiwan Fortress Map" to guide students to discuss zoning principles if they were Japanese planners.

2. Explain the governance policy of "Industrial Japan, Agricultural Taiwan."

3. Present the "Hsinchu Urban Planning Map" to guide students in observing changes outside the South Gate.

4. Explain the reasons for relocating graves using the content from the "Three Realms Empty Tablet."

5. Use Google Maps to present the contemporary South Outer Food and Cultural District, linking it to the historical land attributes of Dingshan Creek.

l  Phase Four: Illuminating the Tree of Three Types of People (Ten minutes)

1. Introduce excerpts from the "Hsinchu County Interview Book: Mountains and Rivers."

2. Read ancient place names found in the "Taiwan Fortress Map."

3. Introduce the interactions among the Minnan people, indigenous peoples, and Hakka people surrounding Dingshan Creek.

l  Phase Five: Stream Exploration (One hundred twenty minutes)

1. Explore along the Dingshan Creek system, observing water channels, streams, water collection landscapes, and water beliefs.

2. Introduce the endangered plant, Salvinia.

3. Present aggressive and accumulation faces at stream bends.

4. Introduce irrigation facilities like the mother-child ditch.

5. Introduce water infrastructure such as the harmonica bridge.

6. Introduce various types of crossing bridges.

7. Introduce the Tingfu Creek water system.

8. Guide students to observe the types of garbage in the creek, determine their sources, and introduce the concept of planned purchasing and waste reduction initiatives.

9. Observe the confluence of Dingshan Creek, Tingfu Creek, and the Ke-Ya Creek.

10. Reserve blank time for students to explore.

l  Phase Six: Indoor Sharing (Ten minutes)

1. Listen to Lin Shengxiang's composition "Writing Our Ancestry along the Lower Danshui River."

2. Analyze the meaning of the lyrics, guiding students to re-understand the relationship between streams and humans.

3. Encourage students to ask questions and appropriately probe deeper into "why."

4. Provide feedback and acknowledgment.