In this Model-Eliciting Activity (MEA), Big Beach Travels has selected the students to help them choose the best month for their client to visit Daytona Beach. Students will use rainfall and temperature information to inform their decisions and to rank the other months from best time to visit to worst time to visit. In a twist, they will be told that the clients changed their minds and, instead, would like to travel to Ft. Lauderdale and see a concert on the beach while they are there. Students must use the same data for Ft. Lauderdale as well as event information to determine the best month to visit and rank the other months in order from best time to visit to worst.

Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. MEAs resemble engineering problems and encourage students to create solutions in the form of mathematical and scientific models. Students work in teams to apply their knowledge of science and mathematics to solve an open-ended problem while considering constraints and tradeoffs. Students integrate their ELA skills into MEAs as they are asked to clearly document their thought processes. MEAs follow a problem-based, student-centered approach to learning, where students are encouraged to grapple with the problem while the teacher acts as a facilitator. To learn more about MEAs visit: https://www.cpalms.org/cpalms/mea.aspx