In this Model-Eliciting Activity (MEA), students will look over data and rank locations from the most attractive state to the least attractive state and help their friend's grandparents decide what locations would be the best states to move to, based on their needs and wants. Students will consider the following factors: natural disasters, seasons, landforms, bodies of water, climate zones and yearly precipitation.

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