This site is constructed so that a student may complete the activities independently. However, each activity offers many opportunities for a teacher to help the student make valuable connections to other subject areas. I would encourage the teacher to go through each activity and then plan mini lessons which would serve to give prerequisite information or extension activities for enrichment or transfer.
In Activity One the teacher may wish to expand on information in the site glossary as needed. It may also be necessary to take students through the site before actually having them complete the scavenger hunt. It is important that students successfully complete Activity One before going on to the next two activities. Exposure to needed vocabulary and familiarity with the site's format and types of data presented are essential for success in the following two activities.
Activity Two primarily focuses on data collection. Any dialog the teacher can initiate with students to raise their awareness of the importance of consistency and accuracy in data collection is valuable. The teacher may also need to instruct students in the technological skills required to complete this task. This of course will depend on available equipment.
Activity Three gives students the opportunity to study a simulated oil spill in Tampa Bay. Their job now is to synthesize the meteorological and tide information they have collected over the five days and plot their spill. They must explain their predictions using as much factual data as they can. Knowing a little about the coastline will help them decide on the severity of the damage and what agencies might need to be called in to assist.
Evaluation of the activities
Students should understand that simulations require both art and science. Their predictions should be evaluated based on how well the data they have collected supports their conclusions. A good way to conduct such an evaluation would be to have each student present the required paperwork for each activity and explain their simulation and supporting data. A simple checklist rubric may be given to students when they begin this project to be used for self and peer evaluation. This rubric can then be used for teacher evaluation during this presentation.