The program also took the students to a website to see the most recent earthquake activity in southern California. For each broadcast, local middle school students in a live studio audience ask questions. When appropriate, students assist during the broadcast by helping conduct experiments or by responding to questions. Each broadcast includes time for questions from students using a toll-free telephone line and answers to questions by fax or email. State of the art equipment is used to bring the classroom, demonstrations, and samples as vividly as possible to the remote sites.
Technology allows superposition of the instructor on slide images or video footage.
Just as a weather forecaster is shown in front of a changing weather map on television, the instructor can appear to be swimming with fish or walking with dinosaurs. For certain broadcasts, to provide a truly hands-on experience, additional materials such as kits to test for viruses in water and preserved fish samples are available. Taped copies of past broadcasts are available. The 3-week Oceanography Camp for Girls at the University of South Florida allows young women to use the knowledge that they have gained in the classroom to explore the marine environment in their own community. Given the underrepresentation of females in the sciences, participants in this program mirror the demographics of females within our local Tampa Bay community, including African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, and Asians.