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Title
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Wave Tank Tsunami
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Type
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Primary: Laboratory
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Operation
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Infinite Potential
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Mission:
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Mission 2: Waves of Change
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Print Page
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37
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Subjects
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Earth and space science | Energy | Science as inquiry | Science process skills | Modeling | Science
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Grades
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5 | 6 | 7 | 8
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Keywords
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model, tsunami, wave, generation, generate, magnet, coastline, bay
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Duration
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00:45:00 (HH:MM:SS)
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Audience
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Teachers | Elementary Grades | Junior High
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Created On
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3/30/2009
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Copyright
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Photo: NASA
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From: Infinite Potential Mission 2: Waves of Change (pp: 37) |
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Wave Tank Tsunami In this activity, you will have an opportunity to observe the behaviors and properties of waves. Based upon your observations, you will understand how the devastation produced by this wave is affected by shoreline characteristics. |
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|  Like other scientists, Dr. Titov uses models to better understand the processes that generate tsunamis. Most of his models are computer simulations that use real-world data to make predictions about tsunami formation. In this activity, you will have an opportunity to observe the behaviors and properties of waves. Based upon your observations, you will understand how the devastation produced by this wave is affected by shoreline characteristics. |  Overhead observations reveal how waves are affected as they approach and interact with coastlines. |
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| Materials |
| | - waterproof clay
- sheet of white paper
- flashlight
- wooden blocks (or alternate supports)
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| Lab Prep |
- Use wooden blocks or other supports to elevate the dish at least 10 cm above a piece of paper on your desktop.
- Add water to the dish. Stop when the dish is filled to about 3/4 of its depth.
- Blow across the water in short puffs and longer sustained breaths. What do you observe? What process is modeled by blowing on the water?
- Release one drop of water from a dropper into the center of the dish from a height of at least 25 cm. Describe what you observe.
- Aim a flashlight beam directly down at the point where the drop strikes the water’s surface. Release another drop. Describe what you observe on the paper below the dish.
- Release a drop closer to the side of the dish. Describe what happens now. Explain any changes you see.
- Place pieces of clay near the center of the dish, making sure they extend above the water’s surface. How does the clay’s presence affect the pattern of waves produced by the falling droplets? Make a diagram of what you observe. Can you build a barrier that restricts the spreading waves?
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| Make Observations |
- Remove the clay from your dish.
- Press a lump of clay onto the top of a block magnet, making sure that it remains affixed to the metal. Position the magnet underwater at one end of the dish. Make sure the clay does not project above the water’s surface.
- Place the second magnet on the outside of the dish beneath the submerged magnet. Make sure that the magnets are strong enough to move each other through the thickness of the dish bottom.
- Move the outer magnet. How does the submerged magnet respond? Explain your observations. What geologic process is modeled by the magnet’s movement?
- Does the movement of the submerged magnet affect the water’s surface? How?
- Use clay to mold a coastline with a large central bay at one end of the dish. Predict how the shape of the model coastline will affect the wave as it moves into the bay. Test your prediction.
 | Journal Question
Describe two ways in which ocean waves can be produced. | |
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