Tsunami!

Yvonne Norman May 2009

livesaildie.com

http://tsunami2009.blogspot.com/

Day one: We will rotate through these stations:

Are you faster than a tsunami?

Waves: wind or earth movement?

Meteor, Calving Iceberg or Volcano flow, Earthquake – can you recreate the tsunami from each of these?

Day two: Power point presentation and experimenting with Slinkys to see waves travel.

Day three: Legends, Questions, Begin work on posters – students will take them home to work on as well.

Day four: Protect the town from a tsunami! On this day the students will work in teams of 4 to design and build a structure that could protect a town from a tsunami. The testing of wave stopping/slowing structures will probably continue into the next day. Be flexible.

Day five: If needed, finish testing the students’ structures. Students will display their posters in the classroom and spend some time looking at them. At the end of class they will take the “test”.

http://www.zmescience.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/tsunami-formation.jpg

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tsunami/anat-flash.html

Biggest waves…

In 1958 an earthquake in Alaska caused the side of a cliff to fall into Lituya Bay 3000 feet below. The resulting mega tsunami wave destroyed everything up to an elevation of over 1700 feet!

In 1737 waves were recorded at 210 feet tall on the North coast of Asia

http://geology.com/records/biggest-tsunami.shtml

The waves that inspired a warning system:

In 1946 a 7.4 earthquake in Alaska sent tsunami waves travelling 490 mph. 5 hours later, and 2400 miles away, they hit

HawaiiThese waves were 55 feet tall.Scientists realized for the first time that it was

possible to warn those in a tsunami pathThis situation is what triggered the birth of the

Pacific Tsunami Warning System

http://nctr.pmel.noaa.gov/Mov/TITOV-INDO2004.mov

http://nctr.pmel.noaa.gov/animations/Sumatra2004-cmoore.mov

Sensors and sirens warn us when a tsunami may be coming:

http://nctr.pmel.noaa.gov/Mov/DART_04.swf

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9JDzBTwiig

www.onlineopinion.com.au

Global Warming may contribute to stronger tsunami wavesMelting frozen tundra and thawing ice

sheets. This releases fresh water into the ocean. More water in the ocean means that the level

of the ocean is higher. When the sea level warms it contains more

energy. When a tsunami wave begins, there is a

transfer of kinetic energy from the ocean to the tsunami wave.

Tsunami waves cause catastrophic damage

http://www.aegweb.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=4038

http://www.flickr.com/photos/egold-prein/2925163/

http://blog.800hightech.com/satellite-image-tsunami-sri-lanka/1287/

Safety Rules!Always pay attention to the ocean when you’re at the

beachIf you see the water rush out move to high ground or go

inland as far as you canIf you see water continually move onto the shore move

to high ground or go inland as far as you canIf you feel an earthquake move to high ground or go

inland as far as you canDo not go into a building near the ocean. If you have

time, leave your ocean-side building and move to high ground or go inland as far as you can

Do not go back to the beach until an official says it is OK

Why do we need to know this stuff?

This knowledge can save your life!

You could save someone else’s life!

“Tilly Smith, a 10 year old girl from Oxshott, Surrey, England saved a hundred fellow tourists from the December 26, 2004 tsunami. She urged her family to get off Maikhao beach in Phuket , Thailand after seeing the tide rush out. Her mother and father alerted others to clear the beach. She learned about tsunamis from an earthquake project that her geography teacher, Andrew Kearney, had her complete at Danes Preparatory School.”

http://www.oesd.noaa.gov/terk_intro.htm http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=6691940&page=1

http://wave.oregonstate.edu/