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Grab a towel, spread it out on the ground and pretend you're reading Kid Scoop News next to the ocean. Close your eyes and imagine
the sound of the waves breaking along the shore.
The fetch is the distance over which the wind travels.
The longer the fetch, the bigger the waves.
As waves come closer to
shore and the water becomes
more shallow, the crest topples
over and the wave becomes a breaker.
If you spend a day at the
beach, you will notice
something change. At one
part of the day, the beach
will seem large. Then as
the day continues, the
sandy part of the beach
may become smaller and
smaller. Or the opposite
might happen. The beach
might seem to get larger
during the day.
What is happening? The
ocean is actually covering
more of the beach during
part of the day and less of
the beach during other
parts of the day. This is
caused by the tides. When
the ocean covers more of
the beach, it is called high
tide. When it covers less
of the beach, this is called
low tide.
Waves start with the wind blowing across the water.
When the wind blows hard enough and for a long
enough time, waves form.
Wavelength is distance between the crest of two waves.
The crest is the highest
spot on a wave.
The trough is lowest
spot on a wave.
www.kidscoop.com © Vicki Whiting July 2021
Official Kids Mag