Year 10 Monday 21/2: The Science of Big Waves

Pre-viewing:

1. Where do ocean waves come from? What gets them started? Ocean waves come from storms out at sea that have strong winds that cause swells which then cause the waves.
2. What do you think a surfer should know about waves before they try and ride a wave while surfing? They should know what kind of wave they are facing. They should try and learn this kind of stuff so that they are better prepared for when they try and surf these waves.

Question for the Video:

1. Observe all the waves that you see and describe how they form and break. Use as many words found in the segment for your descriptions. Maverick waves form out around the Gulf of Alaska due to storms out there that have very strong winds. These waves will only form correctly when the low and high pressure zones are in the right position and sent the waves the correct direction to the surfing location.
2. Describe how waves are formed, how they originate, and how they are measured? They are formed when storms out at sea cause these waves to start when energy from things like wind, transfer energy into wave movement. They are measured through the wavelength (distance between high points of different waves), period (the time between the crest between each wave), and wave height (the height of the wave measured from the distance between the elevations of a crest and a neighboring trough).
3. What is a maverick wave and what is special about the way it is formed? A maverick wave is a wave at the surfing location in Northern California. They only happen when the conditions are right and they originate in The Wave Factory around the Gulf of Alaska. As the waves come to shore they can be refracted by rocks and all their energy is concentrated into one spot.
4. How is energy stored and transferred during wave? The energy just keeps on going until it hits something but as the sea floor starts to rise that energy is forced up and forces the wave to become taller. The energy is transferred by spinning its way to whatever it will hit.
5. List any kind of advice given by the surfers about how to survive these “big waves.” Respect the wave. If you decide to catch a wave you should go in and catch it before it starts to crash and stay ahead of the part of the wave that is crashing.