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Why do ocean waves only crash and break when they reach the shore?

Show of hands — before you project anything

Predict first: a wave rolls in calmly out deep, then crashes at the shore. Do you think the wind changed, or something under the water?

  • A Way more than you'd guess
  • B About what you'd guess
  • C Way less than you'd guess

Count the votes out loud. Hold them to it — then watch.

Project it (fullscreen)

Discussion prompts

  • Predict first: a wave rolls in calmly out deep, then crashes at the shore. Do you think the wind changed, or something under the water?
  • Predict first: if the beach drops off steeply versus slopes gently, which one makes the wave tip over harder? Why?
  • The water in a wave mostly circles in place. So predict — how does the foam still end up sliding all the way up the sand?

Where it shows up in real life

  • Waves curling and crashing into white foam at the beach
  • Surfers riding the long, rolling break of a gently sloped reef or beach
  • A boat far out at sea bobbing up and down on a swell that never crashes

A prediction-first worksheet — no answer key.

zero prep · no login · any projector

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