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Wave That Shook the World

Ideas from Teachers

(Gr. 7-12)
Objective
To understand the force of water.

Materials

• clean, one-gallon milk jugs with screw-type lid
• water

Procedure
Many students don't understand the force of water. Youth, inexperience, and the feeling of invincibility makes students believe that they could just bob along in the water. Many students think they could stand up in water and let the waves pass by them. They simply don't understand the force that water can exert on the body and how helpless one is in a tsunami wave or a flood.

Gather enough clean, one-gallon milk jugs with screw-type lids to have one per student. Fill each jug with a gallon of water and close the lid. Have students go outside and gently toss a gallon jug to each other at a five-foot distance. Ask students to note how heavy only one gallon feels when they catch it. Have them throw the water a little harder during the second toss. Is the force greater? Yes.

Now the tricky part. Have each student take a couple of steps back and throw the jug with a strong force (but not too strong) while another student catches it. How much impact did that throw have? Students will note that it was pretty strong.

Next have students imagine several hundreds of gallons crashing at their bodies at once. Ask them to imagine hundreds of gallons behind the water in contact with their bodies pushing them to the ground or against trees, rocks, or buildings. What would it feel like if a tree trunk were in that same water and hit them with the same force?

By tossing one gallon of water, students begin to understand the force that water has. The force of water shapes Earth more than any other moving force. Any thoughts about surfing a tsunami wave, or just holding onto a tree while it flows by you, are quickly dispelled when students start to understand what just one gallon of water feels like when it hits their bodies.

Sent in by
Kristen Holden
American Heritage Academy
Canton, GA