Student Research Pages - Tides
Oceans on the Move
Tides
Have you ever wondered why the ocean stays on the move? TIDES! That's why.
The ocean that comes ashore in Texas and oceans that come ashore in other parts of the world move all the time. They never stay still. Whew! It's a good thing water doesn't get tired!
One reason ocean water stays on the move is because of tides. Oceans all over the world have tides because of the moon and gravity.
The moon?! But...what does the moon have to do with the ocean?
As the moon rotates around the earth, water follows it almost as if it were a magnet. Think of tides kind of like a big bulge of water being moved around by the pull of the moon.
The sun affects tides, too, but since it's a lot further away than the moon, we don't notice its effects as much so we mostly say the moon is responsible for ocean tides.
Every day, the ocean will have two kinds of tides: a high tide and a low tide. High tides and low tides are cycles that happen every single day of the year in oceans all over the world.
High tide -
Photo by Samuel Wantman
High Tide
High tide is when the ocean comes its farthest onto shore. This happens about every 12 hours.
When we have high tide here in Texas, someone else in the world will be having low tide. Tides do not happen at the same time everywhere.
As soon as high tide is over, low tide starts beginning.
Low tide -
Photo by Samuel Wantman
Low Tide
Low tide is when the ocean goes the farthest away from the shore. This happens about every 12 hours. When we have low tide here, somewhere else in the world will be having high tide. Tides do not happen at the same time everywhere.
As soon as low tide is over, high tide starts beginning.