Tides and the Moon IN T IO N 82 V EST IGA I n August, Tyler went to visit his cousins who lived near the ocean in Tidal Town. After lunch on his second day there, his cousin Morgan took him to Sandy Beach. “Today is a great day for the beach,” said Morgan. “The tide will be really low early this afternoon, so there will be a lot of room on the beach for us to play ball and run around.” At the beach, they spread out a blanket, played catch, and splashed around in the water. But in the late afternoon the tide began to come in, with the ocean covering up more and more of the beach. “Time to move our blanket way back,” said Morgan. “High tide will be really high today.” “Do you know why the tides are extremely high and low today?” Tyler asked. “I know it has something to do with the Moon,” Morgan answered. “Right next to the tide information in the Tidal Town News are pictures of the Moon.” That night they searched the Internet and found data on the Moon and tides for Sandy Beach. Then they started to look for a relationship between the tides and the Moon. CHALLENGE What is the relationship between the phase of the Moon and extreme tides? Compare the water level at low and high tide in this bay in New Brunswick, Canada. F-51 Tides and the Moon • Activity 82 MATERIALS For each student: 1 Student Sheets 82.1a, b, and c, “Moon and Tide Calendar” PROCEDURE 1. Table 1 below shows the data about the Moon and tides that Tyler and Morgan found for the day when they went to Sandy Beach and for another day about a week earlier. 2. Record in your science notebook: a. How many high tides occur each day? b. How many low tides occur each day? c. Which day shows more extreme tides (higher high tides and lower low tides)? Table 1: High and Low Tides for Two Days in August Day High Tide or Low Tide? Tide Time Height (feet) high 12:10 a.m. 2.6 low 6:16 a.m. 0.5 high 12:18 p.m. 2.2 low 6:36 p.m. 0.2 low 12:26 a.m. –0.2 high 7:02 a.m. 3.5 low 1:37 p.m. –0.2 high 7:19 p.m. 2.3 August 7 quarter August 14 F-52 Moon Phase full Tides and the Moon • Activity 82 Tyler and Morgan realized that they had to look at the tide height and Moon phase for several months. They decided to look for the days with extreme tides and days with full Moons to see if they could find a connection. Their results are shown in Table 2 below. Table 2: Moon and Tide Data for Five Months Sets of Extreme Tides (EXT) Full Moons (F) May 2–5 May 18 May 18–21 June 16 June 1–2 July 15 June 14–16 August 14 July 1–2 September 13 July 13–17 July 28–30 August 13–15 August 28–30 September 12–15 3. Transfer the information in Table 2 to your Student Sheet: • Mark full Moon days with an “F.” • Mark when you think there will be new Moon days with an “N.” • Mark extreme tide days with an “EXT.” 4. Record in your science notebook any patterns you see in the relationship between the tides and the Moon each month. F-53 Tides and the Moon • Activity 82 ANALYSIS 1. Use the information on your Student Sheet: a. to count the number of days between the full Moons and list them. Hint: You should list 4 numbers. b. to calculate the average number of days between full Moons. c. to use your average to predict the date of the next full Moon after the one on September 13. 2. Based on the data on your Student Sheet, how often do sets of extreme tides (both high and low) occur? 3. What is the connection between extreme tides and the phases of the Moon? Use the evidence from your calendar to support your answer. EXTENSION Visit the Issues and Earth Science page of the SEPUP website to view an animation of the tides. F-54
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