Tides of the Estuary

Coastal Habitats & Species—Tides of the Estuary

Summary: These lessons are designed to give an introduction to how tides and tidal cycles work by having students visualize, act out, reading and graph how tidal cycles work. Context is given to tides by way of discussing and understanding how they influence life around the estuary and open coast.

Concepts to teach: Tidal cycles, interconnectedness and balance

Goals: Students will develop an understanding of the fundamental role and ways that tidal forces play on the waters and habitats of the estuary.

Standards:
6.2E.1, 6.2P.1, 7.2P.1

Specific Objectives:

1. Students will be able to describe the tides and the forces that influence their height and frequency.
2. Students will be able to accurately read a tabular and graph form tide table and identify at least two high tides and two low tides by time and elevation.
3. Students will be able to describe at least three ways the tides influence life and activities in the estuary.

Activity Links and Resources:

• Water Going Up, Water Going Down lessons from the NOAA Estuary Education website. Three exercises explore how tides, wind, geographic processes and site topography affect the nation’s estuaries.
  • Exercise 1 (What do tides have to do with it?) includes obtaining current daily tidal data from the the NOAA Tides and Currents website
  • The TIDES “Tides of Change” lessons were developed by the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve.
    • Blank tide graph 1 day
    • Blank tide graph 4 day
• Tide Predictions for Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, OR
• NOAA Ocean Explorer: Tides—This narrated video provides a great visual for both how tides work and how they impact the earth
  • Predicting the Tides activity provides information, assessment questions, and an opportunity to apply knowledge
• Understanding Tides—This inexpensive 20-page publication available from Oregon Sea Grant describes the creation of tides, the roles of the moon and the sun in producing tides, the effects of elliptical orbits, the interactions among astronomical movements, and types of tides. The author, a high school teacher, also looks at phenomena such as seiches and tidal currents that are associated with tides.

Assessment:

• Assessments included in the NOAA Exploring Estuaries lessons
• Tide Table Discussion Guide included in the TIDES lessons