BEFORE WATCHING PROGRAM OVERVIEW NOVA explores what happened and why when the December 26, 2004, tsunami developed off the Sumatran coast. The program: • tracks the Indian Ocean tsunami as it progresses outward from its epicenter. • notes how Earth’s continental plates can create earthquakes when they collide. • describes how the tsunami developed from an earthquake that occurred at a subduction zone off the Sumatran coast. • relates how the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii first registered the earthquake but, due to lack of any tsunami sensor networks in that region, was unable to know if a tsunami had formed. • recounts through descriptions and animations how the tsunami developed after the earthquake, how it traveled in the open ocean, and how it amplified as it neared the shoreline. • interviews survivors in several locations and shows the destruction caused by the waves. • details the influence of coastal morphology and seabed gradient on the tsunami’s destruction. • relates how Pacific Tsunami Warning Center officials were eventually able to calculate the tsunami’s travel time and alert East African embassies of its impending arrival. • recounts other Indonesian tsunamis and points out that some scientists had predicted catastrophic geological activity in that region. • considers the impact that no tsunami warning system or little tsunami education had on the outcome of the disaster. • reviews the four main causes of tsunamis—earthquakes, meteor impacts, volcanic or other explosive eruptions, and above-water and undersea landslides. • states that while, by some estimates, tsunamis pose a direct threat to about one-quarter of the world’s population, protection against them remains a matter of cost and politics. • speculates what could happen if a major earthquake occurred at the Cascadia subduction zone off the Pacific Northwest coast or if the Cumbre Vieja volcano in the Canary Islands collapsed into the sea. 1 Discuss with students what a tsunami is and how it can be creat- ed. Define epicenter. (See Activity Answer on page 4 for more infor- mation.) Have students use an atlas to locate some of the places in the program—the Indian Ocean, Sumatra, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and East Africa. 2 Draw a chart on the board that compares tsunamis and wind- driven waves. (See Activity Answer on page 4 for more information.) Discuss the main differences between these wave types. 3 Organize the class into four teams and assign a tsunami topic to each team: physical characteristics, awareness and safety information, occurrence worldwide, and impact on life. Have teams generate ques- tions related to their topics. As stu- dents watch, have them take notes on their areas of focus. 1 Provide time for teams to research questions they wrote down that were not answered in the program. Have teams share what they learned. What findings surprised students the most? 2 Ask students to consider why tsuna- mis can sometimes cause such damage and devastation. What are some characteristics of the wave that factor into how much damage it could cause? (Some characteris- tics include size and speed.) How do coastal or shoreline features fac- tor into the extent of damage? (Cliffs can buffer some of the energy and limit damage; open shorelines with gradual inclines can result in more substantial damage.) What role could a warning system play? (A warning system could potentially help save lives.) AFTER WATCHING Wave That Shook the World NOVA TEACHER’S GUIDE www.pbs.org/nova/tsunami Taping Rights: Can be used up to one year after the program is taped off the air. Original broadcast: March 29, 2005
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Wave That Shook the World Before Watchinggravitational attractive force between two masses is proportional to the masses and inversely proportional to thesquare of distance between
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In this companion Web site to the program, find out about how well officials can prepare for the next big tsunami, read an Ask the Expert feature, see how the Indonesian event unfolded, and delve into the global history of these seismic sea waves.
Provides a five-part high-school level earth science lesson plan that explores the geologic processes involved with the Indonesian tsunami. Includes analysis of actual seismograms from which stu-dents plot the earthquake’s epicenter.
Characterizes tsunamis and considers how they travel in different water depths.
Tsunamiwww.tulane.edu/~sanelson/geol204/
tsunami.htm
Describes the physical characteristics of tsunamis and includes definitions of wavelength, wave height, wave amplitude, wave frequency, and wave velocity. Includes formulas for calculating velocity.
Provides basic information about tsunamis, features 10 destructive tsunamis, and presents tsunami safety rules.
WaterWaveselectron4.phys.utk.edu/141/dec8/
december%208.htm
Distinguishes between deep-water waves and shallow-water waves and provides an example of a tsunami velocity calculation.
WhatisaWave?www.gmi.edu/~drussell/demos/
waves-intro/waves-intro.html
Defines a wave and illustrates examples of different waves.
WorldAtlas.comworldatlas.com/aatlas/imageg.htm
Maps latitude and longitude for cities, towns, and villages.
BooksFord,BrentA.andSeanP.Smith.Physicaloceanography.Arlington,VA:NSTAPress,2000.Includes background information, lessons, and activities related to water, waves, and the ocean.
Macquitty,MirandaandFrankGreenaway.eyewitness:ocean.NewYork,NY:DKPublishing,Inc.,1995.Focuses on Earth’s ocean environments and includes a section on waves and weather.
VanRose,Susanna.eyewitness:earth.NewYork,NY:DKPublishing,Inc.,1994.Discusses Earth and highlights modern oceanography, plate tectonics, and the formation of the ocean floor.