What did the beach say when the tide came in? Long time no sea!
TIDE TIMETABLES
Tides happen at different times every day, and that can be annoying! Imagine going to the beach to build sandcastles... but when you get there, it’s high tide and the sand is underwater! WINDY BEACH TIDE TIMES
WINDY BEACH
Wednesday
12 July
High
00:36
Low
07:14
High
13:31
Low
19:44
Thursday
13 July
High
01:52
Low
08:20
High
14:34
Low
20:46
Friday
14 July
High
02:54
Low
09:18
High
15:29
Low
21:43
Saturday
15 July
High
03:50
Low
10:11
High
16:20
Low
22:35
Luckily, we can predict the tides. The times of high and low tides are logged in tide tables, which you can often find at the seaside, and on the internet too.
Reading the tides Use the Windy Beach tide table to answer the questions! When is the second high tide on the 12th of July?
When is the first low tide on the 15th of July?
Check your answers on page 34.
TIDE MACHINES TIDAL ISLANDS ey / Wikimedia Com © William M. Connoll
It’s an island! Oh no it isn’t! Tidal islands are only islands sometimes. They’re cut off by the sea at high tide, but at low tide, they’re linked to the mainland by a beach or a path called a causeway.
© Shutterstock.com
mons
Today, we use computer software to predict the tides. But 150 years ago, they used amazing
tide-predicting machines
like this. They had lots of cogs and wheels to work out the tide cycles and were an early type of computer!
HOLD BACK THE TIDE!
You can’t stop the tide… or CAN you? To protect the coas tline from erosion, different kin ds of sea defences are us ed. Barriers called groynes stop sand from washing away while towns and beache s are protected from wave s by concrete or stone sea wa lls. Sand can even be shipp ed in to top up eroded beaches. Have a go at protecting a tow n by building your own sea wa ll!
Yo u will need
A gently sloping sandy beach (with the tide coming in) Bucket and spade
What you do 1. First, build some sandcastles several metres from the sea, clear of the waves. 2. Now you need to protect them! Build a wall around them using tightly packed sand, pebbles, seaweed, driftwood or any other natural materials from the beach. 3. What happens when the tide comes in? Which materials keep the water away for the longest amounts of time?
If you can’t get to nt ou M ’s el ha ic M t S a real beach, you could in Cornwall is a use play sand to make tidal island your own miniature beach in a dish, tray or sandpit. Build a mini sandcastle and sea wall, then add more and more water to make a rising tide. You can mimic waves by pushing on the water with a plastic bottle or cup.
