SnitchSeeker.com - View Single Post - Astronomy Lesson 1 :: The Moon {formation theory & tides}

sweetpinkpixie · 05-11-2015, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hera

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"Professor," Zeke started hand raised to get the man's attention..." tides go," and then he conducted his demonstration, his arm waving about on thin air, with a "fwooooossshhhhhccchhhrrrfwooooossshhhhh," because apparently that's what crashing waves sounded like. Yep. This was legit.

Did he want to see it again?

The professor was puzzled. Puzzled because he had no idea how to respond to that. Other than apparently standing there, his head turned slightly, with his lips pursed as he half smiled.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saz Hale

Abby thought and raised her hand and said "Tides could mean many things like the ocean hitting a beach but it is mostly when the sea withdraws further out from the land and then returns the next day at a certain time" Abby had read about this somewhere

"Yes, very good. That is the general gist of things."

They would work on the wording in a bit.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoldenSnake

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There are spring tides and neap tides, which are the high and low tides, respectively...or is it the other way around?" Natalia wasn't sure and couldn't remember the specifics. "It all has to do with the position of the moon...right?" And waves. Waves were cool.

"Excellent," he applauded. And since she had brought them up, he would just elaborate on this bit right now. "While the name 'spring tide' may create the thought that it is a tide that occurs during a specific time of year, it does not. A spring tide occurs when the Sun, Moon and Earth all line up at a new or full moon and thus their gravitational pulls reinforce each other and create the highest tides and the lowest tides. A neap tide, by contrast, occurs when the Moon is at first or third quarter and it and the Sun's gravitational pulls are working against one another in two different directions. Thus, the overall effect is that high tides are lower than average and the low tides are higher than the average."

Quote:

Originally Posted by JustAlice

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okay. What? That was a lot of information at once, and Rowan couldn't make her hand write that fast. She wasn't used to learning like this, and it was a bit intense... "Professor, slow down..."

Did that mean he needed to teach the lesson in slow motion? He checked his sundial watch curiously and then shook his head. "Have a schedule to keep," he nodded. "But you are more than welcome to stop by my office with questions later if you wish."

And, really, the Flamsteed only had one speed. Ludicrous speed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpiritWolfe Malfoy

What they were talking about tides now? Weren't that not only a second ago speaking about the moon? Hady shifted in her seat, quill dangling from her fingers in a moments pause. Slowly lifting her free hand into the answer she gave her answer, "A tide is the ride and fall of water..uh the sea level is what I mean." Yeah she just worded it sorta weirdly. Professor Airey got what she meant though right? Hopefully.

Now it was back to note taking.

He nodded and gave the Slytherin a thumbs up. Yup yup. That was the gist of things.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Govoni

Jotting a few things down, Gabe raised his hand, amusement coloring his voice. "They're critical to speciation."...which Gabe had attitude about because he wasn't a fan of.......creatures. Any creatures...unless they served some greater purpose. It was a crude point of view, but his experiences hadn't helped in warming up to the idea of them. Though, this didn't take away from the fact that it was fascinating stuff.

"....which, considering bodies of water, means that new species are given the opportunities to evolve thanks to the tides rising and receding, and currents....with adapting from salt water to fresh water, and visa versa."

...or so he'd read.

"An excellent point, Mr. Banner," he nodded. "Something we all ought to keep in mind and be thankful for."

Quote:

Originally Posted by nanyjj

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"The highest and lowest tides normally occur during Full and New Moons, riiight?" she said with her hand raised. Again, the association with the Moon.

"They do indeed!" he cheered, snapping his fingers excitedly at the Hufflepuff.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hey Ju

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Moon, Earth, KABOOM and whatnot. There seemed to have a lot of explosions when it came to Astronomy. Anyhow, the key word for now was 'tides', apparently. Agatha ran her hand through her beeeautiful hair and lazily looked around. If she knew anything about tides? "Sometimes it's safe to swim, some other times it's not." Agatha offered with a shrug.

Mmmmmmmmmm...sure? Yeah. Sure. He nodded his head towards the Slytherin and moved on to the next raised hand.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fire_faerie

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What does he know about tides? Hmm. Tides. Bad for swimming. "They make navigation difficult if you don't calculate them exactly, but become really useful if you do..." yup. That was his answer. He really didn't know very much about tides.

"Very true," he nodded towards the Ravenclaw. "Very tricky indeed to calculate but quite vital in keeping people and the environment safe."

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

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Alrightey! Settle down, Adi! Class was moving on. So, what did he know about tides? Adi raised his hand after slipping on his galoshes. "I think surfers depend on tides to help them surf, Professor duuuude, Sir.'' The whole duuuude thing was said in the 'cool surfer voice'. "I mean Professor Airey, Sir.'' Oh, yeah. The Hufflepuff had a proposition for the man. "Pssst. Professor, I can help you improve your vocals if you like.'' Hehe.

............

Was it just the astronut, or was Mr. Rehman a bit more...cheeky this term? First the slip of the tongue at the feast, now the informal manner in which he had just addressed the professor him...but it was the next bit - the bit he had whispered - that REALLY got the astronomer's blood boiling. Well, boiling was a bit of an exaggeration.

"3 points from Hufflepuff, Mr. Rehman," he said in an equally soft voice. "I suggest you be more mindful with your words."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mordred

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So...tides? He knows...a thing or two? Yeah? Hand up! “The tides go up when the body of water faces the moon, and it goes down when that face of the earth is no longer facing the moon.”
...

"Not JUST the side facing the Moon, Mr. Mordaunt," he winked. They would see all that in just a moment, however.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RandomRaven

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"Tide means uh... when the level of sea water changes like uh.. You know, in some time it can reach the highest level and then it can reach the lowest level... Like that?" Did his answer make sense? Well, at least he tried to explain.. despite of his limitation in English and the accent.

Sorting...combing...process...

Yes, it seemed he had the general gist of things. The professor nodded his head and smiled at the Gryffindor.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Becky

Oh, he was never speaking ever again! Why did he have to keep getting it wrong? James put his head down on the desk and didn't move after that. His quill sat on the desk and the ink that he'd put on it just before he'd answered was dripping onto the parchment. He missed being at home and having mum to cuddle if he felt like he was going to cry. His bright yellow wellies sat beside him, untouched. He might just possibly... maybe... be trying not to cry at failing.

Uh....oh?

While he did briefly consider the glazed over look in the boy's eyes to mean complete and utter distress - another Perfectopuff, perhaps? - the professor's eyes were mostly fixated on the ink dripping from the boy's quill on to his parchment.

"You're wasting ink," he whispered so only the young man could hear him, pointing to the dark spots on his parchment. Not to mention dirtying up his notes!

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoenixRising

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Now onto the question of interest; what did she know about tides? Well she knew about its connection the famous physicist - noone mentioned him yet. Raising her hand, "well Professor, I know that Sir Isaac Newton was the first to explain tides as the result of gravitational pulls to astronomical masses, with use of his theory of universal gravitation."

There. Something different to contribute but all connected, yes?

"He was indeed the first to explain tides scientifically," he beamed. "In 1686!" Another little factoid that everyone ought to have written down.

Quote:

Originally Posted by littledhampir

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"Well, professor, tidal waves are these huuuuge waves and sometimes they come up on shore and whoosh!" She raised her hands very high above her head and brought them down in time with the sound affect, making a motion to demonstrate the movement of the wave. "Sometimes they can even wash out whole towns and that's sad." You know, because people died.

"Actually, despite its name, tidal waves have nothing to do with the tides but do have everything to do with the movement of the Earth's crust." So...not something they would be discussing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lissy Longbottom

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But first...tides. Ok, what DID Caleb know about tides? Not a lot, but...he raised his hand anyways. "Well the tides change depending on the time of day. There's high tide and low tide...high tide is when the waves crash higher up on the beach, and visa versa," he explained. There, that was his extent of knowledge on tides.

"Very good, Mr. Newell," he nodded. "Generally speaking, the Earth rotates through two tidal 'bulges' - the gravitational pull on the oceans - every lunar day. Therefore, coastal areas experience two high and two low tides approximately every 24 hours and 50 minutes with high tides occurring about 12 hours and 25 minutes apart from one another."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samia

Noel sung along, oh yes and then wrote down whatever the professor said next. Well what did he know about tides??? Nothing, except: "you don't really wanna get on the bad side of a tide. you can drown, no matter HOW good of a swimmer you are," Was that morbid? Totally.

He nodded solemnly. "Very true."

...

Moving on.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sararara

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"Sometimes the tide is high and sometimes it'd low, so when the tide is high a bunch of the beach is covered in water and when it's low it...isn't. It's like the moon had these big invisible strings that pull the water over the beach like a blanket sometimes. Maybe it's when the beach is sleeping."

That totally made sense. Right? Right.

That description was almost endearing. Almost. It did bring a smile to the man's face, however. "Interesting imagery," he mused, throwing a wink at the Hufflepuff before moving on.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Expecto-Penguin

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"Professor I know that waves like at a beach can be really strong and can take you under if the current is strong enough. I am not quite sure what makes the current stronger though.." That was still stumped on. He agreed with Noel that it could make you drown.

"Currents work a bit differently and, unfortunately, we do not have the time to discuss those today. I can, after class, recommend some books for you to look at in the library, however."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meizzner

Dante did not know much about tides. Though he knew about tidal waves. But that is not what Professor Airey was looking for. What he liked to do did not depend on the tides like someone he knew. But whatever.

"Well, it is a brand of laundry detergent."

Technically it was Tide and don't ask how he knows this.

Stare.

Long pause.

Stare some more.

BURST OUT INTO A FIT OF LAUGHTER.

That was essentially what just happened in the span of a full minute.

"Good one, Mr. Barrington. Take a point for make me nearly we---- for making me laugh."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squishy

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What did she know about tides? Hmm. Lux gave it a moments thought before raising her hand. " I know that surfers rely on tides and ride them. Oh, and there are high tides and low tides. High tides cover cover more shore than low tides."

"They do indeed," he nodded. "Quite the thrilling sport, truth be told."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Felixir

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"In some places, the tides are, like... big. I mean, there's a huuuuuge distance between where the water's edge is at high tide and where it is at low tide. In some towns there are beaches, but at high tide they're completely covered and you would be walking down the steps and straight into the sea, but at low tide the water is waaaaaaaaaay out there. The difference is huge, y'know?" DID he? Maybe not, Toby wasn't the most eloquent when it came to explaining things. "Where I live, there's not a huge difference between high and low tide. Can't be more'n....... I dunno... a thirty foot difference between how much land is covered in water at high tide and how much is covered at low tide." Like, thirty feet in distance rather than depth. Yes. "So yeah. Some are big, and some are small." Nod. Nod nod.

"Stellar, Mr. Toby," he nodded. "That gap between tides you speak of is called the tidal range. Which, for those of you seeking a formal definition, is the difference in sea level between low tide and high tide. While typically this range is about 2 feet, there are some areas where this is much more dramatic. For example, the largest tidal range is on the coast of the Bay of Fundy in Canada. Here, the tides can change by as much as 40 feet from high to low tide."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harry174

Angel looked at the Professor before she raised her hand, did he want the long version or the short version, she had learned about this at school. "Professor the tides cause erosion of rocks and other part of the land, you see the tides play a big part in this because you have a high tide and a low tide, when the tide is high it will cause a lot more of the land to be underwater, but when it is low then that will make that part of the land visible again." Angel thought that it would be amazing if she could tell the rest of the story she had but she thought it was only fair to let someone else take over.

Erosion. Of rocks!

Airey instinctively reached for his pet rocks - which were no where to be found at the moment because they were tucked away safely in his office taking their afternoon naps. Ahem. Anyway. Focus...focusing on the words Miss Valentine was saying...

Only he was too distracted by the word...erosion.

"Yes...yes..." he said, his eyes unfocusing for a moment. "Very...er...very good."

Quote:

Originally Posted by hermionesclone

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Still, he was gonna answer anyways. "Like Adi said," 'Sup, Adster. "Surfers use the tides to their advantage when they go surfing. And so do people like sailors and the navy in general. Kinda need to know about the moon and how it'll affect the tides before they set out so that they're not setting out on dangerous waters."

More nodding was happening. "Very good, Mr. Whitlock."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jessiqua

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"Tides are the rising and retreating level of the ocean. It creeps up over the sand, then retreats back over it." Yep, that was all she knew. Oh, besides the fact that the moon controlled it, but they had already covered that.

EVEN MORE NODDING.

"Excellent, Miss Burton."

Short and sweet.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tiro MacMhuirich

Hmm. Marsha had grown up pretty close to the Bristol Channel in Wales and she knew that the tides, like every one said rose and fell. Raising her hand, she added ”Yeah, they affect the fishing industry and also things like the cruise ship holiday industry in the muggle world… oh, and my aunt mentioned something about the oil boats and submarines and things all having to be careful with their docking times.”

Yup.

She sat silently for a little bit longer until someone made a comment that brought up something another relative had mentioned. ”Oh!” She said softly as she raised her hand again. ”But… Sir, isn’t there something like the ocean tides on opposite sides of the earth match with their tides? That would mean it isn’t a case of being close to the moon as they both don’t see the moon at the same time… so is it something to do with the way the moon works with those plates that were mentioned earlier?”

Confusion!

Ah yes, this was related to what he had mentioned to Mr. Mordaunt just a moment ago. Seeing there were still some hands raised, he would wait to go into the details of her question for the time being.

"Hold on to that train of thought, Miss Hanover."

Quote:

Originally Posted by lazykitty

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"Tides affect the ocean currents, which affect the climate." Or that was the way she understood it, anyway. She was pretty sure it was right, though she couldn't remember the exact connection there.

Some more nodding. Epic nodding. Nodding nodding nodding.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kayquilz

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Eden knew almost zero things about tides. So. She just raised her hand kind of timidly. "Um...tides have a schedule..thing...right? Like a high tide, a low tide, and....stuff??" She wasn't sure.

"THAT THEY DO!" he nodded, with some more dramatic pointing.

And he had just shared those details earlier in response to Mr. Toby. So he would not repeat himself again just now. But yes. A schedule.

Quote:

Originally Posted by griffin

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"Tides affect coastal ecosystems." She probably could have thought of more to say, but right now she was busy wondering why they needed galoshes.

He nodded in response to Miss Wright. Yup yup.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

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Instead, she adjusted her wellies and poked them out in the aisle so Mr. StarMan could see that her wellies had polka dots. Geddit? Dots for Dottie.

The professor simply winked at Miss Wojack as he walked passed, blue eyes looking for the next raised hand.

Quote:

Originally Posted by VRSCIKA

So from the forming of the moon, to the function of the moon, to tides. Okay at least they were going in a pattern. What did she know about tides..........Hand up time. "Tides are the fluctuating sea levels that are affected by the gravitational pull of the sun and mostly the moon, as well as the rotation and position of the earth."
....

"An excellent point to remember," he nodded. "While many, generally speaking, think primarily of the Moon as being the sole force acting on the tides, the Sun plays a roll as well AS well as force created by the rotation of the Earth itself. Excellent."

Three point plan. HUZZAH!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mell

Michael saw no point in adding his answer when it was pretty much the same as everyone else. He did however let out a snort of laughter at the young Slytherin's answer.

Classic!!!

Yeah...the professor may still be laughing as well. Ahem. Snort.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScarletCharm104

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Yawn. "Tides can cause tidepools, which reveal lots of AWESOME underwater creatures that are usually covered by the water b'cause the moon pulls the water back except sometimes the water is stuck in crevices." It was fascinating, y'know?

Aaaaaah tidepools....so many fond memories.

What was the rest of the prefect's answer? He had, ahem, gotten a bit distracted. A smile and nod before moving on would suffice, yes?

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArianaBlack

Zander was actually trying to participate in this particular lesson. You know, show Professor Flamsteed that his passing OWL grade was well deserved. Except for... Well... All he happened to know about tides was already said. There wasn't anything new or useful he could add to the discussion, so instead he just jotted down some notes as he bobbed his head up and down in agreement.
....

And Mr. Adair got a smile and nod as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by carpediem

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"Well, don't some tiny little microscopic creatures rely on the tide to move? They can't move on their own, so they just get swept up in the tide and go along their way." Not much to do with the who astronomy thing, but it was something about tides. She was trying. That was important, right? Right.
...

"There are some, yes. An interesting point that truly illustrates just how connected everything is," he nodded. Although not his area of expertise.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DuckyLinJi

He quickly scribbled down the notes about that the Moon controls the tides and that it helped the climate to slowly rotate the earth , creating 24 hours a day. So far he understood it until he wrote down axial tilt. “Quick question Sir, what is axial tilt?” he asked so that he could scribble it down as well. The more notes for his OWLs the better.

"Good question," he nodded. "Without going into too much detail, axial tilt is a term that means the angle, or inclination angle, at which a rotates in relation to its orbital plane." He then held his right arm, bent at the elbow, up. "This, a perfect 90 degrees, is an axil tilt of 0 degrees. The Earth, however, is slanted juuuuuuuust a little," he continued, moving his arm to an estimated 23.4 degrees.

Checking his sundial watch again, and seeing no more hands raised, Airey removed his wand from his enchanted breast pocket on his suit and tapped his temple with it as he spoke.

"Very good all of you," he nodded, glancing up at the two sphere for a moment before looking back at his students. "Many important points were brought up by your classmates, so I hope you were all paying attention and taking careful notes. Now, to summarize things VERY simply, tides are the rise and fall of the levels of the ocean. They are caused by three things, the rotation of the Earth, the gravitational pull of the Sun, and the gravitational pull of the Moon ... HOWEVER ... the Moon has the biggest affect on the tide and why it is the focus of today's lesson."

Get it? Got it. Good.

"Now," he said, pointing his wand towards the sphere representing the Earth. With seamless movements, he cast a silent Aguamenti at it and in a few moments time the sphere was engulfed in a ball of water. "Please keep in mind that this is purely for demonstration purposes, obviously. The water on our planet looks nothing like this from space, all wrapped around the surface like this." JUST to make sure no one started getting the wrong ideas.

source: Science Technology
OOC: this is what your character will be witnessing in the classroom happening with the two spheres.
If you are having trouble viewing the image, please let me know!

"Now, the gravitational force of the Moon pulls the water into something referred to as a tidal bulge one way. On the opposite side, this bulge also occurs due to the rotational force of the Earth," he explained, taking a quick glance towards a certain Gryffindor first year. "Where these bulges occur is where high tides are, whereas the areas set 90 degrees from the bulges are where low tides occur."

He waited a minute or two to allow students to observe and take in this information before moving on.

"These two bulges have specific names as well. The tidal bulge that occurs under the Moon is known as a sublunar tide, while the opposite side of the Earth is known as an antipodal tide."

That was probably enough basic information for now, especially since he could tell by the way some of them were gripping their quills that they needed a bit of a break. Nothing a little abstract lunar fun couldn't fix, right?

"I think we will stop here, unless there are any questions," he said, clapping his hands together to make sure he had everyone's attention. "You may all be wondering why I asked you to bring special footwear today. Truth is, there is a chance you are going to get wet, so I would rather you not have damp feet and possibly catch a cold and then end up in the hospital wing. Of course, there are spells to repel water - which have been placed on the floor of this classroom for today's spell practicing - but utilizing muggle clothing has a bit more...charm to it." Didn't they agree? Surely they did. And if they didn't, well, he didn't really want to hear it.

Giving his wand another wave, he revealed a large box of multicolored water balloons on his desk that had been disillusioned until now.

"We will be going outside shortly to play a bit of a game where each of you will act as a gravitational force on a body of water," he explained. Remember, abstract. He just wanted to make sure that they got it drilled into their heads about the puuuuuuuuuuuuuull of gravity. "To accomplish this, we are going to practice using these water balloons," he explained, picking out a pink one from the box and setting it on the floor. "What you will need to do is perform a charm on yourself. It is rather simple, but requires extreme concentration to perform it right. I don't expect you to get it right on the first go. All you need to do is give yourself firm tap on the head with your wand and say, Aquatraxi Gravita," he continued, demonstrating this precisely. "You'll know you have done it right because..."

He took a few small steps towards the water balloon on the floor. The side facing him began to bugle towards him as though the professor were pulling on an invisible string connecting it to his shoe.

"...as you can see..." he took another step towards it, this time the balloon rolled rapidly across the floor and crashed into his foot - breaking instantly.

Too bad he was NOT wearing his muggle footwear at the moment...and hadn't waterproofed this particular suit.

Grinning and bearing this slight hiccup - and yet another moment of embarrassment for the astronomer in the span of 35 minutes - he gestured towards the box.

"Ahem, yes, well, that will happen...or worse. But if you become skilled with this, you can probably take your little water balloon for a walk or job about the classroom," he said, clearing his throat. Exploding water balloons were likely to be a thing if not careful with the spell. "So go ahead and grab a balloon or two, find a space on the floor, and practice the spell. You will have about 20 minutes or so to perfect your spellwork before we move outside."

OOC: MINI ACTIVITY TIME!

You will have at least 36 hours to complete this mini activity and should have a minimum of 3 posts.

Remember:
> the incantation is Aquatraxi Gravita
> the wand movement is a firm tap on the head

Any questions may be asked of me OOC via VM/PM or IC to Professor Flamsteed.

05-11-2015, 02:17 PM	#169 (permalink)
sweetpinkpixie Wizarding World RPG Admin Minister for Magic DoM & MO Alley Proprietor Romanian Longhorn Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: The Paths Posts: 39,335 Hogwarts RPG Name: Anna Walles Hufflepuff Sixth Year Hogwarts RPG Name: Sage Ransom-Kruus Slytherin Sixth Year Ministry RPG Name: Charles Hollingberry Minister's Office Ministry RPG Name: Airey Flamsteed Mysteries Diagon Alley Employee: Zachaël Lufkin Owl Post x12 x12	mini activity! astronomizzle ♧ gryffinDORK \| & the rest is drag ♣ #badluckDerf Quote: Originally Posted by Hera ... "Professor," Zeke started hand raised to get the man's attention..." tides go," and then he conducted his demonstration, his arm waving about on thin air, with a "fwooooossshhhhhccchhhrrrfwooooossshhhhh," because apparently that's what crashing waves sounded like. Yep. This was legit. Did he want to see it again? The professor was puzzled. Puzzled because he had no idea how to respond to that. Other than apparently standing there, his head turned slightly, with his lips pursed as he half smiled. Quote: Originally Posted by Saz Hale Abby thought and raised her hand and said "Tides could mean many things like the ocean hitting a beach but it is mostly when the sea withdraws further out from the land and then returns the next day at a certain time" Abby had read about this somewhere "Yes, very good. That is the general gist of things." They would work on the wording in a bit. Quote: Originally Posted by GoldenSnake ... There are spring tides and neap tides, which are the high and low tides, respectively...or is it the other way around?" Natalia wasn't sure and couldn't remember the specifics. "It all has to do with the position of the moon...right?" And waves. Waves were cool. "Excellent," he applauded. And since she had brought them up, he would just elaborate on this bit right now. "While the name 'spring tide' may create the thought that it is a tide that occurs during a specific time of year, it does not. A spring tide occurs when the Sun, Moon and Earth all line up at a new or full moon and thus their gravitational pulls reinforce each other and create the highest tides and the lowest tides. A neap tide, by contrast, occurs when the Moon is at first or third quarter and it and the Sun's gravitational pulls are working against one another in two different directions. Thus, the overall effect is that high tides are lower than average and the low tides are higher than the average." Quote: Originally Posted by JustAlice ... okay. What? That was a lot of information at once, and Rowan couldn't make her hand write that fast. She wasn't used to learning like this, and it was a bit intense... "Professor, slow down..." Did that mean he needed to teach the lesson in slow motion? He checked his sundial watch curiously and then shook his head. "Have a schedule to keep," he nodded. "But you are more than welcome to stop by my office with questions later if you wish." And, really, the Flamsteed only had one speed. Ludicrous speed. Quote: Originally Posted by SpiritWolfe Malfoy What they were talking about tides now? Weren't that not only a second ago speaking about the moon? Hady shifted in her seat, quill dangling from her fingers in a moments pause. Slowly lifting her free hand into the answer she gave her answer, "A tide is the ride and fall of water..uh the sea level is what I mean." Yeah she just worded it sorta weirdly. Professor Airey got what she meant though right? Hopefully. Now it was back to note taking. He nodded and gave the Slytherin a thumbs up. Yup yup. That was the gist of things. Quote: Originally Posted by Govoni Jotting a few things down, Gabe raised his hand, amusement coloring his voice. "They're critical to speciation."...which Gabe had attitude about because he wasn't a fan of.......creatures. Any creatures...unless they served some greater purpose. It was a crude point of view, but his experiences hadn't helped in warming up to the idea of them. Though, this didn't take away from the fact that it was fascinating stuff. "....which, considering bodies of water, means that new species are given the opportunities to evolve thanks to the tides rising and receding, and currents....with adapting from salt water to fresh water, and visa versa." ...or so he'd read. "An excellent point, Mr. Banner," he nodded. "Something we all ought to keep in mind and be thankful for." Quote: Originally Posted by nanyjj ... "The highest and lowest tides normally occur during Full and New Moons, riiight?" she said with her hand raised. Again, the association with the Moon. "They do indeed!" he cheered, snapping his fingers excitedly at the Hufflepuff. Quote: Originally Posted by Hey Ju ... Moon, Earth, KABOOM and whatnot. There seemed to have a lot of explosions when it came to Astronomy. Anyhow, the key word for now was 'tides', apparently. Agatha ran her hand through her beeeautiful hair and lazily looked around. If she knew anything about tides? "Sometimes it's safe to swim, some other times it's not." Agatha offered with a shrug. Mmmmmmmmmm...sure? Yeah. Sure. He nodded his head towards the Slytherin and moved on to the next raised hand. Quote: Originally Posted by fire_faerie ... What does he know about tides? Hmm. Tides. Bad for swimming. "They make navigation difficult if you don't calculate them exactly, but become really useful if you do..." yup. That was his answer. He really didn't know very much about tides. "Very true," he nodded towards the Ravenclaw. "Very tricky indeed to calculate but quite vital in keeping people and the environment safe." Quote: Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19 ... Alrightey! Settle down, Adi! Class was moving on. So, what did he know about tides? Adi raised his hand after slipping on his galoshes. "I think surfers depend on tides to help them surf, Professor duuuude, Sir.'' The whole duuuude thing was said in the 'cool surfer voice'. "I mean Professor Airey, Sir.'' Oh, yeah. The Hufflepuff had a proposition for the man. "Pssst. Professor, I can help you improve your vocals if you like.'' Hehe. ............ Was it just the astronut, or was Mr. Rehman a bit more...cheeky this term? First the slip of the tongue at the feast, now the informal manner in which he had just addressed the professor him...but it was the next bit - the bit he had whispered - that REALLY got the astronomer's blood boiling. Well, boiling was a bit of an exaggeration. "3 points from Hufflepuff, Mr. Rehman," he said in an equally soft voice. "I suggest you be more mindful with your words." Quote: Originally Posted by Mordred ... So...tides? He knows...a thing or two? Yeah? Hand up! “The tides go up when the body of water faces the moon, and it goes down when that face of the earth is no longer facing the moon.” ... "Not JUST the side facing the Moon, Mr. Mordaunt," he winked. They would see all that in just a moment, however. Quote: Originally Posted by RandomRaven ... "Tide means uh... when the level of sea water changes like uh.. You know, in some time it can reach the highest level and then it can reach the lowest level... Like that?" Did his answer make sense? Well, at least he tried to explain.. despite of his limitation in English and the accent. Sorting...combing...process... Yes, it seemed he had the general gist of things. The professor nodded his head and smiled at the Gryffindor. Quote: Originally Posted by Becky Oh, he was never speaking ever again! Why did he have to keep getting it wrong? James put his head down on the desk and didn't move after that. His quill sat on the desk and the ink that he'd put on it just before he'd answered was dripping onto the parchment. He missed being at home and having mum to cuddle if he felt like he was going to cry. His bright yellow wellies sat beside him, untouched. He might just possibly... maybe... be trying not to cry at failing. Uh....oh? While he did briefly consider the glazed over look in the boy's eyes to mean complete and utter distress - another Perfectopuff, perhaps? - the professor's eyes were mostly fixated on the ink dripping from the boy's quill on to his parchment. "You're wasting ink," he whispered so only the young man could hear him, pointing to the dark spots on his parchment. Not to mention dirtying up his notes! Quote: Originally Posted by PhoenixRising ... Now onto the question of interest; what did she know about tides? Well she knew about its connection the famous physicist - noone mentioned him yet. Raising her hand, "well Professor, I know that Sir Isaac Newton was the first to explain tides as the result of gravitational pulls to astronomical masses, with use of his theory of universal gravitation." There. Something different to contribute but all connected, yes? "He was indeed the first to explain tides scientifically," he beamed. "In 1686!" Another little factoid that everyone ought to have written down. Quote: Originally Posted by littledhampir ... "Well, professor, tidal waves are these huuuuge waves and sometimes they come up on shore and whoosh!" She raised her hands very high above her head and brought them down in time with the sound affect, making a motion to demonstrate the movement of the wave. "Sometimes they can even wash out whole towns and that's sad." You know, because people died. "Actually, despite its name, tidal waves have nothing to do with the tides but do have everything to do with the movement of the Earth's crust." So...not something they would be discussing. Quote: Originally Posted by Lissy Longbottom ... But first...tides. Ok, what DID Caleb know about tides? Not a lot, but...he raised his hand anyways. "Well the tides change depending on the time of day. There's high tide and low tide...high tide is when the waves crash higher up on the beach, and visa versa," he explained. There, that was his extent of knowledge on tides. "Very good, Mr. Newell," he nodded. "Generally speaking, the Earth rotates through two tidal 'bulges' - the gravitational pull on the oceans - every lunar day. Therefore, coastal areas experience two high and two low tides approximately every 24 hours and 50 minutes with high tides occurring about 12 hours and 25 minutes apart from one another." Quote: Originally Posted by Samia Noel sung along, oh yes and then wrote down whatever the professor said next. Well what did he know about tides??? Nothing, except: "you don't really wanna get on the bad side of a tide. you can drown, no matter HOW good of a swimmer you are," Was that morbid? Totally. He nodded solemnly. "Very true." ... Moving on. Quote: Originally Posted by Sararara ... "Sometimes the tide is high and sometimes it'd low, so when the tide is high a bunch of the beach is covered in water and when it's low it...isn't. It's like the moon had these big invisible strings that pull the water over the beach like a blanket sometimes. Maybe it's when the beach is sleeping." That totally made sense. Right? Right. That description was almost endearing. Almost. It did bring a smile to the man's face, however. "Interesting imagery," he mused, throwing a wink at the Hufflepuff before moving on. Quote: Originally Posted by Expecto-Penguin ... "Professor I know that waves like at a beach can be really strong and can take you under if the current is strong enough. I am not quite sure what makes the current stronger though.." That was still stumped on. He agreed with Noel that it could make you drown. "Currents work a bit differently and, unfortunately, we do not have the time to discuss those today. I can, after class, recommend some books for you to look at in the library, however." Quote: Originally Posted by Meizzner Dante did not know much about tides. Though he knew about tidal waves. But that is not what Professor Airey was looking for. What he liked to do did not depend on the tides like someone he knew. But whatever. "Well, it is a brand of laundry detergent." Technically it was Tide and don't ask how he knows this. Stare. Long pause. Stare some more. BURST OUT INTO A FIT OF LAUGHTER. That was essentially what just happened in the span of a full minute. "Good one, Mr. Barrington. Take a point for make me nearly we---- for making me laugh." Quote: Originally Posted by Squishy ... What did she know about tides? Hmm. Lux gave it a moments thought before raising her hand. " I know that surfers rely on tides and ride them. Oh, and there are high tides and low tides. High tides cover cover more shore than low tides." "They do indeed," he nodded. "Quite the thrilling sport, truth be told." Quote: Originally Posted by Felixir ... "In some places, the tides are, like... big. I mean, there's a huuuuuge distance between where the water's edge is at high tide and where it is at low tide. In some towns there are beaches, but at high tide they're completely covered and you would be walking down the steps and straight into the sea, but at low tide the water is waaaaaaaaaay out there. The difference is huge, y'know?" DID he? Maybe not, Toby wasn't the most eloquent when it came to explaining things. "Where I live, there's not a huge difference between high and low tide. Can't be more'n....... I dunno... a thirty foot difference between how much land is covered in water at high tide and how much is covered at low tide." Like, thirty feet in distance rather than depth. Yes. "So yeah. Some are big, and some are small." Nod. Nod nod. "Stellar, Mr. Toby," he nodded. "That gap between tides you speak of is called the tidal range. Which, for those of you seeking a formal definition, is the difference in sea level between low tide and high tide. While typically this range is about 2 feet, there are some areas where this is much more dramatic. For example, the largest tidal range is on the coast of the Bay of Fundy in Canada. Here, the tides can change by as much as 40 feet from high to low tide." Quote: Originally Posted by Harry174 Angel looked at the Professor before she raised her hand, did he want the long version or the short version, she had learned about this at school. "Professor the tides cause erosion of rocks and other part of the land, you see the tides play a big part in this because you have a high tide and a low tide, when the tide is high it will cause a lot more of the land to be underwater, but when it is low then that will make that part of the land visible again." Angel thought that it would be amazing if she could tell the rest of the story she had but she thought it was only fair to let someone else take over. Erosion. Of rocks! Airey instinctively reached for his pet rocks - which were no where to be found at the moment because they were tucked away safely in his office taking their afternoon naps. Ahem. Anyway. Focus...focusing on the words Miss Valentine was saying... Only he was too distracted by the word...erosion. "Yes...yes..." he said, his eyes unfocusing for a moment. "Very...er...very good." Quote: Originally Posted by hermionesclone ... Still, he was gonna answer anyways. "Like Adi said," 'Sup, Adster. "Surfers use the tides to their advantage when they go surfing. And so do people like sailors and the navy in general. Kinda need to know about the moon and how it'll affect the tides before they set out so that they're not setting out on dangerous waters." More nodding was happening. "Very good, Mr. Whitlock." Quote: Originally Posted by Jessiqua ... "Tides are the rising and retreating level of the ocean. It creeps up over the sand, then retreats back over it." Yep, that was all she knew. Oh, besides the fact that the moon controlled it, but they had already covered that. EVEN MORE NODDING. "Excellent, Miss Burton." Short and sweet. Quote: Originally Posted by Tiro MacMhuirich Hmm. Marsha had grown up pretty close to the Bristol Channel in Wales and she knew that the tides, like every one said rose and fell. Raising her hand, she added ”Yeah, they affect the fishing industry and also things like the cruise ship holiday industry in the muggle world… oh, and my aunt mentioned something about the oil boats and submarines and things all having to be careful with their docking times.” Yup. She sat silently for a little bit longer until someone made a comment that brought up something another relative had mentioned. ”Oh!” She said softly as she raised her hand again. ”But… Sir, isn’t there something like the ocean tides on opposite sides of the earth match with their tides? That would mean it isn’t a case of being close to the moon as they both don’t see the moon at the same time… so is it something to do with the way the moon works with those plates that were mentioned earlier?” Confusion! Ah yes, this was related to what he had mentioned to Mr. Mordaunt just a moment ago. Seeing there were still some hands raised, he would wait to go into the details of her question for the time being. "Hold on to that train of thought, Miss Hanover." Quote: Originally Posted by lazykitty ... "Tides affect the ocean currents, which affect the climate." Or that was the way she understood it, anyway. She was pretty sure it was right, though she couldn't remember the exact connection there. Some more nodding. Epic nodding. Nodding nodding nodding. Quote: Originally Posted by kayquilz ... Eden knew almost zero things about tides. So. She just raised her hand kind of timidly. "Um...tides have a schedule..thing...right? Like a high tide, a low tide, and....stuff??" She wasn't sure. "THAT THEY DO!" he nodded, with some more dramatic pointing. And he had just shared those details earlier in response to Mr. Toby. So he would not repeat himself again just now. But yes. A schedule. Quote: Originally Posted by griffin ... "Tides affect coastal ecosystems." She probably could have thought of more to say, but right now she was busy wondering why they needed galoshes. He nodded in response to Miss Wright. Yup yup. Quote: Originally Posted by Cassirin ... Instead, she adjusted her wellies and poked them out in the aisle so Mr. StarMan could see that her wellies had polka dots. Geddit? Dots for Dottie. The professor simply winked at Miss Wojack as he walked passed, blue eyes looking for the next raised hand. Quote: Originally Posted by VRSCIKA So from the forming of the moon, to the function of the moon, to tides. Okay at least they were going in a pattern. What did she know about tides..........Hand up time. "Tides are the fluctuating sea levels that are affected by the gravitational pull of the sun and mostly the moon, as well as the rotation and position of the earth." .... "An excellent point to remember," he nodded. "While many, generally speaking, think primarily of the Moon as being the sole force acting on the tides, the Sun plays a roll as well AS well as force created by the rotation of the Earth itself. Excellent." Three point plan. HUZZAH! Quote: Originally Posted by Mell Michael saw no point in adding his answer when it was pretty much the same as everyone else. He did however let out a snort of laughter at the young Slytherin's answer. Classic!!! Yeah...the professor may still be laughing as well. Ahem. Snort. Quote: Originally Posted by ScarletCharm104 ... Yawn. "Tides can cause tidepools, which reveal lots of AWESOME underwater creatures that are usually covered by the water b'cause the moon pulls the water back except sometimes the water is stuck in crevices." It was fascinating, y'know? Aaaaaah tidepools....so many fond memories. What was the rest of the prefect's answer? He had, ahem, gotten a bit distracted. A smile and nod before moving on would suffice, yes? Quote: Originally Posted by ArianaBlack Zander was actually trying to participate in this particular lesson. You know, show Professor Flamsteed that his passing OWL grade was well deserved. Except for... Well... All he happened to know about tides was already said. There wasn't anything new or useful he could add to the discussion, so instead he just jotted down some notes as he bobbed his head up and down in agreement. .... And Mr. Adair got a smile and nod as well. Quote: Originally Posted by carpediem ... "Well, don't some tiny little microscopic creatures rely on the tide to move? They can't move on their own, so they just get swept up in the tide and go along their way." Not much to do with the who astronomy thing, but it was something about tides. She was trying. That was important, right? Right. ... "There are some, yes. An interesting point that truly illustrates just how connected everything is," he nodded. Although not his area of expertise. Quote: Originally Posted by DuckyLinJi He quickly scribbled down the notes about that the Moon controls the tides and that it helped the climate to slowly rotate the earth , creating 24 hours a day. So far he understood it until he wrote down axial tilt. “Quick question Sir, what is axial tilt?” he asked so that he could scribble it down as well. The more notes for his OWLs the better. "Good question," he nodded. "Without going into too much detail, axial tilt is a term that means the angle, or inclination angle, at which a rotates in relation to its orbital plane." He then held his right arm, bent at the elbow, up. "This, a perfect 90 degrees, is an axil tilt of 0 degrees. The Earth, however, is slanted juuuuuuuust a little," he continued, moving his arm to an estimated 23.4 degrees. Checking his sundial watch again, and seeing no more hands raised, Airey removed his wand from his enchanted breast pocket on his suit and tapped his temple with it as he spoke. "Very good all of you," he nodded, glancing up at the two sphere for a moment before looking back at his students. "Many important points were brought up by your classmates, so I hope you were all paying attention and taking careful notes. Now, to summarize things VERY simply, tides are the rise and fall of the levels of the ocean. They are caused by three things, the rotation of the Earth, the gravitational pull of the Sun, and the gravitational pull of the Moon ... HOWEVER ... the Moon has the biggest affect on the tide and why it is the focus of today's lesson." Get it? Got it. Good. "Now," he said, pointing his wand towards the sphere representing the Earth. With seamless movements, he cast a silent Aguamenti at it and in a few moments time the sphere was engulfed in a ball of water. "Please keep in mind that this is purely for demonstration purposes, obviously. The water on our planet looks nothing like this from space, all wrapped around the surface like this." JUST to make sure no one started getting the wrong ideas. source: Science Technology OOC: this is what your character will be witnessing in the classroom happening with the two spheres. If you are having trouble viewing the image, please let me know! "Now, the gravitational force of the Moon pulls the water into something referred to as a tidal bulge one way. On the opposite side, this bulge also occurs due to the rotational force of the Earth," he explained, taking a quick glance towards a certain Gryffindor first year. "Where these bulges occur is where high tides are, whereas the areas set 90 degrees from the bulges are where low tides occur." He waited a minute or two to allow students to observe and take in this information before moving on. "These two bulges have specific names as well. The tidal bulge that occurs under the Moon is known as a sublunar tide, while the opposite side of the Earth is known as an antipodal tide." That was probably enough basic information for now, especially since he could tell by the way some of them were gripping their quills that they needed a bit of a break. Nothing a little abstract lunar fun couldn't fix, right? "I think we will stop here, unless there are any questions," he said, clapping his hands together to make sure he had everyone's attention. "You may all be wondering why I asked you to bring special footwear today. Truth is, there is a chance you are going to get wet, so I would rather you not have damp feet and possibly catch a cold and then end up in the hospital wing. Of course, there are spells to repel water - which have been placed on the floor of this classroom for today's spell practicing - but utilizing muggle clothing has a bit more...charm to it." Didn't they agree? Surely they did. And if they didn't, well, he didn't really want to hear it. Giving his wand another wave, he revealed a large box of multicolored water balloons on his desk that had been disillusioned until now. "We will be going outside shortly to play a bit of a game where each of you will act as a gravitational force on a body of water," he explained. Remember, abstract. He just wanted to make sure that they got it drilled into their heads about the puuuuuuuuuuuuuull of gravity. "To accomplish this, we are going to practice using these water balloons," he explained, picking out a pink one from the box and setting it on the floor. "What you will need to do is perform a charm on yourself. It is rather simple, but requires extreme concentration to perform it right. I don't expect you to get it right on the first go. All you need to do is give yourself firm tap on the head with your wand and say, Aquatraxi Gravita," he continued, demonstrating this precisely. "You'll know you have done it right because..." He took a few small steps towards the water balloon on the floor. The side facing him began to bugle towards him as though the professor were pulling on an invisible string connecting it to his shoe. "...as you can see..." he took another step towards it, this time the balloon rolled rapidly across the floor and crashed into his foot - breaking instantly. Too bad he was NOT wearing his muggle footwear at the moment...and hadn't waterproofed this particular suit. Grinning and bearing this slight hiccup - and yet another moment of embarrassment for the astronomer in the span of 35 minutes - he gestured towards the box. "Ahem, yes, well, that will happen...or worse. But if you become skilled with this, you can probably take your little water balloon for a walk or job about the classroom," he said, clearing his throat. Exploding water balloons were likely to be a thing if not careful with the spell. "So go ahead and grab a balloon or two, find a space on the floor, and practice the spell. You will have about 20 minutes or so to perfect your spellwork before we move outside." OOC: MINI ACTIVITY TIME! You will have at least 36 hours to complete this mini activity and should have a minimum of 3 posts. Remember: > the incantation is Aquatraxi Gravita > the wand movement is a firm tap on the head Any questions may be asked of me OOC via VM/PM or IC to Professor Flamsteed. __________________ When you’re stuck in a moment and your spark has been stolen .................................................. ........... this is our time to own it, so own it..................................... baby we were born with fire and gold in our eyes