Year 7 - Geography
Waves and tides
Coasts: what shapes life at the coast?
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
This unit teaches pupils how physical and human processes shape our coastline. Pupils will also learn about the threats and challenges coastlines face in a warming world.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to explain what waves and tides are and you can identify and describe different types of waves.
Key Notes
- Waves are powered by the wind and tides are controlled by the gravitational pull between the moon and Earth.
- The stretch of open water over which the wind blows is called the fetch.
- Constructive waves have a powerful swash and a weaker backwash.
- Destructive waves have a powerful backwash and a weaker swash.
Vocabulary To Learn
- waves: the movement of energy across water
- tides: the regular rise and fall of sea levels caused by the Moon's and Sun's gravity pulling on Earth's oceans
- wind: natural movement of the air
- fetch: the distance over water that wind blows, which affects the size and energy of waves
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- That waves and tides are the same thing, or that tides are the cause of waves, or that wind causes both waves and tides.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain this geography topic using two clear key points.
Waves are powered by the wind and tides are controlled by the gravitational pull between the moon and Earth. The stretch of open water over which the wind blows is called the fetch.
2. Define this geography term and use it in an example. 'waves'
the movement of energy across water.
3. Correct this common geography misunderstanding.
Mistake: That waves and tides are the same thing, or that tides are the cause of waves, or that wind causes both waves and tides. Correction: Waves are caused by the wind blowing across the sea, not by the tide. The tide is the regular rise and fall of the sea level regardless of whether there are waves or if the sea is calm.
More Lessons In This Unit
- Coastal management Study Guide
- Depositional coastal landforms Study Guide
- Erosional coastal landforms Study Guide
- GIS: Visualising and Analysing coastal erosion Study Guide
- Processes shaping the coastline Study Guide
- Protecting the UK's coastline Study Guide
- The future of global coasts Study Guide
- The impacts of climate change on Tuvalu Study Guide
- The UK's coastline Study Guide
- Threats to the UK's coastline Study Guide
- Tuvalu: An island nation Study Guide
Browse all guides in the Year 7 Geography guide library.