1. Seriously, what do THINK a wave is? You probably already know.

2. I know what you’re thinking! You DO live in California!

3. But really… A wave is defined as a disturbance in a medium that transfers energy, but not matter, from one place to another… Uh… what? You… wanna say that in english, por favor?

4. It’s simple! Imagine you are the dog above. You are doing the impossible by WALKING ON WATER!! You are minding your own business, content with your own miracle working. Everything is peaceful. You are completely at rest. The world is PERFECT. And THEN, some seven year old kid jumps into your haven screaming “Canonball!” THAT would be the disturbance.

5. Sucks for you! It’s a disturbance because everything got shaken up! Even though the kid never actually TOUCHED you, you still FELT it! In fact, you probably fell off your floaty walk way thingy and into the water! And the water is COLD! And probably STILL sloshing back and forth looking something like THIS Simulated sloshing, which is apparently just easier to capture (though harder to model) than real sloshing.

6. The Medium. The medium is the material the disturbance…. well, disturbs!! In our last example that was the water. But it could be anything! Like air or slinkies or rope! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZIr9mpERbU&NR=1 Or bridges!!

7. Yes, I said bridges! It doesn’t matter that something is solid. Waves still pass through it. You’ve felt an earthquake right?! You DO live in California... Below, is a link to a newsreel. I assure you that it’s REAL! Genuine black and white footage from November 1940! And this wasn’t caused by an earthquake. It was wind! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPl0gMo-uTA 1 minute history lesson: Newsreels are an artifact from when people did not have televisions at home. They heard their news on the radio only, which meant they could never see it. SO when something newsworthy was also truly visually impressive, they would make a newsreel and it would play right before your movie did at the movie theater!

8. Real life is better than fiction! The Tacoma Narrows Bridge - affectionately nicknamed Galopin’ Gertie – took 3 YEARS to build. It was known for having literally rolling hills running through it - waves just like the boy with a rope except slower. On a windy day, four months after the bridge was opened to traffic, the gentle rolling turned into a thrashing (because of the wind) and the bridge tore itself apart over the course of three days. Did you know? You can get extra credit in your diving class at University of Washington Tacoma by bringing up a piece of the bridge from the bottom of the river. Sounds like a great reason to go there to me!!

9. The wave is energy’s chauffeur You know! That person that always drives you around whenever you want to wherever you want to go… What? You don’t have one? Well… nevermind… Waves carry energy, but the wave doesn’t actually move the medium. It DISTURBS the medium, but it just oscillates ( fancy word for moving back and forth - It’s a fun word to say! Try it! OSS SIL LATE! ) in the same general place – it does not move across the room. Hopefully this picture helps you associate waves with the sun and therefore energy!! Though personally it just makes me think of Tangled…

10. The wave is energy’s chauffeur Waves carry energy, but not the medium. Like when you talk! The wave moves the sound throughout the room and everyone can hear you. But the air in front of your mouth doesn’t go with it! And thank goodness! If it did you might suffocate if you talked too much! You’re making me READ too much Mrs. Brown! Grr… I know!! I’m sorry! More pictures and ridiculous videos ahead!

11. Dominoes! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq1v-dVnJ4E&NR=1&feature=endscreen

12. Dominoes! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq1v-dVnJ4E&NR=1&feature=endscreen Dominoes are a great example of transferring energy, but not matter! (Matter is referring to the stuff that makes up the medium – like particles and molecules and atoms – that small stuff that makes up everything!) You give the first domino energy by tipping it over. Because who can resist tipping over that first one??? And then it passes that energy to the next one and stops moving. And the second one passes it to the next one and the next one and so forth, like a game of hot potato!! The ENERGY moves all the way down the line. But the dominoes stay MOSTLY right where they started.

13. In summary, to be a wave, you need: A disturbance – something that stirs things up. A medium, which is just whatever material it’s going through. Like air or water or rope or whatever. And energy, which gets passed along from one particle to the next like dominos in a line.