Philip Custer., Age 11, Of Grinnell, Iowa, For his question:

What causes the ocean waves?

You can tip a bucket of solid cement, and it will keep its solid shape. But liquids have no shape of their own; and. When you move a bucket of water, it heaves and sloshes around. The great oceans of the world are actually huge basins of water, and several forces are always operating to upset them.

The tides pull at the oceans, heaving up great mountains of water twice each day. Ocean currents also work to disrupt the waters of the seas. The surface of the sea is always open to the blowing winds  and it is the winds which do most to cause the heaving waves. The surface of the sea is never perfectly still. But the waves are wildest in stormy weather and calmest when the winds are quiet.