Real World Ready · Layer 1: Authentic Experience

The Theory: A Wave from the Other Side of the World

Every Rock Tells a Story · Part 2 of 3 · Field-Based STEM · Julian Thomson & Chris Hollis · Years 5–13

In Part 1, students found that the mudstones at Tora contain rounded pebbles that have no business being there. The rocks presented a contradiction: deep sea formation, beach material. In Part 2, a theory arrives. An asteroid struck present-day Mexico 66 million years ago — at exactly the moment the dinosaurs disappeared. The impact generated a tsunami potentially a hundred metres high. Modelling suggests its path crossed the Pacific and struck the New Zealand coastline. The wave may have swept beach material off the coast and deposited it on the deep sea floor. That is how rounded pebbles end up inside deep sea mudstones.

Part 1 — Complete The Puzzle

Part 2 — You are here The Theory

Part 3 The Evidence

~15,000 km Distance from the impact site in Mexico to Tora, New Zealand

~100 m Estimated height of the tsunami near the impact site

Mag. 12 Estimated earthquake magnitude — the largest ever recorded was 9.5

66 million Years ago — the moment the dinosaurs disappeared

Making the scale real

Locate the sites

Find Mexico and Tora on a map or globe. Measure or estimate the distance between them. Ask students: how far is that compared to something familiar?

Scale the wave

Find your school building on a map. How tall is it? A hundred-metre wave is roughly ten times the height of a standard school building. Ask students to visualise that from where they are standing.

Watch the video

Listen for the moment the geologist connects the pebbles from Part 1 to the impact, the wave, and the Pacific crossing.

Revisit Part 1 ideas

Return to the ideas students recorded in Part 1 Step 3. Ask: does this theory explain what you thought then? What does it explain that your ideas didn't?

Video — Part 2: The asteroid theory, the tsunami trajectory, and how beach material reaches the deep sea floor.
youtu.be/bDvJxHr-F6I · Full series: youtu.be/3RI1QtF-Tuk

AI prompts — Years 5–10

Years 5–6

The asteroidAsk AI: "What happened when an asteroid hit Earth 66 million years ago? What did it do to the animals and plants?" Compare what AI says with what the geologist described in the video.

How big was the wave?Ask AI: "How high can a tsunami wave get? Has New Zealand ever had a tsunami?" Then ask: what would a hundred-metre wave look like compared to our school?

Does the theory work?Ask AI: "Could a huge wave pick up beach pebbles and carry them into the deep ocean?" Go back to your rock collection from Part 1. Does this explanation fit what you found?

Years 7–10

The K-Pg eventAsk AI: "What caused the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous period? What evidence exists for the asteroid impact hypothesis?" Note which parts are well-established and which are still debated.

Tsunami mechanicsAsk AI: "How does an asteroid impact generate a tsunami? How does a tsunami's height and energy change as it travels across an ocean?" Test this against the distances from the scale activity.

Evaluating the theoryAsk AI: "What evidence would a geologist look for to confirm that a rock deposit was formed by a tsunami rather than another process?" Compare this to what the video describes at Tora.

AI prompts — Years 11–13

Years 11–13

Impact dynamicsAsk AI: "What models exist for the Chicxulub impact tsunami? What are the predicted wave heights and travel times across the Pacific?" Evaluate AI's confidence and identify where modelling is still uncertain.

Sedimentary evidenceAsk AI: "What sedimentary structures would distinguish a tsunami deposit from other high-energy depositional events such as storm deposits or turbidites?" Apply this to the Tora deposit as described in the video.

Theory and evidenceAsk AI to describe the current scientific consensus on the K-Pg tsunami and identify what remains contested. Where does the Tora deposit fit within the existing body of evidence?

A guided field trip with an expert geologist is the optimal version of this experience. Where that is not possible, maps, a globe, and a measuring tape outside are sufficient to make the scale of this event genuinely felt rather than merely described.

Experience Trace Scale — Part 2

Level	Years 5–6	Years 7–10	Years 11–13
1	I can describe what the theory says happened 66 million years ago.	I can explain the chain of events from asteroid impact to beach material on the deep sea floor.	I can describe the impact event, the tsunami generation mechanism, and the proposed depositional sequence at Tora.
2	I can say how far Mexico is from New Zealand and why the distance matters.	I can explain why the distance and the wave height together make this a significant finding.	I can contextualise the Tora deposit within the global evidence for the K-Pg tsunami and explain its geographic significance.
3	I can say whether the theory explains the puzzle from Part 1 and why.	I can evaluate whether the tsunami theory adequately explains the rounded pebbles and identify any remaining gaps.	I can critically assess the theory against alternative hypotheses and identify what additional evidence would strengthen or weaken it.
4	I can say one thing AI told me about tsunamis that surprised me and whether I think it is right.	I can identify where AI's response is well-supported by evidence and where it generalises or speculates.	I can evaluate AI's treatment of scientific uncertainty and compare it with the uncertainty acknowledged in the video.
5	I can say what question I want answered in Part 3.	I can state what physical evidence at the site would confirm or challenge the theory, and predict what Part 3 might show.	I can propose what stratigraphic or geochemical evidence Part 3 should present to move the hypothesis toward confirmation.

In Part 3, the evidence speaks for itself — and students discover that this site holds a record that reaches further than anywhere else on Earth.

The Theory: A Wave from the Other Side of the World

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