Title: Waves are energy moving through water
Demo topic: How ocean waves are created

Source URLs:
- NOAA National Ocean Service, "Why does the ocean have waves?": https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/wavesinocean.html
- NOAA Ocean Exploration, "What causes ocean waves?": https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/ocean-fact/waves/

Main idea:
An ocean wave is best understood as energy moving through water. The water is disturbed, the disturbance travels, and the wave carries energy across the ocean surface.

Beginner explanation:
When people see a wave travel across the ocean, it can look like the water itself is racing forward. In most open-ocean surface waves, that is not the main thing happening. The wave pattern moves forward, but individual water particles mostly move in small circular or orbital paths as the wave passes.

Useful analogy:
Imagine people doing "the wave" in a stadium. The wave moves around the stadium, but the people mostly stand up and sit down in place. Ocean waves are not exactly the same, but the analogy helps explain how a wave can move energy without moving the same water all the way across the ocean.

Key facts:
- Waves carry energy through water.
- In open water, water particles mostly move in circular or orbital motion as the wave passes.
- A wave can travel across the ocean even though the same water is not traveling with it the whole way.
- This is why a floating object often bobs up and down as waves pass, instead of simply moving straight forward with every wave.

Research-report use:
This note should support the opening explanation: ocean waves are not just "water moving." They are energy moving through water.
