Diving in Door County
By Sarah Hart
Cliff Diving in Door County
In early August, my mom, dad, aunt, uncle and cousins decided to go to Door County. It was a beautiful day, and it isn't very often that my family is in town, so we loaded everyone into the car and drove to Door County.
When we got there, we first went to the Door Peninsula winery. After that, we drove to Cave Point Park, which is a park just alongside Lake Michigan. My cousins, Maya, Victoria and Lindsey, all wanted to go swimming at the beach, so we got on our swimsuits and walked down to the waterfront. As we were walking, I noticed people jumping off of a cliff into a shallow, crystal clear pool below. I thought it looked really fun, so I asked my mom if we could do it. Of course, she said no. But, she said if I could get someone to go with me, I could go. Then, my uncle said he would take me when they were done swimming, and my aunt said she would come too.
Soon, we were done swimming. My aunt, uncle and I all ran up to the cliff. I could feel the wet moss squishing between my toes. As I looked down, I got a little bit scared. But when my uncle reached three in our countdown, I launched myself off the edge. I raced towards the pool, and I felt as though my stomach was left at the top of the cliff. I could feel the wetness of the water submerge me, and the squishy bottom of the pool beneath my feet. I popped up out of the water and started swimming towards the rocky ledge, feeling exhilarated. I was smiling as I told my uncle I wanted to go again.
Taking the Jump
#1
Making a Splash!
#2
Scientific Explanations
Gravity
In the story above, there are many forms of science at work. The main two that I will explain are gravity and Newton's Laws of Motion. There are other works as well, but these are the two that stood out the most to me.
First, I will explain the affects of gravity in the situation. To begin with, gravity is already constantly working, keeping us on the surface of the earth, rather than floating out to space. So, when we were driving, walking, running, swimming, all of these are examples of gravity at work. When I jumped off of the cliff, I was in the air for a brief amount of time before gravity immediately began pulling me back to the Earth. Gravity is also responsible for keeping the water at the Earth's surface.
Refer to Photo #1
Newton's Laws of Motion
Questions
2. Did the height of the cliff affect my acceleration?
3. Does the water impact the level of shock on your body?
4. Will the force of people landing in the water eventually erode the sandy bottom below?