The simplest project for experiencing waves on water involves only a pan not quite filled to the top with water. Try blowing across the water to see if you can create waves running across it. If blowing does not move the water, try an electric fan or gather a group of three to five students and have them blow in unison. Students can experience the simple result of the power of wind blowing across water to create waves in this experiment/project.
Since oil and water are two substances that do not mix, combining them in a bottle can demonstrate the action of waves on water. Gather together the following: water, mineral oil, blue food coloring and a plastic soda bottle. Fill the bottle a little more than half full. Add a few drops of the blue food coloring and combine with the water by swishing it around. Add oil to the bottle until it is full, closing the bottle once the oil is added. Set the bottle on its side. The oil will lie on top of the water. If you sway the bottle back and forth, you will see waves form and roll inside the bottle.
This project will need to be experienced outdoors as it takes place during or just after a rainstorm. For an individual project, a student could film the waves he/she witnesses and add a voice-over description of the event. You will need to locate a street or sidewalk or driveway which has a slope. As the water encounters obstacles in the pavement (pebbles, cracks, debris, etc.), a buildup of water is created, which finally breaks free in the form of a wave running over whatever has hindered it. This project may take some patience and searching to discover the correct conditions, but the chance to experience the actual creation of waves is worth the effort.
This project requires a deep and long plastic tub if being conducted in the classroom. Fill the tub half full of water, placing an object such as a rubber duck or toy boat in the tub. At one end of the tub, stir up the water with your hands/arms to create waves until they begin to roll from one end of the tub to the other. Observe the object that you have placed in the tub as the waves roll under and past the object. What happens to the object as the waves pass it by? It simply bobs up and down in reaction to the wave and does not move with it, demonstrating that waves move across the water, but the water itself remains still.