"Killer Waves" was created to teach children 14 and under about what tsunamis are, how to watch for warning signs and how to protect themselves if they are ever in an earthquake-prone area. On this website, you can learn about the dynamics of tsunamis, the impact of tsunamis, prediction and safety measures, and try several fun activities to learn about these deadly waves.

The project was put together by five children who had a lot of questions and concerns after the tsunami hit Southeast Asia on December 26th, 2004. Some of the news was very frightening to us. There was a lot about tsunamis that we didn't fully understand. What generates a tsunami? Can anything be done to prevent one from happening in the future? Are there ways to minimize the impact of a tsunami? We wanted to find out if there were ways to warn people of an impending tsunami and if we know when the next one may occur. We asked a lot of questions and we learned a lot in the process.

We go to different schools, but three of us (William, Tiffany and Dylan), have had a few discussions on the issue while playing tennis or swimming. We discussed the possibility of creating a website on tsunamis for ThinkQuest and approached Ms. Irivinti (the assistant coach) to help us with the web design aspect. Mrs. Cataldo, Dylan's teacher, registered us for the project and we ended up developing this website. None of us have participated in ThinkQuest before, so this was an exciting opportunity for all of us. Once the team was registered most of the information exchange between team members in the initial stages happened via an online forum set up by Ms. Irivinti and via e-mail during the later stages.

We shared our thoughts on the topic. We came up with a lot of ideas, though some of them were too difficult or time-consuming for us to finish. We settled upon an outline for the website and shared the work based on our individual strengths. William and Dylan worked on the web design and layout. The graphics were drawn by Reshika, William and Leah. Research and content development was something that everyone worked on. Dylan added most of the content into the web pages. The graphics developed by the team members were used for the animated logo and the tsunami simulation. We worked hard together and developed this site -- it was fun! We hope you'll find the site informative so that next time you hear about an earthquake or a tsunami you will be more informed and less afraid.

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During the project, my role was primarily to provide editorial support and ensure that everyone remained on task. I provided guidance on how to research and obtain legitimate information. I am so impressed with the expertise and contributions of all team members, especially given the fact that no two children attend the same school. It was fun to see them so motivated and I have learned so much from this experience.

The team's assistant coach, Ms. Irivinti, taught the children about web page design and various other computer skills. William, Tiffany and Dylan had previous exposure to all this and they were able to take on additional roles and also developed the tsunami simulator, which I think is a marvelous creation. The children kept sprouting new ideas one after another for interactive games; unfortunately, time constraints kept them from doing a number of interesting extras with the site. The kids worked on the project mainly at home and I was available to them via the computer.

The kids were very busy during the long process of developing this project. The results of their hard work became tangible when all the raw content was put together and coupled with the website design and interactivities. We believe that this site has a great deal of educational value and will be very useful to students, especially elementary and middle school children. One of the kids' major accomplishments with this project is that they took into account user friendliness and navigation to create an easy-to-use site which will make it easier for students and teachers to find information about tsunamis. They have included numerous interactive games, simulations, demonstrations and quizzes in order to encourage student involvement. After all, kids learn best when they have the opportunity to interact! I hope that your visit to this website turns out to be a truly fulfilling and enjoyable experience.

I was primarily a resource for technical information. Though a few of the team members had had a bit of experience with computers and web design in the past, they found that they needed some means of guidance to get them started and ease them through any obstacles they may find. I began by showing them examples of well-designed sites and telling the kids what made the sites visually pleasing. Why do these color combinations work? What makes the navigation of the site so intuitive? How does the way the information is presented make it so effective? By asking and answering questions such as these, the team cooperatively developed a layout that each member was pleased with.

After the idea for the final layout was born, I guided the team in developing it fully. I introduced them to programs, such as Macromedia Dreamweaver, Macromedia Flash, and Adobe Photoshop, that I thought would prove useful in their venture. They absorbed this knowledge remarkably quickly, and ran with the ideas they had. At this point, I essentially took a back seat; the team had a specific focus in mind, and they delegated work based on individual strengths. Each project they worked on was a collaborative effort; the graphics would be completed by one person and passed on to another who would animate them, and so on. I am continually astounded by the virtual self-sufficiency and diligence of these kids. If any technical roadblocks were uncovered, the team would come to me for advice. I helped them get past obstacles with the components they were creating and also assisted them in debugging what they had already done. The team came up with several absolutely remarkable ideas, some of which they were unfortunately unable to complete, due to time-constraints. However, they put their utmost effort into the components they were able to finish, and it shows in the final product.

In addition to the aforementioned tasks, I proofread much of the site's written content in order to avoid grammatical errors and ensure some manner of consistency. Through working on this project, I gained an immeasurable wealth of knowledge, not only about tsunamis, but about teamwork, persistence, and the incredible potential of a group of often-underestimated children. There is an inextricable bit of each of them within each piece of their work; their personalities mesh so seamlessly that it is nearly impossible to tell where one person's work ends and another's begins. In the end, though, what really matters is the chef d'oeuvre that is the final product; a culmination of the fastidiousness of five invaluably diverse, dynamic, and buoyant personalities. With any luck, you'll gain as much from the site as each of them has put into it.