What Causes the ‘Tides’ and How Do They Work?

The tides happen because the moon pulls on the water in the ocean, like a giant magnet. When the moon is close, the ocean gets pulled up into a high tide. When it's far away, it goes down to a low tide. It’s kind of like when you pull on one end of a rope, the other end moves too!

The moon pulls on both sides of the Earth at once, causing two tides every day: one where the water is pulled up, and another where it's pushed away. That’s why we get high tide and low tide twice a day.