Sand: The Gritty Reality

You see sand in lots of places: the beach, on the playground, in gardens, as part of buildings. We even talk about sand in our eyes. But what about sand in windows and computers? Did you know that sand is the second most common element on earth (oxygen is first).  Sand is likely to be more important than you ever dreamed of.

CONNECT:

Not all sand is created equal; did you know that the best beaches are ranked by 50 criteria?  Take a look how sand is rated: http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/optics/olympusmicd/galleries/oblique/seasand1.html.

Trace how sand becomes a circuit at http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/history/museum-making-silicon.html

Watch how glass is made – from sand: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Glass

How does an hourglass measure time? The Library of Congress knows: http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/hourglass.html

CREATE:

Search “sand” at http://kinderart.com/. You’ll find lots of sand-based art activities to do: sand painting, sand jars, even dinosaur treasure eggs.

Learn how to do sand sculpting at http://www.virtualnjshore.com/tbsandcastles.html

Practice being a sand scientist at http://faculty.pasadena.edu/dndouglass/sand/SandExrc.htm

There are a surprising number of statistics about sand. Try a Google image search on “sand statistics.’ Any surprises?

CARE:

You can contribute to the global virtual sand collection: http://faculty.pasadena.edu/dndouglass/sand/sandmap.htm

Have fun and be eco-friendly by make recycled sand and water toys: http://www.inhabitots.com/how-to-make-recycled-sand-and-water-toys/

Help save sand dunes at http://www.envirolink.org/resource.html?itemid=799&catid=5

Find out about the importance of reefs, including sand ones, and how you can help protect them: http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/encyclopedia/reef/?ar_a=1

CAREERS:

Sand is used in manufacturing, whether to sand down items or build them. Sand is used in energy, such as the oil industry. Sand is used in science: archeology, chemistry, physics, oceanography, and so on. Sand is part of the tourist industry too. The jobs associated with sand may be as numerous as the grains of sand on the beach!

http://www.madehow.com/Volume-3/Sand.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBPqWa1vDTM

Really? Manufacturing sand? Here’s why: http://www.metso.com/miningandconstruction/mm_sepa.nsf/WebWID/WTB-120530-2256F-72E1B/$File/Why%20manufactured%20sand.pdf

http://www.sand.org/

BTW: Sand in your eyes isn’t really sand; it’s rheum – dried mucus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rheum)