Grains of Sand

This is actually a special project "A" does with my mother. My mom LOVES collections! Recently she started a sand collection for/with "A". Each time someone goes to a place that may have sand she has them take samples that she puts in glass jars. She even took sand from "A's" sandbox! Being a rock-hound (like me) she wanted "A" to see how sand looks different when taken from different areas. Here are some countries "A" has sand from:

• Thailand
• Mexico
• Honduras
• Grand Cayman
• United States: Florida, Alabama, Oregon, Washington
• Awaiting sand for Japan from "A's" aunt in Okinawa

Collection so far

The darker grains (they have fun sorting colors and particle size)

Lighter Grains

To help "A's" understanding of how sand is made and why they differ I got the book Jump into Science with National Geographic:Sand by Ellen Prager for us to read. In the book, they show close up of sand and I found an amazing slideshow of similar close-up pictures of grains of sand that was published in May 2008 Discover Magazine. To view the entire slideshow click here.

Page from the book looking at different sands

Close up of sand from Greece (photo from Discover Magazine)

Grain of Massachusetts sand as piece of art from Discover Magazine

Photo from Discover Magazine (Okinawa Japan)

This is just one of the many reasons why "A" and my mom have such a great bond!