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All rights reservedText copyright © 2000 Nicola Edwards and Jane HarrisPhotographs copyright © 2000 Julian Cornish-Trestrail

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,

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permission in writing from the publisher.

e-ISBN 1-59019-861-1Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available

ISBN 0-7136-5346-9

Exploring the scienceof everyday materials

Nicola Edwards andJane Harris

Photographs by

Julian Cornish-Trestrail

2

Lots of different thingsare made from sand.Here are some objectsthat have sand in them.

3

There is even sandin glass.

4

In this desert, there is sandas far as you can see.

5

At the beach, waves break downrocks and pebbles into sand.

A grain ofsand is a tinypiece of rock!

6

I’m looking at a handfulof sand through thismagnifying glass.

I can see hundreds oftiny grains.

7

When I scoop up some sand and openmy ngers, the sand runs between them.It feels smooth and cool.

Some ofthe sand sticks

between my ngers.It feels tickly.

8

Watch me pourdry sand fromone beakerto another.

I didn‛t spill any!

9

This egg-timer has sand inside it.The sand takes four minutes topour from the top to the bottom.That’s enough time to boil an egg.

Yum!

10

I’ve used a funnelto ll this bottlewith sand. It feelsheavy now.

When I shake it,I can‛t hearany noise.

11

I’ve poured outsome of the sand.Now I’m goingto shake the bottle again.

This time itmakes a noise!

12

I’m making a sandcastle.

Oh no!It hasn‛tworked.

13

I’m making a sandcastle too, but my sand is wet.

My sandcastlestayed together.

14

We’re making shapes in wet sand.

These aremy footprints.

15

Let’s try pressing these thingsinto the sand.

Look at all the shapes!

16

What will happen if we drop a marble on to each of these trays?

The marble bangs on the empty tray and rolls around.

The sandstops my marble

from moving.

17

Now let’s try standing twigsup in the trays.

In the empty tray, the twigsfall over.

The sandhelps the twigs

to stand up.

18

I’m planting cress seeds. I’m going to plantsome in soil andsome in sand.

I wonder if the seeds will grow

in the sand?

19

Cress has grown inboth of the pots.

But it hasgrown better

in the soil.

Sandpaper is paper with sand gluedon to it. It feels rough.

I’m rubbingsandpaper on a plastic plate.It’s scratching the plate.

21

Now I’m rubbing sandpaperon this piece of wood.The sandpaper rubsaway the rough edges.

The wood feelssmoother now.

22

Sand is used in building.A builder is adding this sandto cement in a mixer.

23

The cement mixture lookswet and soft.When it dries, it will holdthe brickstogether.

Now it feelslike rock.

24

The aim of the Science Explorers series is to introduce children to ways ofobserving and classifying materials, so that they can discover the variousproperties which make them suitable for a range of uses. By talking aboutwhat they already know about materials from their everyday use ofdifferent objects, the children will gain con dence in making predictionsabout how a material will behave in different circumstances. Through theirexplorations, the children will be able to try out their ideas in a fair test.

Notes for parents and teachers

pp 2–5

Sand is made up of tiny particles of a mixture ofminerals, including quartz, feldspar, magnetite andmica. Created by the erosion of rocks, sand is carriedby wind and water and deposited on beaches, indeserts and along the banks of lakes and rivers. Sandoccurs naturally in a variety of colours, depending onthe rock from which it originates (for example, blacksand formed from basalt is found in volcanic areas).

Discuss the children’s experience of sand: at school,at home, on building sites and on holiday. How wouldthey describe sand? What do they like doing with it?Show the children objects that contain sand (such assand bricks, sandpaper, egg-timers and glass), andcompare the raw material with the nished products.

pp 6–8

Encourage the children to study a pinch of sand witha magnifying glass and, if possible, under a microscope.Can they separate out a single grain of sand?

The children could try transferring sand from onecontainer to another, using paper and plastic bags,wooden boxes, metal pots, plastic jugs and so on.They could investigate which shapes and materials

are most suitable and why. This activity also providesan opportunity to investigate capacity. Whichcontainer do the children think will hold the mostsand? Discuss their predictions and ask them howthey could record their ndings. If possible, providethe children with coarse-and ne-grained sand andask them to compare the look and feel of each. Theycould consider how each type of sand behaves in theinvestigations featured in the book.

p 9

Provide the children with a variety of timing devices,for example, sand glasses, egg-timers, stopwatches,clocks and kitchen timers. Ask them to compare theeffectiveness of each. Can they identify the limitationsof a sand glass as a means of timing?

pp 10–11

Can the children think why the sand in the half-fullbottle makes a noise when they shake it, whereas thetightly packed sand makes no noise?

pp 12–15

Provide the children with sand, water and a varietyof buckets, spades, plastic moulds and watering cans.

25

Encourage them to investigate how wet the sand needsto be to make the best moulded shapes. How do theyknow when they’ve added too much water?

The children could also investigate how much weighta sandcastle can bear before it collapses, for exampleby placing a succession of plastic building blocks ontop of the sandcastle until it gives way.

pp 16–17

The children could compare the bolstering effect ofsand with a variety of other substances, for example,water, our, sugar and cotton wool. Discuss with thechildren how sandbags are used to offer protectionagainst rising oodwater.

pp 18–19

While sandy soil provides a growing medium whichcombines good drainage with the necessary nutrientsfor plant growth, sand alone does not contain the rightnutrients for healthy growth. Discuss the conditionswhich need to be in place for a plant to grow andthrive. The children may have seen grass growing onsand dunes or trailing plants at the edges of beachesin tropical countries.

pp 20–2l

The children could test the abrasive effect ofsandpaper on a variety of materials, such as metal,stone, plastic, wood, wool and cotton fabric.

pp 22–23

The children may have seen sand and cement beingmixed in concrete mixers, in their local area or ontelevision. You could read with them The Big ConcreteLorry by Shirley Hughes (Walker Books). If possible,demonstrate with a small quantity of sand, water andcement how the mixture changes and sets as theingredients react with each other.

Find the pageHere are some of the wordsand ideas in this book.

beach 5

cement 22, 23

describing sand 6, 7

desert 4

egg-timer 9

growing plants in sand 18, 19

making shapes in sand 14, 15

pouring sand 8, 10, 11

rock 5

sandcastle 12, 13

sandpaper 20, 21