Continue with Microsoft TeamsRead About Sand
Vocabulary
Read the vocabulary terms to understand the reading better.
Asphalt is a sticky black substance used to make roads and roofs.
To erupt means to send out lava, rocks, and ash out of a volcano in a sudden explosion.
A flood is a rise of water with no place to go.
Grain is a type of grass that produces seeds that can be eaten.
Molten rock, or lava, is hot liquid rock under the earth’s surface that flows from a volcano.
Sand is a mixture of very small pieces of different rocks or minerals.
A volcano is a mountain with an opening in the earth’s surface in which lava, molten rock, and ash escape from.
All About Sand
You can find sand on beaches and in sandboxes. Have you ever wondered what sand is made of?
Sand is mostly tiny pieces of rock. Each tiny piece of sand is called a grain of sand. Over time, water and wind can break up big rocks into smaller rocks. Small rocks can break up into tiny grains of sand.
A grain of sand is very light. Wind can pick up sand and move it to different places. Water can also move sand. Waves move sand onto beaches.
Colours of Sand
Sand can be different colours. Most sand is brown or grey. Around the world, you can see beaches with white sand, pink sand, or black sand.
It takes a volcano to make black sand. Molten rock called lava flows out of a volcano that is erupting. The lava cools and becomes hard, black rock. Black sand comes from this kind of rock. That is why beaches with black sand are close to volcanoes.
Ways We Use Sand
Sand is used in many different ways. Here are some examples.
Sand is used to make asphalt. Asphalt is what roads are made of.
A special kind of sand is used to make glass.
Sandpaper is made from grains of sand glued to paper.
In winter, trucks spread sand on icy roads. The sand helps keep cars from sliding on the ice.
Sandbags are large cloth bags filled with sand. People stack sandbags to make walls that block the water in floods.
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