Make Your Own Sand Collection + Lesson Idea

A great way to keep a reminder of your beach travels is to create a sand collection using spice jars and a spice rack.  It makes for a beautiful display, keeping you connected to those cherished beachy feelings.  I must admit, though, I haven’t been to every beach that I have a jar for…

When I started teaching, I wanted to be able to give students the chance to see sand from beaches around the world, so I enlisted the help of friends and family to collect sand whenever they went on vacation.  The response to this request was amazing – I started getting sand in the mail from places that I never thought I’d reach.  (Thank you again to everyone who took the thought, time and postage to do this!)  I extend this to students as well, and they love bringing sand back from vacation, especially for a few bonus points 🙂

What started as a mission to collect sand from around the world for my students to see has evolved into a full-fledged station lab in which students interactively learn about the characteristics of sand and how it forms, do an experiment to tell if sand has once-living material in it (bone, shells, spines), and try to determine the correct crime scene sand match.

There is a gem-like quality to sand when viewing it under a microscope, and it gives students an eye-opening experience into the world of an often taken-for-granted substance that feels good between our toes.

Even if you don’t have students to share the sand-science with, start building your sand collection today…at the very least, it’s a great excuse to plan a getaway to the beach!