How is sand formed?

Big rocks in the mountains look like they never change, but they really do. The sun warms them, the night cools them, and rain fills their cracks. When the water freezes, it cracks the rock even more. Over time, the rock breaks into smaller pieces. Rivers carry these small stone pieces along, rubbing them together and making them even smaller and rounder.

When these tiny stone bits reach the sea, waves push them onto the beach. Waves and wind keep moving the bits around, so the grains become very small and smooth. Every single grain of sand on a beach is really a tiny piece of rock.

The colour of sand depends on where it comes from. Most sand is yellowish because it has a mineral called quartz in it. In some places there is black sand made from volcanic rock, and in other places there is white sand made from coral.

Sand takes a very long time to form, sometimes thousands of years. Nature works patiently to turn a piece of rock into one small grain of sand.