Nina and the Neurons: In the Lab - Super Sand

Scientist Nina and her young experimenters discover the amazing ways that things can change and react in our everyday world. Nina investigates where the sand on the beach comes from, with the help of Luke, her sight neuron. Experimenters Annessa, Emma and Renee visit Nina in her lab. Using their senses, they discover that sand is made of lots of tiny hard grains which look a bit like rocks under Nina's microscope. Next, Nina does an experiment to show that, unlike grains of sugar or salt, sand doesn't dissolve or seem to disappear in water. Then they all go to the beach for a treasure hunt and find a beautiful rock called quartz. Nina explains that sand is mostly made from quartz. But how does this happen? Back in the lab, the children use pebbles to break some special soft rocks up into grains like sand. Nina explains that the waves in the sea turn quartz rocks into sand by bashing them together.