In the sands. (From the series "From North to South")

In the sands

The desert is yellow and blue. Yellow—sands underfoot, around as far as the eye can see, and even further beyond the horizon. Blue sky. In the desert it is as vast as the sands.

Everything in the desert is unusual and incomprehensible. Ridges of golden sand - dunes. White swamps covered with salt are salt marshes. Groves of crooked, half-dried trees—saxaul. And takyrs - clay bald spots, smooth and strong, like asphalt.

Streams and lakes there are without water—in summer the water dries up. Trees without shade - they have no leaves. The winds are not refreshing - they are hot, like fire. The rains dry up before they reach the ground. Even good weather in the desert is not called dry and sunny, but cloudy and damp! Only in spring and autumn can you see green grass in the desert.

The stones in the desert turned black from the sun, the clay cracked from the heat. The bushes look like coils of barbed wire. Empty in the desert.

But this is only at first glance. The desert has many amazing inhabitants - birds, animals, lizards and beetles. And amazing things happen.

Methods of extraction and areas of application of useful sand

Excessive abundance with widespread occurrence makes it relatively easy to extract minerals in huge quantities in literally any territory where huge reserves of sand have been explored.

True, sand extraction occurs in various ways:

open,
closed
and borehole.

Thus, the most popular bulk type of sought-after mineral in the surrounding world is extracted using a closed method of soil sampling from the deep bottom of a reservoir, where the main building material of the bottom sediment - river sand - is loosened by the soil intake device of a dredging vessel - a ship's dredger.

As a result of the most effective hydraulic pumping operations, when a mechanical engine with a high-performance gearbox is started, a powerful pump is started, every minute sucking a muddy stream of the purest sand through a thick slurry pipeline.

Pumped from the sandy bottom of a river reservoir onto a floating barge, the raised soil is loaded into huge piles of sand, where it naturally gets rid of excess moisture, and under the influence of solar heating and ambient air ventilation, it is delivered on cargo barges to convenient locations:

goods unloading,
subsequent processing
and final storage

in the form of high mountains of pure sand, which miraculously turns the building material into a full-fledged product that has its own market value.

That is why, apparently, on the hilly expanses of long-dried ancient seas, an incalculable amount of golden-yellow sand was formed, where the most sought-after natural resource after life-giving water for a long time, due to its technical characteristics, was absolutely unsuitable for construction, and therefore was considered useless, and in some cases even extremely harmful.

Already today, the scientific world of Europe has created a biodegradable material from the once useless sand of the hot desert, which is successfully used in the construction industry. Thereby reducing the load on a gradually depleting natural resource – the mineral sand.

Using the open method of deep excavation of useful soil from watered depressions in the earth's crust, quarry sand is extracted, where the surface layer of soil is removed using overburden scrapers, and the earth's rock is removed using bucket excavators.

The well method of hydraulic extraction of quartz sand with accurate calculation of sand deposits using proven technology involves:

in hard-to-reach wetlands and agricultural lands,
in permafrost zones and vast areas of forests of valuable tree species

with a weakly stable surface roof and a gradual subsidence with a shallow bed of 20 meters of layered rock, deliver valuable minerals to the surface of the earth while preserving the pristine landscape.

Downhole equipment for inclined horizontal drilling with an underground pipeline for forced lifting of sandy pulp to the surface of the earth is installed on previously explored reserves of mined rock with a total average capacity of 1.5-2.5 million m3 tons. Why is the economic efficiency of this method of sand extraction several times higher than:

not only a closed underwater mining method,
but also an open-pit mining method.

Already today, 85% of all global mineral production comes from mineral resources, where, according to statistics, the annual production of sand and gravel has exceeded 75 billion tons.

The main consumers of gigantic volumes are the same construction industry of residential real estate, where concrete buildings are erected from minerals and tiled paths are laid, which in the winter cold turn into such a slippery coating, which is why they are sprinkled with the same mineral sand.

A huge amount of valuable sand is spent on road construction with the construction of engineering bridge overpasses and the repair of long highways, the needs of public utilities and the design of landscape design.

Loose sand is used to strengthen both coastlines and the construction of cargo ports.

And the main industries for using extracted fractions of fossil sand are:

production of dry mixtures for construction and creation of artificial surfaces,
foundry and oil and gas and medical industries,
development of polymer fillers and paints and varnishes,
production of glue and sandblasting of objects and smooth surfaces,
glass production and solution purification with water filtration,

where the listed areas of application can be expanded significantly.

Peschankin's house

The Gerbil sat by the hole and rejoiced: how nice it is in the sun! Beep, beep, beep! You warm one side, then the other. Either with your back up, or with your stomach. And if it weren’t for work and worries, I would be turning from side to side all day. But things to do, things to do—you have to gnaw the grass and carry it to the mink. And then everyone gets in the way! Do you think the Eagle is just circling in the sky? It is he who is looking out for us gerbils. Do you think the Dune Cat is just sitting behind a bush? He's also watching for us. But I’m not very afraid of the Eagle and the Cat; they, being huge, cannot crawl into my hole. The main thing for me is not to overlook Varan! You can’t escape him even in a hole. Oh - beep, beep! - and he’s right there! The toothy villain has sneaked up!

The Gerbil rushed into the hole - as if she had fallen through the ground. Varan is behind her. He stuck the pike's head into the hole and hissed through his frequent teeth:

- I hear, I hear - she hid not far. Well, come out in a good way! Don't you want to? Then I will come to you myself!

The gerbil's hole is a whole underground labyrinth: passages, dead ends, holes. And there is someone living everywhere. Varan is making his way through the underground passages, and on the way is Toad.

-What kind of stuffed, bug-eyed thing is this? - Varan hisses. “It’s also spotted!”

“I’m not a stuffed animal,” answers the Toad, “I’m the Green Toad, Peschankin’s little resident.”

- What are you doing here, Green Toad, huh?

“I spend the night here, or rather the day.” I am a delicate creature, my skin is thin, it’s impossible for me to be in the sun during the day - I dry out. That's why I sleep during the day and walk at night. In the morning we go back to the hole. I occupy a corner in the burrow of the Gerbil. The most raw.

- Where is your mistress? - Varan hisses. - Show me her, I miss her...

- I won’t show you, no way! The gerbil sheltered me, and I did her evil for good? I don't want to be ungrateful!

“Then I’ll eat you, right in your damp and dark corner!” - Varan got angry. “I’ll eat it now!”

“And I’m tasteless, inedible,” the Toad purred, “your stomach will hurt.”

Varan clicked his teeth, pushed the Toad away with his clawed paw, and let’s continue to make our way through the labyrinth. On his way is a Scarab Beetle. Varan looked at him and asked:

- Who are you, dung beetle, or what?

The scarab beetle was offended:

- I am the sacred Scarab Beetle! In ancient times, people decorated palaces with my images.

Varan was very surprised:

- If you are so famous, then why don’t you live in a palace, but scurry around in a dark hole?

- Me? — The Scarab Beetle was confused. “So, as you rightly noted, I have another name—Dung Beetle.” So here I am... I'm collecting something here - I need something...

Varan grinned.

- So I need to eat. And the Gerbil ran away. Answer, where did she hide?

“I told you everything,” the Dung Beetle creaked. “But I won’t tell you this.” I don't betray my friends.

“If you don’t tell me, others will,” hissed Varan, “there are a lot of you here in the hole, hangers-on.” Hey butterflies, have you seen the Gerbil?

In the Gerbil's hole, moths were hiding from the heat and sunlight. They sat on the wall of the hole and moved their antennae.

- We didn't see anything. We didn’t hear anything, we don’t know anything!” the butterflies rustled. “If you touch us, you’ll choke, choke, suffocate!”

Varan himself knew that the wings of butterflies are dry, hard and covered in pollen. He began to push his way further. He sees the Kamenka bird hiding in the hole. He asks her tenderly:

- And you, Dancer Wheatear, what are you doing in the hole? A? Are you catching butterflies?

“No,” Kamenka answers, “I have a nest here in a snout, and the testicles are in the nest.”

- Yeah, I let it slip! - Varan was delighted. “Where is the nest?” I haven’t swallowed eggs for a long time, I’m even a little hoarse. Now I’ll soften my throat!

Kamenka became afraid and began to beg Varan:

“I,” he says, “will do everything for you, just don’t touch the nest.”

“Okay,” Varan answers, “I won’t touch your nest if you show me the Gerbil.” If you don't show it, beware!

“I’ll show you, I’ll show you,” Kamenka squeaked. “She’s wearing that snatch.” Hurry up!

- That's how cleverly I intimidated you! - Varan was delighted. - Now the Gerbil is mine!

And he climbed, hissing, into the hole. And Kamenka looks after him and giggles. She knows who is sitting there in the hole. Varana sent there on purpose to save the Gerbil.

Varan senses that someone is sitting in the hole, but who is not visible. I just wanted to ask, and they asked him:

- Who are you?

- I? — Varan was surprised. “I am the terror of gophers and gerbils.” I'm the biggest lizard in the desert! Shhh!!!

“And I,” he hears in response, “A ferret-bandage!” Thunderstorm of gerbils, gophers and monitor lizards!

Varan got scared and spoke in a whisper:

- Give me my Gerbil and I’ll leave.

And Bandaging answers him:

- There’s nothing here that’s yours! Everything here is mine! I'm hunting here! And you are my prey!

Varan and Bandaging grappled - dust swirled through the underground passages. Everyone around is quiet, listening - who is who? And the Gerbil listens. She crawled out of the hole a long time ago and is sitting at the top.

“Fear takes over the way they fight,” whispers the Gerbil.

Maybe they too, the predators, will be overcome by fear and will drive each other away from my hole? Oh, I wish I could live peacefully, in harmony with all my tenants. I have them, no one gave them to Varan.

Here the fight underground ended, and Perevyazka and Varan fled in different directions. The monitor lizard next to the Gerbil poked out from under the ground.

- Hey, Gerbil, where did Bandage run off to?

- To the left! - Gerbil was scared.

- Then I should turn right! - Varan snorted and dusted across the sands.

Here Bandage jumped out of the hole:

- Hey, Gerbil, where did Varan run?

- He ran in that direction! - Gerbil was scared again.

- Once in one, then in another for me! - Bandage squealed and galloped away.

The gerbil looked after them, calmed down, and got down to business. Mow grass with your teeth, carry it into a hole with your teeth.

Sand to play with at home

The sandbox is a special place on the playground where children of all ages gather. This is space for creativity, joint games and quiet time. Millions of grains of sand fascinate even adults, and how many childhood memories are associated with sand castles on the seashore! Despite this, the outdoor sandbox has significant disadvantages - unhygienic and inaccessible during the cold season.

Fortunately, Swedish scientists have created a material that meets hygiene requirements and is suitable for year-round indoor play. The invention is amazing - it is sand that does not crumble and flows in your hands. Amazing, isn't it?

Kinetic, that is, in motion, sand is unique: if you mold a figure out of it, the mass becomes dense and holds its shape well, but as soon as you touch the figure, it smoothly spreads. The feeling of touching such material is difficult to convey in words. It’s like holding in your hands a dry liquid or a plastic mass for modeling, but not homogeneous, but consisting of tiny grains that are attracted to each other by invisible strings.

The composition of the product is no secret: 98% is pure quartz sand (silicon dioxide), and 2% is a food additive with the code “E900”. It turns out that such material is safe if you accidentally taste it.

Turtle

A strange mark in the sand - as if a toy truck had driven by. It was a turtle crawling through. Her long winter sleep is over. The turtle crawled out of the hole in which it had been sleeping for six months and went to look for fresh grass.

Those who are accustomed to considering turtles to be slow would be surprised - the turtle almost ran! Those who consider turtles clumsy would also be surprised - the turtle deftly climbed the steepest slopes. True, one day she fell, rolled down and turned over on her back. And then those who are accustomed to considering turtles to be clumsy would be surprised: the turtle stretched out its neck, rested its head on the sand - once! - and got to her feet! And all this was visible from her clear footprints.

And here is the turtle itself. Briskly striding along the sand. On her way there is a lizard - a long-eared round-headed lizard. Standing on your heels - hot! - and fans himself with his tail - it’s hot! I saw a turtle and my mouth was wide open! And even wider: at the corners of her mouth, two red folds fanned out, like ears. Mouth with ears!

But the turtle didn’t even turn to the side. She knew that the roundhead was only scary in appearance, but itself harmless. And she scares... with fear!

The sand hare stood up in a column - looking at the turtle. The thin-toed gopher has stopped digging in the sand and is also looking at the turtle. A saxaul jay rushed past. But the turtle did not look at them. Hurry up and find some grass: I haven’t drunk or eaten for six months!

I met an agama lizard on the way. She pouted, stood up on crooked legs, and the skin on her throat sagged, like a blue beard. And the sides turned blue. But this didn’t scare the turtle - it walked straight ahead!

The scorpion was not afraid, the phalanx was not afraid. She didn’t even notice the sand boa, although it crawled very close to her.

But when the eagle’s shadow covered it, the turtle quickly hid its legs and head in its shell—as if it had darted into the house and slammed the door behind itself!

The eagle fell from above. He clawed the turtle, took off and carried it to a distant rock, where he always dealt with his prey. But then another eagle rushed towards him and began to take away his spoils. The eagles grappled in the air, screaming hoarsely, and the turtle fell down - right into the thick grass. The one I've been looking for for so long!

As a reminder of the adventure, long scratches remained on the shell - traces of eagle claws.

Advantages

How to play with kinetic sand? It all depends on the imagination of the parents, as well as on the age of the child. First, let’s find out how good this “toy” is. Is it worth buying it at all?

Kinetic sand has the following advantages:

hypoallergenic;
easy to stack;
does not leave marks on the surface;
safe for use by children;
easy to wash and dry;
does not dry out and does not require moisture.

This sand can completely replace regular sand from an outdoor sandbox. Microbes do not multiply in it, which makes the product completely safe.

Conversations in the Sands

HAXAUL SPARROW AND DESERT SPARROW

- What a cunning thing I did, neighbor, - I went and built a nest in a narrow hollow! Now even the dune cat is not scary to me!

- And I, a neighbor, came up with an even more cunning idea. I built my nest under an eagle's nest! Now I’m not just like a dune cat, now I even have a caracal - I don’t care about the desert lynx. The eagles are now guarding my nest!

OWL AND HOOHOOE

- Why are you, Hoopoe, endlessly shouting: “It’s bad here!” It’s bad here!”

- Because, Owl, it’s good here!

“I would then shout: “Okay, here!” Okay, here!”

- Look what you are! So that other hoopoes would hear and drive me away from a good place? Never! “It’s bad here! It’s bad here!”

HEDGEHOG AND TURTLE

- Hey, Turtle, what if the Fox grabs you, huh?

“And I, Hedgehog, will hide in my bone shell and slam the entrance with my paws.” The fox will click its teeth and run after you.

- And I’ll shrink into a bun and put out the thorns. The fox will prick his nose, cry, and leave with nothing.

SANDTICK HARE AND FULL-FOOT JERBAI

- You, Jerboa, have four paws, but the footprints in the sand are only from two. Where did you put your two legs?

- And for some reason, Hare, your hind paws are ahead of your front paws on the tracks. Maybe you're running tail first?

“It’s my speed, Jerboa: I’m in such a hurry that my hind legs overtake my front legs!”

- And for me, Hare, it’s about speed: I gallop on the rear ones so that the front ones don’t hold me up!

Classification characteristics of types of natural sand

Ubiquitous in all countries of the planet earth, the fine-grained mineral of the mineral, shining in the sun, is subdivided according to the nature of its origin and diversity of composition:

on natural sand
and artificial sand,

Therefore, the process of obtaining a sample of material not created in the wild is closely related to the forced crushing and thorough grinding of stone granite and fragments of marble with detrital limestone, where the size of sand grains is in the range from 0.7 mm to 5 mm.

The very size of grains of mineral sand is classified into three types of categories:

fine-grained from 0.1 mm to 0.2 mm,
medium-grained from 0.3 mm to 0.5 mm,
coarse-grained from 0.6 mm to 3 mm,

where the smallest fraction of the sand texture intuitively resembles, by touch recognition, ground into weightless dust, a pleasantly felt fluffy flour.

In this connection, aggregate types of crystalline modules of bodies are divided into two main groups:

single single crystals with a regular crystal lattice shape
and an accreted set of differently oriented polycrystals,

which is why, according to the percentage composition of the incoming substances:

solid single crystals contain 90% of the main substance silicon and 10% of the minor blende of the horny substance of sea corals and shell remains of ancient aquatic animals,
polycrystals contain 50% feldspar and 50% quartz.

According to the conditions of accumulation and the location of the natural substance, fossil sand is characterized by three types:

soil sand with sharp edges,
smooth sand, hewn by the river current
and sea sand of the most rounded shape

with a natural background of active radiation radiation hazard of chemical elements of incoming substances with natural color shades:

from light to yellow, from white to gray,
from pink to orange, from red to purple,
from purple to green, from brown to black,

where the heterogeneity of sand grains of different sizes and mixtures of colors has a significant difference, directly depending not only on the type of fossil rocks with different compositions of substances, but also on the characteristic predominance:

rocky fragments and shiny pieces of glass,
basalt chips and semi-precious stones,
small grains of calcareous compounds of water shells and grain impurities of mineral deposits.

Mysterious stories

MISSING SHIRT

A lizard lives in the sand - the skink gecko. A very beautiful gecko. The gecko's leather shirt is especially good - all covered in gold and copper scales and buttons. And the pants are all over the place: scales, like frills and frills.

But everything has its time: the shirt has faded, the pants are dirty, the sleeves on the elbows are frayed. It's time to change clothes.

For a gecko, changing a suit is not a task. You need to hide in a hole away from prying eyes, and pull off your worn-out skin-clothes with your paws. And underneath it, a new one is already ready: clean, with shiny scales, with white frills and frills on the pants.

The gecko did just that: he hid in a dark hole and began to change clothes. And here is a gecko in everything new.

There is no old shirt in the hole. Where's the old shirt?

(Guess)

An old shirt, of course, cannot be darned or washed by a gecko. But it’s a shame to throw it away!

As soon as the gecko pulls it off, he takes it in his front paws, folds it into a ball, and even into his mouth! If he eats the whole shirt, he will also lick his lips. Don't let the goodness go to waste!

WHERE TO HIDE?

Not a dense tree, not a green bush—just sand all around. Where can I find shadow here? It’s impossible to live in such heat, where can you hide from the sun? As soon as the inhabitants of the sands are not fried?

(Guess)

If the inhabitants of the sands did not know where to hide from the sun, then many would actually be roasted alive.

Gerbils, ground squirrels, moths, and beetles hide in holes. Boa constrictors and skink geckos burrow deep into the sand, into the wet layer. Small birds hide in holes, in wells, in the shadow of a stone. And eagles sometimes circle in the shadow of a high cloud!

WHY DOES THE JERBAE HAVE A TAIL?

The jerboa has a tail twice as long as its body: it is clear that it really needs it. What for? Why does a jerboa need a tail?

A horse's tail is a fly swatter, a fish's is an oar, a woodpecker's is a prop. What about the jerboa? There are no flies at night, there is nowhere for him to swim and the jerboa, like a woodpecker, does not climb trees. And the tail is longer than everyone else’s!

(Guess)

The jerboa sits on its hind legs, holds a twig in its front legs and gnaws it. And to make it more comfortable to sit, it rests on its tail. His tail - SUPPORT AND PUSHER - helps to push off from the sand during the first jump. And when he jumps on two legs - and this is more difficult than jumping on four! - the tail helps him maintain balance - the tail is a BALANCER. And that is not all. At the end of the tail the jerboa has a white tassel. For friends, this is an INDEX - I’m here, follow me! And for enemies - a DECEIVER. He will turn his white tassel to the right as he runs, and he will jump to the left.

Benefits of playing with sand

Thanks to modeling, the child’s hand muscles will be strengthened and joint mobility will improve.
This material allows kids to practice counting, learning shapes and sizes, letters, and much more.
Thanks to the pleasant tactile sensations and calming effect, playing with sand helps with increased excitability and activity of the child. While modeling, the baby becomes more diligent and learns to concentrate.
Stimulation of the nerve endings of the fingers during sand sculpting is important for fine motor skills, which help in the development of speech and mental activity.
Playing with sand relaxes and promotes emotional rest for both children and adults.
Creating different figures and inventing different games with sand has a positive effect on the development of a child’s creative skills, his imagination and fantasy.
Drawing in the sand will help prepare your hand for writing.

Flaws

When thinking about what to do with kinetic sand, parents should first think carefully about whether they need to buy such an educational “toy” for their child at all. It, like any subject, has its drawbacks.

Among these are:

price;
the need for regular cleaning;
such sand cannot be sifted through a sieve;
the possibility of grains of sand getting stuck in the fabric;
Sometimes it emits an unpleasant odor.

Also, some parents say that magic sand sometimes sticks to their hands, especially to children's palms. This usually happens when your hands become sweaty or wet. However, if you follow the rules for using such products, there should be no problems.

What games can you play?

You can come up with a lot of different games with this toy. It all depends on the goals that need to be achieved. This product is so unique that its use not only helps to strengthen the baby’s physical health, but also develops his mental abilities. Psychologists quite often use this material to help children develop fine motor skills. It is also well suited for eliminating problems with psychosomatic issues. In addition, this substance can be used as educational or role-playing games. There are many options, here are some of them:

Small children can simply pour plastic sand from palm to palm or into molds, or they can simply knead it like plasticine. This game is well suited for restless and hyperactive children, as it calms and relaxes the overexcited nervous system very well. You can also turn on calm music quietly. But the main condition for conducting such psychotherapy is the presence of parents nearby. One is possible, but both are best. Everyone can knead the sand together and at the same time accompany their actions with calm comments. The atmosphere should be pleasant and friendly.
You can use ordinary molds, a bucket and a spatula to play. First, the child puts the mixture into molds and then pours it back. This game will not only help develop fine motor skills of the fingers, but will also teach your baby to clean up after himself.
Another version of the game is that you first need to bury some small objects in the sand (pebbles, beads, buttons, Kinder surprise toys, etc.). The baby’s task is to dig them out. With older children, you can make the game a little more complicated - blindfold the child, and when he digs up an object, he must guess by touch what it is. Such exercises develop tactile sensitivity and imagination very well.
You can build all kinds of figures - castles, towers, houses, etc.
In addition, you can draw on the sand with a small stick or a simple stack, as well as write numbers or letters of the alphabet.

There are many possibilities for using this toy. The main thing is not to restrain your imagination and take an active part in the children’s hobby.

Stamps

Still wondering how to play with kinetic sand? This fun will be interesting not only for small children, but also for adults. The main thing is to show a little imagination! Even teenagers will happily play with magic sand, because it is an ideal material for sculpting and modeling.

In addition to the games listed earlier, you can keep your child busy with stamps. To do this, just buy special molds. Now you just need to press them into the loose magic sand and look at the result.

There seems to be nothing special about this process. But kids really enjoy making stamps. And sand stamps are double pleasure. Especially for those who cannot spend a day without a sandbox.

Storage and care rules

These products do not require special storage conditions. It does not dry out from exposure to air or sun. Maintains its consistency throughout the entire period of use. When applying, you should follow a few simple rules:

If the mass has become less soft, you need to lightly moisten your hands with water and knead it. There is no need to add water to the sand itself.
If water does get on the product, you need to wait until it dries. To do this, just keep it open for some time. No additional heat treatments are required.
Before using the product for the first time, wash your hands thoroughly.
After playing with the sand, you need to put it back into the container and close the lid well. This is necessary in order to protect the toy from dust, moisture and other small objects.
No dyes should be added to the mixture, as this may spoil the properties of the product.
If a child spills sand, it can easily be collected by hand and used further. And small particles can be removed with a vacuum cleaner and a wet cloth.
You can store the magic mass as long as you like.

Thus, today the kinetic product is a real godsend for parents, since it has many advantages: under no circumstances does it lose its unique properties, is easy to use, unlike plasticine, does not stick and does not leave stains and marks on clothes and household items. In addition, it brings great joy to children and can help in establishing harmonious family relationships.

Originally posted 2018-05-01 06:45:33.

Age restrictions for use

On the packaging, manufacturers indicate the lower age limit of “3+”, i.e. this toy is recommended for children aged three years and older. The fact is that sand contains small particles that a child can swallow or inhale, and this is quite dangerous. However, if parents play this game together with their children and thus monitor them, then it can be used from the age of one and a half years.