<P> People who collect sand as a hobby are known as arenophiles . Organisms that thrive in sandy environments are psammophiles . </P> <Ul> <Li> Agriculture: Sandy soils are ideal for crops such as watermelons, peaches and peanuts, and their excellent drainage characteristics make them suitable for intensive dairy farming . </Li> <Li> Aquaria: Sand makes a low cost aquarium base material which some believe is better than gravel for home use . It is also a necessity for saltwater reef tanks, which emulate environments composed largely of aragonite sand broken down from coral and shellfish . </Li> <Li> Artificial reefs: Geotextile bagged sand can serve as the foundation for new reefs . </Li> <Li> Artificial islands in the Persian Gulf . </Li> <Li> Beach nourishment: Governments move sand to beaches where tides, storms or deliberate changes to the shoreline erode the original sand . </Li> <Li> Brick: Manufacturing plants add sand to a mixture of clay and other materials for manufacturing bricks . </Li> <Li> Cob: Coarse sand makes up as much as 75% of cob . </Li> <Li> Concrete: Sand is often a principal component of this critical construction material . </Li> <Li> Glass: Sand rich in silica is the principal component in common glass . </Li> <Li> Hydraulic fracturing: A drilling technique for natural gas, which uses rounded silica sand as a "proppant", a material to hold open cracks that are caused by the hydraulic fracturing process . </Li> <Li> Landscaping: Sand makes small hills and slopes (golf courses would be an example). </Li> <Li> Mortar: Sand is mixed with masonry cement or Portland cement and lime to be used in masonry construction . </Li> <Li> Paint: Mixing sand with paint produces a textured finish for walls and ceilings or non-slip floor surfaces . </Li> <Li> Railroads: Engine drivers and rail transit operators use sand to improve the traction of wheels on the rails . </Li> <Li> Recreation . Playing with sand is a favorite beach time activity . One of the most beloved uses of sand is to make sometimes intricate, sometimes simple structures known as sand castles . Such structures are well known for their impermanence . Sand is also used in children's play . Special play areas enclosing a significant area of sand, known as sandboxes, are common on many public playgrounds, and even at some single family homes . </Li> <Li> Roads: Sand improves traction (and thus traffic safety) in icy or snowy conditions . </Li> <Li> Sand animation: Performance artists draw images in sand . Makers of animated films use the same term to describe their use of sand on frontlit or backlit glass . </Li> <Li> Sand casting: Casters moisten or oil molding sand, also known as foundry sand and then shape it into molds into which they pour molten material . This type of sand must be able to withstand high temperatures and pressure, allow gases to escape, have a uniform, small grain size and be non-reactive with metals . </Li> <Li> Sand castles: Shaping sand into castles or other miniature buildings is a popular beach activity . </Li> <Li> Sandbags: These protect against floods and gunfire . The inexpensive bags are easy to transport when empty, and unskilled volunteers can quickly fill them with local sand in emergencies . </Li> <Li> Sandblasting: Graded sand serves as an abrasive in cleaning, preparing, and polishing . </Li> <Li> Thermal weapon: While not in widespread use anymore, sand used to be heated and poured on invading troops in the classical and medieval time periods . </Li> <Li> Water filtration: Media filters use sand for filtering water . </Li> <Li> Wuḍūʾ: the Islamic procedure for washing parts of the body . </Li> <Li> Zoanthid "skeletons": Animals in this order of marine benthic cnidarians related to corals and sea anemones, incorporate sand into their mesoglea for structural strength, which they need because they lack a true skeleton . </Li> </Ul> <Li> Agriculture: Sandy soils are ideal for crops such as watermelons, peaches and peanuts, and their excellent drainage characteristics make them suitable for intensive dairy farming . </Li> <Li> Aquaria: Sand makes a low cost aquarium base material which some believe is better than gravel for home use . It is also a necessity for saltwater reef tanks, which emulate environments composed largely of aragonite sand broken down from coral and shellfish . </Li>

What component of sand is used in some industries