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Phoebe

SAVING THE SAND DUNES

    When we are talking about the sand dunes, are you familiar with it? Some people who are living beside the ocean will be very familiar with it. Sand dunes are very functional. We might ask what is the sand dune? What can it do? The sand dune is which people made to protect the town and people. The sand dune helps stop the wind from blowing beach sand away. They can help the ocean water from spilling past the beach. Sand dunes can help protect the shoreline ecosystem and also can provide habitats for marine species and help protect the homes. Of nearby residents from flooding when storms are coming. The sand dunes have a lot of benefits to people. 


    Even though the sand dunes have many benefits, they also have some problems. Big storms cause many dunes to disappear. Also, people can cause them to disappear too. When we are doing some recreational activities such as riding a horse can damage dune vegetation and increase the rate of sand loss through wind erosion. This loss of sand reduces the overall mass of the beach and sand dunes system, which acts as a buffer to the sea. When people saw this, they decided to do something to help the sand dune. 


    Each problem has its own solution. People first try to strengthen by laying sea sideways on the sand, but those trees were usually swept out to sea. When people notice that this can't work, they try a new idea. The students buried the tree standing up in 3 tranches each100 feet long, also, because the kids buried only the lower half of each tree in the sand, the upper half acted like a sound catcher. It trapped wind blown sand until the trees were completely buried.


    In follow up, the students measured the distance between the end of each ribbon on the top of the growing zone. The two schools also shared the results with each other. There is an old saying, there is strength in numbers. When there's more people, it works better. There are more helpers to help continue the project. And the following year, the 4th grade class had partners because teacher Kevin Burns from the nearby middle school had heard of it. He wanted his student to try to build one, too. When spring comes. The class planted dune grass on top of the dunes which had collected enough sand. Town workers also placed wooden fences around the dune to help pack the sand together so the dunes are protected.


    In conclusion, when we are thinking about how to protect sand dunes, we actually have a lot of measures to help it, such as planting beach grass and erecting fencing. If we want to protect the sand dune, we must protect it by ourselves. And do not think that you live far away from the beach and you cannot protect it, Actually, no matter how far you are from the beach, it is all the same. When you realize how important sand dunes are, you will want to protect it from the heart. Protecting and saving the sand dune, it all starts from yourself!

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