Science Smarts: Is there really iron in cereal?
By Patty Rooks on March 25, 2023.
I am still as busy as can be this week helping all the young scientists in southeastern Alberta finish up their science fair projects for the Regional Science Fair on April 1 at Medicine Hat College. It is absolutely amazing the interesting projects this year – these young scientists are really showing me some new material! I thought this was an interesting experiment… is there really iron in my cereal? Let’s get started! *Remember to ask an adult before doing this experiment. Materials – Two different kinds of cereal you would like to investigate the iron content in – Zipper sandwich bags – Strong magnet – Water – Two mixing bowls – Measuring spoons – Measuring cups – Mixing spoon – Pencil – Tape Procedure 1. Measure 250 mL (one cup) the cereal you want to test for iron into a zipper bag. Close it tightly. 2. Gently crush the cereal up with your hands – be careful NOT to pop the bag! 3. Once you have a nice finely crushed up mixture, pour it into the mixing bowl. 4. Take the magnet and hover it above this mixture. Observe what happens. 5. Add 250 mL (one cup) of water to the mixture. Stir well. 6. Allow this to sit and thicken for a few minutes. 7. Tape the magnet to the end of the pencil. Place the pencil – magnet into a zipper baggie and tape it around REALLY well so it will stay in there. 8. Using the pencil – magnet, stir the cereal water mixture for one minute. 9. Remove the pencil and observe if there is anything sticking to the magnet. Repeat several times to see how much iron you can collect. 10. Was the manufacturer correct on the label – did they put any iron in the cereal? 11. Repeat with any other cereals you would like to try! What is going on? There should in fact be iron in our cereal! You should have observed tiny pieces stuck to he magnet. It is difficult to see and does take some time so be patient. Did you know that manufacturers put extra vitamins and minerals into our food. In this case, there is iron. Our bodies need iron to work and function properly. The type of iron that we need is not really the metal type of iron you would see on a car for instance. Most cereals have added metallic iron in them as a nutritional supplement. So some types of cereal will have more and some will have less. Can you figure out which ones? Do not forget to register for the Regional Science Fair on April 1 – it is open to ALL students in southeastern Alberta. As well, we are still in need of some science fair judges so if you would like to lend a helping hand, send me a message! Patty Rooks, Senior Scientific Consultant PRAXIS, “Connecting Science To The Community”. Contact Praxis at praxis@praxismh.ca, http://www.praxismh.ca, Tweet or follow us @PraxisMedHat, or friend us on Facebook. Address: #12 826 11 Street S. E., Medicine Hat, Alberta, T1A 1T7 Phone: 403.527.5365, email: praxis@praxismh.ca. 32-31
