Nails in my cereal

We are down to the final weeks before the Regional Science Fair on April 8 at Medicine Hat College. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you are going to do a project, we need to get started now. There are many interesting and simple science fair projects that you can do. What I always tell the students I work with is that the project has to be something you are interested in though. It is not much fun to do a project on something you are told to do. Science Fair is a time to let your imagination run wild, be creative, solve a mystery that you have been wondering about. As always, be safe, and have fun! This week, I thought I would give you a suggestion to get you started. Remember you have a whole week off of school and what better way to pass the time than do science! Let’s get started.

*Remember to ask an adult before doing this experiment.

Materials

- breakfast cereal fortified with iron (look at the nutritional label and find one high in iron)

- small sandwich size zipper type bag - measuring cups - water - magnet (preferably a rare earth magnet or cow magnet as they are really strong) - piece of parchment paper - piece of white paper towel

Procedure

1. Measure one cup or cereal and place in the zipper bag and close tightly.

2. Gently crush the flakes of the cereal up with your hands. Be gentle as you do not want the bag to break.

3. Pour the cereal out onto the parchment paper. Spread the cereal into a nice thin even layer.

4. Hold the magnet above the crushed up cereal. Move it all around. Be patient and use your observation skills — do you see anything move? 5. Look at the magnet. 6. Place the magnet on the cereal and gently push it into the crushed flakes.

7. Lift up the magnet and observe. Is there anything on the magnet?

8. Brush the magnet off onto the white paper towel.

9. Count the pieces of iron that you attracted with the magnet.

10. Try this with different cereals.

11. Is there any relationship between how many pieces of iron you found and the nutritional information regarding iron content on the side of the cereal box?

What is going on?

Am I eating rusty old nails in my breakfast cereal each morning? Did they crush up rocks and put it in the ingredients — I had better read a bit closer. Actually, neither of these is true, but iron can be found in nails or rocks and dirt.

In this experiment, you were able to extract the iron from the flakes of cereal. When you run the magnet over the cereal, you should have been able to attract some small pieces of iron to your magnet. I know it is hard to believe but possible! By crushing up the cereal flakes, you help free up the particles of iron and they are much more easily attracted to the magnet.

Teachers — I have some free time slots if you would like to have me come into your classroom and work with your students on Science Fair projects. I can come as often or as little as your schedule allows. I would love to help out so call me today!

Patty Rooks is senior scientific consultant at PRAXIS, “Connecting Science To The Community.” Contact Praxis at praxis@praxismh.ca, www.praxismh.ca, Tweet or follow us @PraxisMedHat, or friend us on Facebook.