Metalhead
What's found in the ground and something that you put
in your mouth? If you guessed metal, you're right!
Many vegetables, meats, and cereals contain iron,
which helps to build blood cells and helps your cells
to carry oxygen throughout your body.
You
Will Need:
A
box of Total cereal
Dinner
plate
Zip-lock
bag
Water
A
strong magnet (such as a neodymium magnet)
What
to Do:
Pour
a small pile of Total cereal flakes onto a plate
and crush them into many tiny pieces.
Spread
out the pile so it forms a single layer of crumbs
on the plate. Bring the magnet close enough to the
layer of crumbs so that the magnet is close but not
actually touching any of the cereal. Do any
of the pieces to move? It could be metallic
iron or it could be coincidence.
Now
press the magnet onto the crushed cereal but don't
move it around if possible. Lift up and look underneath
the magnet to see if anything is sticking to it. There’s
probably little pieces stuck to the magnet. Why
is this so? It could be the magnet. It
could be static electricity. It could even
be that the cereal is sticky. We’re
not completely sure yet. Clean off the magnet and
let’s try another way.
Clean
off the plate and pour on some water. Then
let a few cereal flakes float on the water. Hold
the magnet close to a flake but not touching it,
and see if the flake moves toward the magnet. Is
there any movement?
Measure
around 1 cup of Total cereal into a quart size zipper-lock
bag. Fill the bag at least half full with water (preferably
warm) and seal the bag with an air pocket inside.
Mix the cereal and water by squeezing and squishing
the bag until the cereal becomes a brown, soupy mixture.
Make sure it’s completely mixed together.
Put
the magnet on the bag and shake around the cereal
and water inside the bag. You can flip
the bag upside down too (but make sure the bag is
tight!) See any metallic iron of the cereal going
to the magnet? If you see tiny black specks,
that’s iron!
Move
the magnet around in circles. The iron will gather
into a bigger clump and be much easier to see. When
you're finished, pour the mixture down the drain and
rinse the bag. You could probably find iron in other
cereals and see which cereals have more iron. Try it!
