Ashley Liput

Lesson Title: Magnetic Cereal Experiment

Grade: 4
Objective: Students will extract iron from three different cereals with varying iron
concentrations and record their observations, predictions, and wonderings.
Materials: Bar magnets
12 plastic bags
Water
3 cereal brands: Total, Oats & Os, Frosted Shredded Wheats
Prep:

Add water to cereal bags in the morning

Each table needs the 3 different cereals as well as two bar magnets
Students each have their own paper
Students will work in their lab table groups

Procedure:

Engage:
o Papers will be handed out to students.
o Scientists, we have been exploring with magnets."
o Before we start our experiment today, I want to show you this food label. This is
for Total cereal.
o Give me a thumbs up if you think there is anything in Total cereal that is
magnetic.
What do you see that might be magnetic?
Is the iron in the cereal the same iron that we have been experimenting
with? Is it like the iron filings? Why or why not?
o Today, we are going to continue our explorations with magnets by figuring out
whether or not the iron in our cereal is magnetic. The three types of cereal we
will use today are: Total, Cheerios, and Shredded Wheat Thins.
o We are going to try to extract the iron from the cereal. When I use the word
extract, I mean that we are going to try to take out the iron from the cereal using a
magnet.

o
o
o
o

Before you start, I want to give you some more information.

Give percentages of iron let students record.
How could this information be helpful to us? What does this tell us?
Before I model the experiment, I want you to make a prediction. Do you think the
iron in the cereal will be able to be extracted, or taken out, using a magnet? If

yes, will we be able to take the same amount of iron out of each cereal brand?
o Like we learned in science lab yesterday, when scientists make predictions, they
use information that they already know to help them make more accurate
predictions.
o I will give you 5 minutes to write your predictions on you papers.

Explore:
o Model experiment
Make sure bag is sealed
Magnet in hand
Gently swirl bag
o When you make your observations, be as descriptive as possible can draw a
picture, use words
o Allow students to do experiment
o After 10 minutes thumbs up if you extracted iron from __ cereal go through
all 3.
o Yesterday when we had the paper clips, what happened when we added a second
magnet?
More clips stuck to magnet stronger mag. Field
o Pass out second magnet try again with cereals that it didnt work for
Record in other observations
Allow 10 minutes for this

Explain:
o Is this the same as the iron filings?
o Our bodies cant produce iron, but its present naturally in many foods like meats,
produce (raisins, spinach, prunes) and nuts (walnuts, peanuts).
o It is so important for our bodies to have iron that some food makers put it into our
foods. fortified (added vitamins and minerals that are healthy for our bodies)
breakfast cereal.
o It is not healthy to eat iron on its own, so we get it from the foods we eat.

Elaborate:
o Iron carries o2 from lungs to rest of body

Evaluate:
o Now, I would like you to write down one discovery and one wondering you
have.
Wondering stem What would happen if?
o In order to determine whether or not students were successful in the lesson,
students will answer the following questions:
Today I discovered
One wondering I have is
Students will be successful if they write about one thing they discovered in
the lesson pertaining to iron and cereal. Student wonderings will be based
on relevant extensions of the experiment.

Name:________________________________________
Magnetic Cereal Experiment
Predictions:
__________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
Cereal

Iron
Percentage

Observations

Other observations

Today I discovered:
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
One wondering I have is:
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
____________