Which brand of cereal has the most iron?

If I test the amount of iron in different cereals, then Frosted Flakes will have more iron than Publix Bran Flakes Wheat cereal or Publix Frosted Wheat Shredded, Sweetened Wheat Cereal.

• Coca - Cola one liter plastic clear bottle with smooth sides

• Metric measuring cup with a spout

• 1 cup of Frosted Flakes

• I cup of Publix Bran Flakes Wheat Cereal

• 1 cup Publix Frosted Wheat Shredded, Sweetened Wheat Cereal

• 3 and 3/4 cups of distilled water

• Heavy-Duty Magnet

• Large wide and steep bowl

• Scale

• Duct tape

• Scissors

• Blender

1. Gather materials

2. Cut off the bottom of the plastic, clear bottle with scissors. Take the lid off. When upside down they will work as funnels.

3. Tape the Heavy-Duty Magnet outside of the bottle about half way down using the duct tape. The magnet will be used to catch the iron in the cereal slurry.

4. Put 1 cup of Frosted Flakes In the blender and add 1 cup of distilled water.

5. Blend the cereal and water until there are no chunks of cereal or visible lumps. You should have a smooth slurry.

6. Cautiously pour the cereal slurry into the measuring cup.

7. Rinse the blender with a bit of water and pour the rinse into the measuring cup.

8. Take the cut bottle and hold it above the large bowl. Position the bottle with the cut off part slightly higher than the top and the magnet on the bottom.

9. Slowly pour the slurry through the bottle, making sure the slurry goes over the magnet and the liquid is collected in the large bowl. Pour the slurry various times.

10. After all the slurry has been poured various times through the bottle, pour an additional 1/4 cup of water through. This will get rid of the leftover cereal and clean the iron.

11. Invert the bottle to get rid of excess water. Remove the magnet from the bottle.

12. Leave the bottle to air-dry for 1-2 hours. Choose a location that isn’t windy so the bottle doesn't roll away. After this process the pellets of iron should be visible on the side of the bottle.

13. Observe and record data by taking photos.

14. Repeat step 3-11 for each cereal.

15. Repeat entire process for a total of 3 trials

Independent Variable- The different cereals: Frosted Flakes, Publix Bran Flakes Wheat Cereal, and Frosted Wheat Shredded, Sweetened Wheat Cereal.

Dependent Variable- The amount of iron will change according to the cereal.

Constants- Amount of cereal, the procedure, the strength of the magnet, and the amount of water.

“Which brand of cereal has the most iron?” My hypothesis was "If I test the amount of iron in different cereals, then Frosted Flakes will have more iron than Publix Bran Flakes Wheat cereal or Publix Frosted Wheat Shredded, Sweetened Wheat Cereal.” To prove my hypothesis I had to blend the cereal with water until it became a slurry. Then, pour the slurry into a bottle with a magnet taped on it. Lastly, let the bottle sit somewhere where sunlight can reach it for two hours. You will now be able to see the pellets of iron. You collect the data and repeat for each brand of cereal. At the end of the experiment I concluded that my hypothesis was incorrect , Publix Bran Flakes had more iron than Publix Frosted Wheat or Frosted Flakes. I got zero iron for both of those. I think that no iron came out of the Publix Frosted Wheat because the slurry was so thick and dense that the iron didn’t have the strength to push its way through to get to the magnet.

“Which brand of cereal has the most iron?” I believe that “If I test the amount of iron in different cereals, then Frosted Flakes will have more iron than Publix Bran Flakes Wheat cereal or Publix Frosted Wheat Shredded, Sweetened Wheat Cereal.”

The purpose of this experiment is to prove that specific brands of cereal have iron, real iron. Some brands of cereal even lie about the amount of it. Cereals aren’t the only types of food with iron, but are one of the ones that are most enriched with iron.

To conduct the experiment, you cut the bottom of a 2 liter bottle, which will serve as a funnel. Tape a magnet in the middle to catch the iron. Blend a cup of cereal with a cup of water. You will get a cereal slurry, pour slurry into a measuring cup. Now pour into the bottle the slurry with a bowl underneath to catch the slurry. Do this multiple times to catch the iron. Clean the bottle with ¼ cup of water and rinse the iron. Now leave the iron in the bottle somewhere sunlight reaches it an hour or two to dry. Repeat this process for each cereal.

In every experiment one thing changes, and that’s the brand or type of cereal. When the cereal changes, the amount of iron in the cereal also changes. Sometimes certain cereals have more iron than another, or some cereals have even zero iron.

All of the trials proved my hypothesis wrong. In each trial Bran Flakes had the most iron.

Now you can consider, is cereal the best breakfast for you? So before you eat cereal, check the amount of iron. A regular cereal might have in one cup of cereal your daily dose of iron.

Science Buddies Staff. "Mag-nificent Breakfast Cereal." Science Buddies, 20 Nov. 2020.

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/biochem_p027/biotechnology-techniques/iron-in-breakfast-cereal Accessed 15 Feb. 2021.

Michael Brennan. “Choosing Cereals High in Iron and Iron Fortified Cereals.” Active Iron, 21st of July 2020,

https://www.activeiron.com/blog/cereals-high-in-iron/​ Accessed 16 Feb. 2021.

Bob Becker. “Iron in Cereal.” Flinn Scientific, Dec. 19 2012.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHqN-Be5nlU&t=31s Accessed 16 Feb. 2021.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS