Award Winning Science Fair 2012

My least favorite part of the school year, having to do a Science Fair Project I don't really care about. I am not sure why they don't just let the kids who want to do them, do them, and kids who don't want to do them, not do them. Oh well, I have to do one anyway. 

Last year I really just wanted an easy experiment that wouldn't take up a lot of time but would get me a good grade, so my problem was "What brand of Diapers is the Most Absorbent" . I know, lame but I mean you can't argue with a 105%, can you? 

This year I wanted something fun, or at least that would interest me. One of my friends is anemic. That means she has very little iron in her blood cells. Which is a big problem and make you really tired, and dizzy. I was looking through Pinterest (go figure) a for some ideas when I came across this one: "Which cereal has the most iron". I thought it sounded interesting enough so I researched it some more and found that the experiment for it was super easy!


Iron, In my Cereal?:
Problem:
What dry cereal out of Frosted Mini Wheats, Smart Start, Cheerios, and Cinnamon Life have the most iron?

Purpose:
I did this experiment because many people are anemic (low iron in your blood) ,and knowing the right foods to eat can help with the iron intake in your body.

Hypothesis: If I test to see which dry cereal has the most iron, then I hypothesis that out of Froste Mini Wheats, Smart Start, Cheerios, and Life, Smart Start will have the most iron.
Procedures:
1. Choose four kinds of breakfast cereals to test with varying iron contents.
2. Cut off the bottom of all four plastic bottles. Take off the lids of the water bottles.
3. Tape the magnet on the outside of the bottle about half way down using duck tape.
4. Label the bottles with the types of cereals that you will test.
5. Put 250mL of one type of cereal in the Ninja and add 250mL of water.
6. Blend the water and cereal on high until there is a smooth mixture and there are no visible lumps or chuncks of the cereal left.
7. Carefully pour the slurry mixture into the measuring cup.
8. Rinse the Ninja with a small amount of water (20mL) and pour this rinse into the measuring cup.
9. Take the bottle that goes with the cereal you are using and hold it above the large bowl. Position it on it's side with the cut-off part slightly higher than the top and rotate it so that the magnet is on the bottom side of the bottle.
10. Slowly pour the slurry through the bottle, making sure the the slurry goes over the magnet and the liquid is collected in the large bowl.
11. After all the cereal slurry has been poured through the bottle, pour an additional 150mL of water through, to rinse out the cereal and clean the iron.
12. Leave the bottle to air-dry for 1-2 hours.
13. The iron should be visible.
14. Repeat 2 times so you have 3 trials.
15. Repeat steps 3-14 with the other three cereals.

Materials:  
- Duck Tape
- (4) Water Bottles
- Frosted Mini Wheats
- Cinnamon Life
- Cheerios
- Smart Start
- (2) Measuring Cups
- Large Bowl
- Strong magnet
- Sharpie
- Ninja (you could also use a blender)

Results:
In trial one: Mini Wheats had the most iron at 22mm, Smart Start had the second highest at 18mm, Cheerios was next at 14mm, and Life came in last with 12mm.                                                                                In trial two: Smart start came in first with 22mm, Cheerios in second with 18mm, Life in third at 12mm, and Mini Wheats in last at 5mm                        In trial three: Cheerios has the most at 25mm, Smart Start came in second with 21mm, Life was next with 11mm, and Mini Wheats was last again with 10mm
The averages are: Smart Start 22mm, Cheerios 19mm, Life 11.7mm, and Mini Wheats 12.3mm.
Overall Life had the most constant iron, while Mini Wheats had the least constant.

Conclusion: My hypothesis was supported because Smart Start's average was 3mm higher than any of the other averages.

I really just wanted a good grade, but I mean I don't mind getting second in my division ☻