Iron (Fe)

Student Objectives: Students will learn the basic properties of iron with emphasis on corrosion, magnetism, weight and strength.

Tips for the Teachers: Relate discussion to daily life by pointing out items found at home or school such as decorative magnets, wrought iron, car parts, iron skillets, steel appliances, etc.

Suggested Activities:

1. Put an uncoated steel nail (known as “bright” or interior nails) in some water and observe how soon it rusts. Discuss the meaning of “corrosion.”

2. Have students use a magnet to see what minerals in their classroom are attracted to it. Make a list of them. (Caution: Keep magnets away from computers and disks, video and audio tapes and recorders, as well as any other item referred to as “magnetic media”. Magnets are used to erase the contents of some of these items).

3. Collect several items such as a plastic straw, Popsicle stick, steel nail or iron bar, piece of clay or feather. Have students compare their properties: which ones bend, float in water, make a scratch on something hard (rock, tile) or soft (soap, potato); which is heaviest, will support weight or will burn. This could be done in small groups, with the exception f the test for burning. The teacher should do it.

4. Have each student draw a picture of a nail, and then make a cartoon character from it.

5. Look up the Mesabi Range in Minnesota on a map of the United States or locate it in a road atlas.

Measurements/Evaluation:

1. List three properties of iron.
2. In ancient times, why did people use iron?
3. Where is the Mesabi Range Located?
4. What is a magnetometer used for? How is it used?
5. What iron product is used to make buildings, machines and vehicles?
   

 Iron

Color: Gray-white or steel-gray
Weight: Almost 8 times the weight of water
Found: Mixed with other minerals, never in pure deposits

Iron is the second most common metal on earth. The earth’s crust contains about 5% iron, and many scientists believe that the center of the earth consists of (contains) large amounts of iron.

In ancient times, iron was the strongest and hardest metal people knew of. After they learned to melt and shape it, people used iron even more than bronze and copper. Iron has been an important mineral for a long time, and is still one of the most useful minerals.

Iron ore is heavy and its surface can be rusty-colored. The rust is formed when certain types of iron combine with oxygen in the air. Iron ore is never pure, which means there is always a lot of waste material to get rid of when it is mined. The largest deposit of iron in the United States is in Minnesota, in the Mesabi Range. Because iron is magnetic, scientists pull something called a magnetometer behind an airplane to find deposits. The magnetometer can measure the magnetic pull of iron. Magnetic iron oxide is used in tape recorders and computers.

Small amounts of the element carbon are added to iron to make steel. There are many important uses for steel, especially in buildings, machines and vehicles. By adding other minerals to the alloys, special kinds of steel may be stronger, stiffer, harder, rustproof, or less likely to crack, break or wear out.