Abstract
What would students make of a newspaper heading such as: Can iron lift your learning ability? An important outcome of science education is the ability to read critically material which has a significant science dimension, such as the newspaper article with this title. This paper serves three purposes. First, it provides some samples of publicly available material related to the role of iron in our diets; these examples can be used to help students read such material critically. Second, it summarises what nutritionists tell us about iron in the human diet, for comparison. Third, it suggests some experiments related to iron which could be used to make this activity more interesting.