The Jawbreakers of the Popcorn Industry By Mr. Mo COVER PAGE
The Jawbreakers of the Popcorn Industry Problem: (headings should be 18-26 font size) Which brand off popcorn yields the least amount of un-popped kernels? (12-14 font size) Purpose: The purpose of my experiment is to identify the best brand of popcorn to purchase that will give you the most kernels. Hypothesis: My hypothesis is that Orville Redenbacher s popcorn will be the best in terms of un-popped kernels, and that Aldi s Corntown Brand will be the worst in un-popped kernel amount. I think this because a lot of people have differing opinions on which popcorn has the least amount of unpopped kernels. Some think Orville Redenbacher, the expensive, gourmet popcorn to be the best popped kernel producer. Others may say the under-dog, the low priced, no-name brand (like Aldi Food Company s Corntown brand) is the best. Materials: My materials will be as following: 3 bags of Aldi brand popcorn 3 bags of Act II brand popcorn 3 bags of Orville Redenbacher brand popcorn 3 bags of Jolly Time brand popcorn 3 bags of Pop Secret brand popcorn Microwave Bowl I ll have three trials of each type of popcorn so I can average the amount of kernels and get the most conclusive results. I m also going to use the original Butter flavor of each popcorn brand so that the results don t change according to flavor.
VARIABLES: Independent Variable: (the ONE thing you re changing) Dependent Variable: (the ONE thing you re measuring) Constants: (please provide these ideas in a list format) Procedures: (STEP BY STEP instructions) First I popped the popcorn in the microwave for 2 minutes and 15 seconds, the recommended time for popping popcorn. After that, I counted the un-popped kernels and recorded the results in the data table. I repeated steps 1-3 two more times for a total of 3 trails each for all 5 brands of popcorn. Once all my results were in the data table, I averaged the 3 trials for each brand of popcorn Results / Conclusions: 2-3 paragraphs I thought the best popcorn with the least amount of kernels would be Orville Redenbacher, but my hypothesis was incorrect. The best popping popcorn is shown to be Act II. Additional Observations Orville Redenbacher s popcorn was the most expensive, and Aldi s Corntown was the least expensive. Some results seemed to be inconclusive, and unconvincing. The Jolly Time popcorn had the lowest amount of un-popped kernels, until for some unknown reason it came up with 52 unpopped kernels. The Orville Redenbacher suddenly got 28 at the end, when at the beginning it was at a whopping 51 kernels. The most consistent brand was Pop-Secret. Several variables that might have affected the results, or tainted the results, might have been a variable amount of energy going to the microwave, therefore cooking it differently at different times and energies. Also, I might have missed some kernels that might have fallen out of the bowl, accidentally been eaten, or got stuck in the bag when I poured out the popcorn into the bowl we ate from. Over all, though
(because I averaged the amount of kernels), I don t think any other variables greatly affected the results. So, next time you go out to buy popcorn, look for either Act II, or Jolly Time popcorn. Data Tables: (include charts, photos, etc. under this heading) Kind of popcorn Number of un-popped kernels Average amount of unpopped kernels Jolly Time 28 19 52 33 Orville Redenbacher 51 45 28 41 ⅓ Act II 39 25 34 32 ⅔ Pop-Secret 54 57 55 55 ⅓ Aldi 56 80 70 68 ⅔ Quantitative Data Measurement Type: Kernels of un-popped popcorn As you can see in this graph and in the Data Table, the best popcorn in terms of un-popped kernels, was Act II, with Jolly Time as a close second, followed by Orville Redenbacher, Pop-Secret and, the no-name brand, Aldi s Corntown popcorn coming in last place.
Background Research: 4-5 paragraphs Popcorn is a type of maize which, unlike other types of corn, pops when heated in oil or dry. It was first found and used to pop by Native Americans thousands of years ago. The kind of popcorn most people pop in their microwaves is the species Zea mays L subsp mays. Popcorn was introduced to the West by Christopher Columbus in the late 15 th century. As with other corns, popcorn has a certain amount of moisture inside itself. But, unlike other corns, popcorn has a stronger outer hull that doesn t let moisture escape as fast as other corn when heated. As the kernel is heated to the boiling point, water inside the kernel starts to turn into steam, causing pressure inside the kernel to about 9 times the pressure of air. Inside other types of corn - as well as damaged popcorn kernels - the steam escapes the kernel as fast as it is formed. The difference with popcorn is that the outer hull is strong enough to hold the steam in, until it ruptures in a small explosion and turns it inside out, to become the white fluffy stuff, better known as popcorn! There are two explanations to why some kernels do not pop. One is that the popcorn kernel just doesn t have enough moisture to turn to steam. The other explanation is the outer hull is leaky, and causes the steam to escape before it can become super pressurized and explode the outer hull. This could be caused by mishandling of the kernels at the factory, or maltreatment of the kernels during shipment. The question is which brand of popcorn handles the kernels the best at the factory and during shipping and uses only the best corn? I ve found websites that host information on experiments done by people doing the same thing I am. On one website http://www.mercer.edu/camps/message/summer2001/summer2001-popcorn.htm they concluded that Act II was the best popping popcorn. This website, though, didn t tell how long they cooked each popcorn brand, and they popped each kernel individually. Another website http://www.k12.nf.ca/greenwood/virsci/intermediate/popcorn/popcorn.htm said that the best popping popcorn was Orville Redenbacher. But, their experiment also took into account price and taste. My experiment is only focusing on kernels. Bibliography/References Scientists Discover the Secret of Popcorn's Popability, Robert Roy Britt, www.livescience.com Popcorn, www.wikipedia.com Popcorn, a type of flint corn, encarta.msn.com Which brand of popcorn pops the most? http://www.mercer.edu/camps/message/summer2001/summer2001-popcorn.htm Which as the best "pop" for your buck, http://www.k12.nf.ca/greenwood/virsci/intermediate/popcorn/popcorn.htm