Popcorn: “Pop”pourri of Activities

This classic, fun food has been around for over 5000 years, transforms itself into snowflake and mushroom shapes, goes from un-edible to edible when exposed to heat, makes noise and is celebrated every January 19th!  You got it…it’s POPCORN!  These lessons and activities will help students recognize and celebrate a popular snack food.

Class Time:  4-5 days (43 minute periods)

Class Size: 16

PA Standards

  • 11.3.6 A  Demonstrate knowledge of techniques used to evaluate food in various forms (e.g., canned, frozen, dried, irradiated).
  • 11.3.6 C  Analyze factors that effect food choices.
  • 11.3.9 G  Analyze the application of physical and chemical changes that occur in food during preparation and preservation.

Set

  • What is the answer to the following:  What classic, “fun food” has been around for over 5000 years, transforms itself into snowflake and mushroom shapes, goes from un-edible to edible when exposed to heat, makes noise and is celebrated every January 19th?  POPCORN

Materials

  • Projector
  • SMARTBOARD
  • Types of Popcorn:  Microwavable, Jiffy Pop and Kernels for Home made
  • Laptops

Activities

  • Have students complete the Pre Viewing Anticipatory Guide about popcorn nutrition and then view the YouTube clip here.  After viewing, complete the Post Viewing Anticipatory Guide.  How did we do?
  • To learn more about popcorn, read the article “Popcorn:  A “Pop” History” and complete the questions.
  • I like to show short videos showing how popcorn gets from the farm to the table, some scientific aspects of popcorn an even a visual follow-up to the article with an episode of Alton Brown:  Pop Culture
    (also includes a demo of home made popcorn).  See resources below for video information.
  • Are all types of popcorn created equal?  Participate in a popcorn lab comparison with three types of popcorn:  Microwave, Jiffy Pop and Home made.  Focus on preparation time, taste, cost and nutritional value.  Use Alton Brown’s Perfect Popcorn Recipe.
  • Using the results from the comparison lab, complete the follow up activities:  rankings, graphs, summary paragraph and unit price calculations.

Assessment:

  • Using all of the information students learned about popcorn, have them partner up and create a magazine article titled “20 Things You Didn’t Know About Popcorn” using the “Discover Magazine” template example.

Attachments

Resources

 

 

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

2 comments for “Popcorn: “Pop”pourri of Activities

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.