William and Sophia's Science Project: The Effect of Temperature on Popcorn

Find out how popcorn changes when it's popped from frozen, cooled, or room temperature kernels. You'll need a day to let the seeds get to their respective temperatures before popping.

Materials needed:
3 bags Microwave Popcorn
microwave oven
2 quart measuring cup

Instructions:
Prepare the popcorn. Place 1 bag of popcorn in the freezer, 1 in the refrigerator, and 1 on a counter top (this is the control bag).

Leave the bags in the freezer and refrigerator and at room temperature for 24 hours. This ensures that the popcorn reaches the correct temperature for each test group of bags.

Pre-heat the microwave oven by placing a cup of water inside the oven and heating it for one minute. Remove the cup carefully.

Put the control bag of popcorn in the microwave and set it to high (Full Power) for five minutes. When you hear the popping rate slow to 2-3 seconds between pops, stop the microwave and remove the bag. Record the time it took to cook the popcorn, and use that time for the rest of the bags. Our time was 3 minutes.

Empty the popcorn contents into the two quart measuring cup. Measure the amount and record the number. Our bag yeilded 8 1/2 cups.

Pour the same contents onto the cookie sheet. Separate the unpopped kernels from popped kernels. Our bag had 36 unpopped kernels.

Pop the bag of refrigerator popcorn setting the time according to your test bag. Remove the bag carefully, and wait until popping stops.

Empty the popcorn contents into the two quart measuring cup. Measure the amount and record the number. Our bag yeilded 8 cups.

Pour the same contents onto the cookie sheet. Separate the unpopped kernels from popped kernels. Our bag had 60 unpopped kernels.

Pop the bag of freezer popcorn setting the time according to your test bag. Remove the bag carefully, and wait until popping stops.

Empty the popcorn contents into the two quart measuring cup. Measure the amount and record the number. Our bag yeilded 7 1/2 cups.

Pour the same contents onto the cookie sheet. Separate the unpopped kernels from popped kernels. Our bag had 107 unpopped kernels.

Questions for discussion:
Which resulted in fewer unpopped kernels: frozen, refrigerated or room temperature kernels? The popcorn at room temperature. This popcorn also tasted better. Both the refrigerated and frozen popcorn had an odd taste to it.

Which group resulted in higher volume of popped corn? The popcorn at room temperature

At what temperature should popcorn be stored for maximum yield? The popcorn should be stored at room temperature