What’s the Best Way to Pop your Popcorn? Fun Science Project for Kids

Popcorn is made from a special type of corn called popping corn.  The secret to popping corn is the water in the kernel.  So, what is the best way to get the best pops from your popcorn?  Try this fun experiment below to find out.

Remember always have adult supervision when using a stove.

Question: What is the best way to get the biggest pops from your popcorn? Does wet or dry popcorn pop best?

Materials: 1 1/2 cups of un-popped popcorn, cookie sheet, bowl, plastic ziplock bag, colander/strainer, frying pan, vegetable oil, 1 cup water

Procedure:

Pre-Heat oven for 200

Step 1: Pour 1/2 cup of the un-popped popcorn on the cookie tray.  Let cook in the oven for 1 hour.

Step 2: Pour 1 cup of water into a bowl.  Pour 1/2 cup of the un-popped popcorn in the bowl for 1 hour.  After 1 hour use a strainer/colander to drain the popcorn.

Step 3: Pour 1/2 cup of the un-popped popcorn in a plastic ziplock bag for 1hour

Step 4: After 1 hour all your popcorn is ready to be cooked.  Cook the three batches of popcorn separately (recipe below).

Step 5: Watch and record results.

Popcorn popping recipe:

Ingredients: 2 tablespoons os vegetable oil, 1/2 cup un-popped popcorn, frying pan, 3 bowls

Step 1: Place frying pan over medium heat for two minutes.

Step 2: Add 2 tablespoons of oil to the frying pan.

Step 3: Pour 1/2 cup un-popped popped corn in the frying pan, cover loosely with lid.

Step 4: When the popcorn starts to pop lift pan about 1 inch from burner and move back and forth.  Do this until you do not hear anymore popcorn popping.  It should take about 3 minutes.

Step 5: remove lid slowly. Pour popcorn in a bowl and let cool. Mark the bowl with which type of popcorn you used (dried in oven, water or ziplock bag)

Step 6: Repeat this for the other two batches of popcorn.

What Happened to the Popcorn?

Which way did you get the biggest popcorn kernels?  Which one was the smallest?  The popcorn that was sitting in the water should have made the biggest popcorn. This is because soaking the popcorn in the water gave the popcorn kernel extra water. The more water there is the more steam is created while cooking causing the popcorn to pop better.  The popcorn the was placed in the oven should have produced the smallest popcorn.  This is because the popcorn was dried out and lost most of it’s moisture.  The popcorn left in the ziplock bag should be average size and amount because it was not dried and no water was added to it.