Int1
MICROWAVE POPCORN—NAME BRAND OR GENERIC?
A. Project Design Plan
Popcorn is a favorite snack when a family sits down to watch a movie. With the convenience of microwave popcorn, within two to three minutes you can have your snack while enjoying your movie. The problem is finding the right brand of microwave popcorn that pops the most kernels. I am going to take three different brands of popcorn and find out which one pops the most kernels. We all want the most out of anything we purchase.
A1. Literature Review
I found multiple web sites performing this same type of experiment. I chose two sites to use for comparison of my work. The fist site I viewed showed Orville Redenbacher’s brand was the best popping corn. However, they counted popped and un-popped kernels to get a percentage of popped kernels. The second site I viewed showed that the Act II brand had the least amount of un-popped kernels. Their experiment is comparable to mine. They counted only the un-popped kernels to get a percentage of un-popped kernels. Just like the second site viewed, I am only focusing on un-popped kernels.
A2a. Experimental Design Steps
1. Purchase three different brands of microwave popcorn. Same flavor (butter, kettle corn, natural, etc.) and same size bags, or as close to the same size as possible.
2. Create a data sheet with five columns and three rows. Label the first column “brand name”, label the next three columns with “bag 1, bag 2, and bag 3”. Label the final column, “average”. Label each row with each brand name used.
3. Mark three bags of each brand with numbers 1, 2 & 3.
4. Follow popping instructions on each brand. Pop only the amount of time indicated, this will slightly vary for each brand. You don’t want to burn the popcorn.
5. Warning: Let popcorn cool before opening bag.
6. Separate popped corn from un-popped of each bag popped.
7. Count un-popped kernels and record the amount on your data sheet in the appropriate columns.
8. Once
A. Project Design Plan
Popcorn is a favorite snack when a family sits down to watch a movie. With the convenience of microwave popcorn, within two to three minutes you can have your snack while enjoying your movie. The problem is finding the right brand of microwave popcorn that pops the most kernels. I am going to take three different brands of popcorn and find out which one pops the most kernels. We all want the most out of anything we purchase.
A1. Literature Review
I found multiple web sites performing this same type of experiment. I chose two sites to use for comparison of my work. The fist site I viewed showed Orville Redenbacher’s brand was the best popping corn. However, they counted popped and un-popped kernels to get a percentage of popped kernels. The second site I viewed showed that the Act II brand had the least amount of un-popped kernels. Their experiment is comparable to mine. They counted only the un-popped kernels to get a percentage of un-popped kernels. Just like the second site viewed, I am only focusing on un-popped kernels.
A2a. Experimental Design Steps
1. Purchase three different brands of microwave popcorn. Same flavor (butter, kettle corn, natural, etc.) and same size bags, or as close to the same size as possible.
2. Create a data sheet with five columns and three rows. Label the first column “brand name”, label the next three columns with “bag 1, bag 2, and bag 3”. Label the final column, “average”. Label each row with each brand name used.
3. Mark three bags of each brand with numbers 1, 2 & 3.
4. Follow popping instructions on each brand. Pop only the amount of time indicated, this will slightly vary for each brand. You don’t want to burn the popcorn.
5. Warning: Let popcorn cool before opening bag.
6. Separate popped corn from un-popped of each bag popped.
7. Count un-popped kernels and record the amount on your data sheet in the appropriate columns.
8. Once
References: Boyd, S. (n.d.). The jawbreakers of the popcorn industry. Retrieved from http://home.ptd.net/~sequoia1/Science/popcorn.htm Saum, J., Delap, K., Skinner, K., & Galli, B. (2003, January 12). Popcorn and college students. Retrieved from http://jrscience.wcp.muohio.edu/nsfall01/FinalArticles/PopcornandCollegeStudents.html