Popcorn and College Students

This topic submitted by Bryan Galli, Kirsten Skinner, Jen Saum, Kristen DeLap at 5:29 pm on 10/4/01. Additions were last made on Friday, April 19, 2002. Section: Wagner

Kristen DeLap
Bryan Galli
Jen Saum
Kirsten Skinner
POPCORN AND COLLEGE STUDENTS
INTRODUCTION:
In dorms across the country, popcorn can be smelled up and down the halls every evening. College students are most likely one of the top buyers of this snack. We have decided to determine which brand and type of popcorn yield the most popped kernels, in order to save college students valuable money. Popcorn is truly the best snack for college students because it is lower in fat than snacks like candy and chocolate. It can also contain less sodium than potato chips and pretzels. Popcorn is relatively quick to prepare, with minimal effort. This is prime for students, as they can put a bag in the microwave and continue their work.
Our hope is to prove that one brand and type of popcorn yields more popped kernels than other brands. Based on reputation, we believe that Orville Redenbacher Butter will yield the most popped kernels. Orville Redenbacher was the first person to manufacture popcorn in the United States, in Valparaiso, IN, therefore making his company the most knowledgeable about popcorn popping. Through this experiment, we can educate college students on which brand pops the best, therefore saving them money.

RELEVANCE:
Many different brands and types of popcorn are available on your grocer’s shelves, such as Orville Redenbacher, Pop Secret, Act II, and generic grocer brands, all offered in light, regular, and butter. All of these brands claim different slogans and catch phrases in order to sway the consumer into purchasing their product. We hope to decipher which of these slogans tells the truth regarding which brand and type pops the most kernels. Our goal is to cut through false advertising, and educate students on which brand really is the most efficient.
Our hypothesis is that Orville Redenbacher’s Butter will yield the most popped kernels, due to the fact that he is the first person to plant popcorn for sale in the United States. The place of his first plant, Valparaiso, IN, even hosts a popcorn festival every year in his honor.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:
Our hypothesis is that Orville Redenbacher Butter will statistically yield the most popped kernels per bag; we will operate under the assumption that this will prove itself to be true.
Our plan for this experiment is to test multiple brands and types of popcorn under the same conditions in order to determine which one statistically pops the most kernels. We plan to test the light, regular and butter varieties of Orville Redenbacher, Pop Secret, Act II, and Kroger’s brand of popcorns. This will give us twelve different popcorns to compare. We will pop these different bags of popcorn in the same microwave for the same amount of time, three minutes and fifteen seconds. Then we will count the kernels left in the bag, as well as the popped corn in order to determine a ratio. We will then statistically compare the ratios of all the bags, determining which bag yields the most popped corn.
We will involve the entire class in our experiment by having them gather the data. Our group will pop the bags of popcorn, to be sure to regulate all the variables, and then bring the bags to class. We will have each group open the bags from one brand and counts the kernels by hand. Therefore, each group will have a light, regular, and butter bag of popcorn of each brand to count. The groups will give us the information that they gather, and we will analyze the data.
This is an example of the data sheet that we will give to each group for them to gather their data.
Popcorn Kernel Study Which brand did you use?
Number of Kernels Number of Popped Corns Total Number of Kernels % of Kernels Popped
Light
Regular
Butter

Our materials are very few, simply twelve bags of popcorn and a microwave. We understand that this experiment may seem simple and trivial; however, through statistics we hope to determine which popcorn yields the most popped corn, in order to save college student money.

REFERENCES:
Smith, Andrew F. “Popped culture: a social history of popcorn in America” Columbia, S.C.: Univ. of SC Press, 1999.
“Popcorn Handbook” US Dept of Agriculture, Federal Crop Insurance Corporation, Product Development Branch.
www.popcorn.org website
Decareau, Robert V. “Microwaves in the food processing industry” Orlando, FL: Academic Press, 1985.
Ramo, Simon. “Introduction to Microwaves” New York, NY: McGraw Hill, 1945.

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