popcorn Archives - JDaniel4s Mom

Building Background

Reading a book about popcorn might be fun to do before starting this activity. Below you will find some wonderful books about popcorn.

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The Popcorn Book by Tomie dePaola explore the history of popcorn in a way children can easily understand.

Let’s Pop, Pop, Popcorn is a fun book that explore the process growing popcorn and getting it ready to pop. This is short book filled with rhymes.

Pop! Otto, the Kernel Who Didn’t Pop explores disappointment. Poor Otto waits for the day he will pop. When that day arrives, he doesn’t pop. Otto learns a lesson from this experience. I bet your children will too.

Exploring the Drawing a Popcorn Bowl Pages

Two Versions of the Page

There are two versions of the Drawing a Popcorn Bowl page in this set. The first page displays the popcorn already in a bowl. The algorithm directions ask children to color the popcorn and bowl any color they like. The second page displays only the popcorn. Children can design any style of bowl. The sides of the bowl can be any size or shape they can imagine.

Understanding the Directions

If you are having a non-reader work on the color-by-code pages, you may want to help them highlight what they need to do. First, you can have them underline the keyword on for each step. Bowl, popcorn and sitting would be words that could be highlighted.

If you want children to use particular colors, you will want to have them place in dot in those colors in each block. You don’t have to do that. It may help you children focus on what they are coloring and not selecting colors.

Popcorn is such fun to use in experiments! These popcorn stem challenges and experiments each feature a free recording sheet. While doing the first activity students will create containers for one cup of popcorn will need to be built. The second activity is an experiment that looks at making popcorn kernels dance. An activity is an experiment that compares the weight of popped and unpopped corn is third. Finally, there is a five senses activity. Children can do any or all of the experiments in the set.

Getting the Popcorn STEM Challenges and Experiments Pages

First, you will need to download the popcorn pages

Popcorn STEM Challenges and Experiments Download

Second, if you don’t have Acrobat Reader you will need to download it. The algorithm page is an Acrobat Reader PDF file.

Third, you will need to go to your download file and open the page. You may be asked if you want the file to open right after you download it. If you are, you won’t have to hunt for it in your download file.

Exploring Each of the Popcorn STEM Challenges and Experiment Pages

Exploring Volume by Building a Popcorn Container

Children will need to use construction paper to build a container for popcorn. They will start by drawing a diagram on the recording sheet. The diagram will need to incude the height, width, and length of the container.

Skills That May Need to Be Reviewed Before Starting

Children will need to know how to use a ruler. Many children start measuring at the number one on the ruler rather than the edge of end of the ruler.
Reviewing pictures of 3 dimensional shapes before starting may inspire the shapes of your children’s containers.
While it may seem obvious, explaining how to tape the sides of at 3 dimensional shape may need to be shared.

Making Popcorn Kernels Dance

This popcorn experiment looks at just what action or ingredients will cause popcorn kernels to dance or hop in a jar. While the recording sheet does not display an area for prediction making, taking the time to make predictions would be a good thing to do.

Popped and Unpopped Corn Weight

This popcorn experiment gives children the chance to make predictions and learn to use a scale. It also gives children the opportunity to see that when an object goes through a physical change other things about it change too.

After completing the experiment, you will want to have your children discuss what they learned about change. It might also be worth asking them if they would change their prediction.

Exploring the Five Senses with Popcorn

While children will have probably snuck pieces of popcorn during the other popcorn science challenges and experiments, this activity encourages eating. Children can write single words or whole sentences describing how popcorn smells, tastes, sounds and feels.

The page was designed so you can cut off the material and process sections. Without those sections the page is more focused on the recording section.