Week 2 Progress Report

For this week I started on my Research . I began by going to Newington Library , which is my local library. This library is very small and doesn't have many books . So I had to ask for books to be brought in for me. I had a list of the books I wanted which were:
BOOKLIST:

Image supplied by: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/315827.Popcorn_

By Elaine Landau, Brian Lies (Illustrator)
Publisher: Charlesbridge Publishing (February 2003)A compilation of historical facts, legends, trivia, and recipes, featuring the popular snack food.

Image supplied by: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51HjmktdL-L._SL500_AA300_.jpg

By Cynthia Hureston

Publisher: authorHouse (November 19, 2007)

The contents of the book are an exploration into the popcorn kernel as a visually complex system, translating in the mind subtle nuances. The whole emerges in the mind and the very visual motoric activity releases the whole, in an expression that takes shape and form. The American snack, popcorn, in its abundance, generates a number of sculpted possibilities.

Image supplied by: 

http://sciencekit.com/big-book%3A-popcorn-science/p/IG0027939/

By Natalie Lunis and Nancy White

Publisher: Newbridge, U.S.

In Popcorn Science students learn that, in addition to being a healthy snack, popcorn is also a fascinating topic for science inquiry. This set includes a huge, poster sized book filled with full color photographs of kids making popcorn and enjoying popcorn as well as images of popcorn doing what popcorn does best - pop!

The librarian said the books would arrive in approximately 3 days and she would call me when they were in. So for now I worked on my Internet Research.  

While searching the internet I found a similar study of a popcorn experiment that was taken on by Mr.Sean Boyd who conducted the experiment. He tested out this experiment by buying five types of microwave popcorn, four of them being name brand and one being generic. He popped three bags of each of the brands. He then counted and recorded the un-popped kernels he found in each bag and put it onto a data sheet. Following this , Boyd calculated each brand's average and compared them to determine which brand of microwave popcorn had the fewest un-popped popcorn.  Mr.Sean Boyd then was able to conclude that the Popcorn brand 'Act II' contained the least amount of un-popped kernels , closely followed by 'Jolly Time', 'Orville Redenbacher', 'Pop Secret' and lastly 'Aldi's Corntown-the generic brand'. (Boyd,2006)  

There is more in depth information on Boyd's experiment and results which I have read through and found very, very useful ! Click Here to see.

I also found a simplified version which also helped me a lot , with thinking about my own design for my experiment's method. aim and so forth.  Click here for more information.

I have made a clear decision after reading through on a great amount of popcorn related experiments ,that I am very confident to carry out my topic on, " Do different brands of popcorn leave different amounts of un-popped kernels? ". I will be using Sean Boyd's experiment as inspiration as his experiment and results were deemed successful.  I look forward into designing a completely different experiment relating to my topic.

Bibliography: 

Boyd,S. (2007)The Jawbreakers of the Popcorn Industry [Internet]. Unknown. Available from: <http://home.ptd.net/~sequoia1/Science/popcorn.htm >[accessed 8th March,2011]. 

Lore,J. (2011) Popcorn Booklist [Internet]. Unknown. Available from: <http://www.popcorn.org/ForKids/PopcornBooklist/tabid/82/Default.aspx.>[accessed 8th March,2011].


Mason, T. (2011)Which Microwave Popcorn Gives the Most POP for Your Buck? [Internet]. Unknown. Available from: <http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/6155202/which_microwave_popcorn_gives_the_most.html?cat=46>[ accessed 8th March, 2011].