Week 4: Experiment and Results

Now that I have now successfully completed designing my experiment and have discussed it with my science teacher , Mr.Ng I now have to conduct my experiment and collect my data and record my results which i have accomplished with great outcomes. 




Experiment
I have captured on camera, myself conducting my experiment on video , so you can see how it went.
To see my experiment refer to video given on usb under the title "experiment" that I handed in with my notification and report.


Results


Table 1

BRAND	POPPED KERNELS	UN-POPPED KERNELS	TOTAL KERNELS
Uncle Toby’s 1	445	41	486
Uncle Toby’s 2	418	70	488
Uncle Toby’s 3	416	17	433
Poppin 1	536	67	603
Poppin 2	272	269	541
Poppin 3	461	22	483
Coles 1	436	56	492
Coles 2	420	50	470
Coles 3	402	58	460

Table 2

BRAND	AVERAGE NUMBER OF POPPED KERNELS	AVERAGE NUMBER OF UN-POPPED KERNELS	AVERAGE TOTAL KERNELS	TOTAL PERCENTAGE OF POPPED KERNELS(%) to nearest whole percentage.
Uncle Toby’s	426 ( rounded to nearest whole number)	43 (rounded to nearest whole number)	469	91
Poppin	423	119 (rounded to nearest whole number)	542 (rounded to nearest whole number)	78
Coles	419	55 ( rounded to nearest whole number)	474	88

Column(Bar) Graph

Stacked Column Graph

*Graphs constructed

here. And both tables were constructed on a "Pages" Document.


Not to mention , I also have recorded all this information in my report on neoOffice.


BUBBL.US UPDATE:

Week 3 Progress Report

This week I did a lot of work in relation to my SRP. This week I successfully designed my experiment, organised equipment and resources, set controls( what stays the same in the experiment), identified dependant(what is measured) and independent variable (what changes), selected method of collecting results and created my draft neoOffuce file and wrote in my Aim, Equipment, Variables, method and safety precautions.




Design
In my experiment , I will be testing which brand of microwave popcorn brand yields fewer un-popped kernels.


I will be testing three brands of Microwave butter flavoured Popcorn, one higher priced name brand, one mid-range name brand and one sure fine generic brand. I will be pop three bags of each brand and then I will collect my quantitative data as I count each individual un-popped and popped kernels and record my results on a data sheet. Following this I will add up the popped and un-popped kernels to gain a sum of the kernels that are held in the bag and also record this information on the data sheet. Once every single bag is popped, I will go on to calculate the sum totals of each brand I will do this by adding the popped kernels in the three  bags, then adding the un-popped kernels in the three bags for each brand and also adding this to the first table. Next, recording the average number of popped, un-popped  kernels , total kernels and then calculating the total percentage average of popped kernels by  dividing the total sum of popped kernels for each of the three brands by the total kernels and recording all this data in the second table.  Finally I will compare and determine the  brand of microwave popcorn brand that yields fewer un-popped kernels by observing my column graph, where I then can draw a conclusion. 

The equipment underneath is not my final equipment list as I might add more equipment that I find that I need for the experiment and will update you in future posts if I have made alterations to this list :

Equipment

• 3 bags of UNCLE TOBYS butter flavoured microwave popcorn
• 3 bags of Poppin butter flavoured Microwave Popcorn
• 3 bags of Coles butter flavoured Microwave Popcorn
• 1 microwave oven 
• 1 large bowl
• 1 small bowl
• 1 data sheet
• Gloves

* For the popcorn packets , if you can you can get them prepackaged in boxes that contain three individual packets , this would be a more economical approach as it is cheaper than buying three separate bags of each brand.

Variables


Dependant Variable(What is being measured):

• Percentage of popped kernels per brand of microwave popcorn.

Independent Variable (What changes in the experiment):

• The brand of microwave popcorn

Controlled Variables(What stays the same):

• Same microwave oven used throughout testing
• Same temperature for all samples
• Same cooking times for all samples
• Same amount of waiting and microwave cooking time between the popping of each bag
• Same flavour of popcorn for each sample
• Same amount of test samples for each brand of microwave popcorn

Validity and Reliability of Test

There can be a possible problem for my internal validity of my test if I decide to incorporate anything besides the independent variable, this could have an affect on the result of the dependant variable in my experiment. A solution for this problem I will carry out is that I will undertake to decrease the threat of internal validity by using the following strategies to keep my experiment valid and reliable:

• For consistent results I will pop three bags of each brand.
• I will wait a time period of 10 minutes between each popping in order to eliminate oven pre-heating , this can be a possible variable.
• The same microwave oven,cooking temperature and cooking time will be used to cook each bag of microwave popcorn.
• To terminate any discrepancy among the total sum of kernel in each bran, I will use a percentage of popped kernels to total sum of kernels for each brand.
• All popcorn bags will be purchased at exactly the same time.
• I will try my best to keep expiration dates as close to each other as possible,therefore terminating the age of popcorn as variable.

Method of Collecting Data


The method I will be using to collect data for the purpose of this study will be that any single kernel that either fits in the criteria of either being:

•  Partially broken  
•  unbroken but inedible 
•  Not fully popped

Kernels that fit in this criteria will be considered un-popped. Other kernels must be fully popped to be counted as a popped kernel. Once all the bags are popped, I will then individually count the popped and un-popped kernels, placing the un-popped kernels in a small bowl and the popped kernels in a larger bowl. After this I will record the raw data onto two separate data tables on a data sheet.Finally to collaborate my results, I divide the total number of popped kernels in each brand by the total kernels for each brand, obtaining a percentage of popped kernels produced by each brand to graph. By counting the total amount of both popped and un-popped kernels I can easily account for any difference between each brand. Using the measurement of percentages of popped kernels will allow myself to have a more accurate comparison of the brand's overall performance.  After much deliberation between constructing a pie graph  or column (bar) graph , I have decided to go ahead with the column graph to record my results as not only are they easy to understand , because they consist of rectangular bars that differ in height or length according to their value, They also will be easier to identify any trends and patterns in the results.  . This method will be easy to follow along with and repeat. 


Table 1

BRAND	POPPED KERNELS	UN-POPPED KERNELS	TOTAL KERNELS
Uncle Toby’s 1
Uncle Toby’s 2
Uncle Toby’s 3
Poppin 1
Poppin 2
Poppin 3
Coles 1
Coles 2
Coles 3

 


Table 2

BRAND	AVERAGE NUMBER OF POPPED KERNELS	AVERAGE NUMBER OF UN-POPPED KERNELS	AVERAGE TOTAL KERNELS	TOTAL PERCENTAGE OF POPPED KERNELS(%)
Uncle Toby’s
Poppin
Coles

 


Column Graph

Stacked Column Graph

*Both tables were constructed on a "Pages" document and the column graph was constructed here.
Additionally, I have written up my aim, equipment , method and safety precautions to my report on neoOffice. You will see my work in the next post.


BUBBL.US UPDATE:

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].