{"id":1524,"date":"2016-08-04T07:40:38","date_gmt":"2016-08-04T01:55:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/sciblog\/?p=1524"},"modified":"2026-03-12T18:30:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T18:30:10","slug":"pop-the-magic-corn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/sciblog\/pop-the-magic-corn\/","title":{"rendered":"Pop The Magic Corn"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/sciblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/popcorn-070-feat-image.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"630\" src=\"https:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/sciblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/popcorn-070-feat-image.jpg\" alt=\"popcorn 070-feat image\" class=\"wp-image-1698\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/sciblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/popcorn-070-feat-image.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/sciblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/popcorn-070-feat-image-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/sciblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/popcorn-070-feat-image-768x403.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/sciblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/popcorn-070-feat-image-1024x538.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 15pt\">The challenge (<a href=\"https:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/sciblog\/teach-to-learn-learn-to-teach\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the final in the eight-challenge series<\/a>) was for the students to predict, with an explanation, the difference in the extent to which four different samples of microwave-popcorn pop.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The samples were:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>one completely dried in the oven and soaked in cooking oil overnight<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>one completely dried in the oven and soaked in ethanol (alcohol) overnight<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>one completely dried in the oven<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>one not treated in any way<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>To make the tests valid, the following variables were kept constant<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>the number of kernel in each sample<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>the power setting on the microwave oven<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>microwave duration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Can you think of other variables that would have been kept constant or anything that we had to be mindful of when conducting this test?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 15pt\">As for a measurement of\/determining the extent of popping, instead of me telling them, my students came up with a method.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 15pt\">What do you think was their strategy?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(I can think of at least two! How many can you think of?)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What would you have predicted? Why?&nbsp;Hint: Find out how microwave ovens work and the kind of materials that can be microwaved and why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this particular challenge both the Beauties and Brawn did equally bad &#8212; they both <a href=\"https:\/\/dorjegurung.com\/sciblog\/teach-to-learn-learn-to-teach\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">lost a point<\/a>. I can&#8217;t remember why though; it has been six years after all!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An extension could be to study the effects of soaking it in different alcohols &#8212; methanol, ethanol, propanol etc., not the variety you can find at a liquor store or a bar, silly! \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Knowing how microwave ovens work, you could also try to determine if the effect&nbsp;can be &#8212; or is &#8212; directly related to a characteristic of the alcohol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What that characteristic is &#8212; or might be &#8212; you&#8217;ll have to figure out yourself! \ud83d\ude42 I am nice aren&#8217;t I?! \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Note for Teachers<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Where a microwave oven is not readily available, you could easily conduct this experiment over an electric heater. Definitely NOT over an open flame!! Ethanol could be replaced by the variety that <em>is<\/em>&nbsp;available at a liquor store or even at home! \ud83d\ude42 You will, for sure,&nbsp;encounter&nbsp;some challenges doing so, but not insurmountable!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a matter of fact, a lesson discussing, with students, how to conduct this investigation using an electric heater in itself would be a fruitful one. The focus in this case wouldn&#8217;t be micro-waves, obviously!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What gives popcorn its pop?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1698,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Pop The Magic Corn #Chemistry #OpenEndedProblem #ScienceLesson #ScienceEducation","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10,26,8],"tags":[53,25,24,44,43,52],"class_list":["post-1524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chemistry","category-enrichment-activities","category-ib-diploma","tag-alcohol","tag-azerbaijan","tag-baku","tag-microwave-chemistry","tag-popcorn-chemistry","tag-variables"],"blocksy_meta":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/sciblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/popcorn-070-feat-image.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Y7Kk-oA","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/sciblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/sciblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/sciblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/sciblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/sciblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1524"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/sciblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1524\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4112,"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/sciblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1524\/revisions\/4112"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/sciblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/sciblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/sciblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dorjegurung.com\/sciblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}