tin foil popcorn experiment tin foil popcorn experiment

Amanda, a fentanyl user in Calgary, holds tinfoil with fentanyl that's been burned and smoked. Popcorn pops because each kernel has a tiny bit of water inside it. This is opposed to insulators, which don't allow charges to move freely through them. Im not even talking about FOIL the mnemonic device to helps you multiply binominals. Everyone knows popcorn is a great tasting snack, but it is also a fascinating food and great subject for your science fair or school project. Less complicated since you may think. (Or did preheating dry up the tiny bit of water inside each kernel, so it would not pop. . Did you make this project? When completing this experiment, test other chemical reactions to determine which produces the best results. That same water pushes back at the object. summarize the results of the experiments in a written conclusion. Write to us at. Even catching half of the energy released (an efficiency of 0.5) is acceptable for a homemade calorimeter, as it is very difficult to transfer all the chemical energy stored in the food and released during oxidation into the water in the calorimeter. One calorie is the amount of energy that will raise the temperature of 1g of water by 1C. Basic understanding of chemical reactions is helpful, A kit for this project is available from our partner. Create a graph, listing the food items on the x-axis and the caloric content of 1g of food on the y-axis. Test their skills! Take it off the fire, let cool a little if you want to be safe, poke the top with something to open and enjoy! (Just 4 Simple Steps). If initially the temperature of the water is 20.0C, and after burning the nuts in the calorimeter we measure a water temperature of 33.3C, then the change in temperature of the water (Tf - Ti) equals 13.3C, and the heat captured by the calorimeter Qwater is (150g 0.001Cal/(g C) 13.3C) or 2.0Cal. Here are a few ways our Energy Department researchers find the shiny stuff crucial to their mission: 1. Materials. I learned it, of course, from YouTube. The next day, drain off the water and pat the kernels dry. Seal the edges to form a loose pouch, leaving room for the kernels to pop. Record this number. Let soak for 2 hours and remove. The smaller can will hold the water to be heated by burning the food samples. As the flame from the candles heats the air around it, the much warmer air rises upward. Use the pencil to poke small holes in the edges of the flaps. You'll need a balloon, a glass bottle with an opening small enough that it can be covered with the mouth of a balloon, 20-percent-hydrochloride drain cleaner and tin foil. Pour about 1/4 cup of popcorn kernels to the pan, and add a few tablespoons of oil. The Popcorn Factory specializes in fresh-popped popcorn in a variety of exclusively designed tins and packaging. Boats, which (Or did the holes let more steam escape and prevent pressure from building up inside the kernels?). Tear another smaller piece of tinfoil and fold it longways. Stirring the kernels with a fork helped them to bounce up and down in the water. Not as complicated as you may think. You might have tried Jiffy Pop before; you put the pan over the fire, shake it, and popcorn pops inside the aluminum dome. For preschoolers and early elementary students, you can use this activity as a fun Thanksgiving science experiment or simple science demonstration for chemical reactions. You can experiment with different ways of arranging the pennies on your barge to keep the buoyancy greater than the gravity and fit more pennies in your barge before it sinks. Share it with us! Everyone to be given the same amount of foil, making sure it's a fair test! 8.5 inches high, 7.3 inches width and 3.3 inches deep You can store in this box a small radio, a solar battery charger and some electronic parts (duplicates) for your car (like the PCM - Powertrain Control Module, the Anti-lock Braking System, the Electronic Fuel Injection, the Electronic Ignition, etc) First, pull off a sheet of aluminum foil that is about twice as long as the pan. Add enough oil to just cover the bottom of the pan (that was 1/4 cup for our pan.) Diagram of a homemade calorimeter. Grasp the three needles and push the blunt ends into the cork, as shown in Figure 3. Phone: (312) 644.6610 | Email: info@popcorn.org, The Popcorn Board | Nutrition | Newsroom | Privacy Policy | Accessibility Policy | Join Mailing List We made our reflector by taping aluminum foil onto a large sheet of cardboard, for a powerful reflection with a silvery light, but an even simpler option is a piece of blank, white card. Wrap a bit of foil around the knobs to protect them from stray paint drips, and save your painter's tape for baseboards and door frames, where those straight blue edges are far more critical. Fold up the edges of the tin foil so you've constructed a small barge that will float and be able to hold objects inside of it. The pre-heat group tasted burned, but had the most kernels pop. A less charming but more scientific explanation exists for why popcorn pops. So let us say that we start out with 100milliliters (mL) of water in the calorimeter. Aluminium doesnt show it is true reactivity before the oxide layer is disturbed. We all love S'mores. You even can use its chemical properties to fuel a device that will produce and collect powerful combustible gases. Table 3, below, can help you. Our top priority is student learning. Observe the popcorn kernels as they are lifted into the air. For example, if the normalized caloric content for nuts would be 2, it would inform you that these nuts contain double as many calories per gram of food than Cheerios do. Your digestive system and the cells in your body break down the food and gradually oxidize the resulting molecules in a series of chemical reactions to release energy that your cells can use and store. Canola, vegetable, olive, or coconut oil. A cork at the bottom of the large can is used to hold burning food underneath the smaller can. You can present to students a simple experiment to prove that moisture is inside popcorn kernels. Proof Positive? Add 8-12 drops of liquid food coloring. January 14, 2020. It. You can use the conductive properties of tin foil in experiments about electricity, or its physical properties to demonstrate the interplay between buoyancy and gravity. This project will give you a chance to learn about how much energy your cells can extract from different types of food. Slowly pour water around the spiders. ), Experiment 5: What if you poke holes in the popcorn kernels? Aluminum foil, or tin foil, is a paper-thin, shiny sheet of aluminum metal. Erect the match stick rocket on the pad. The red ribbon is the coma. Variables: What is it that you want to compare? from Radboud University NijmegenGraduated 2002Lives in Lausanne, Switzerland2013present, Your email address will not be published. Aluminum foil is a household item that has about a million uses. Place the plate or balloon on your cutting board, and use the gloved hand to pick . Is the efficiency for all food items more or less the same? This experiment can be used to meet the requirements for the following middle school and elementary school Next Generation Science Standards: Analyze and interpret data on the properties of substances before and after the substances interact to determine if a chemical reaction has occurred. oz. Fold it in half. Carolina Biological, and Pick up the small can. Expansion of the human race around the world wouldn't have happened if people hadn't figured out how to transport large items across vast oceans. How Much Weight Can Aluminum Foil Boats Float? Which brand of microwave popcorn pops fastest? Using Aluminum Foil. Your email address will not be published. Traditional roasting stick. Bibliography. When you place an object into water, it displaces the water out of the way. Aluminium foil (or aluminum foil in North American English; often informally called tin foil) is aluminium prepared in thin metal leaves with a thickness less than 0.2 mm (7.9 mils); thinner gauges down to 6 micrometres (0.24 mils) are also commonly used. Will that help the heat get inside and pop the corn more quickly? Do background research to find out the approximate proportions of the different basic food chemicals (fats, carbohydrates, proteins) in each of the food items you tested. 1. Count 100 popcorn kernels from the same bag used in the control experiment. COPYRIGHT 1996-2016 BY EDUCATION WORLD, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Bend the paper clip to form a launch pad as shown in the diagrams. Place the oil, popcorn, and salt in a large, 6-quart, metal mixing bowl. 1 sheet of aluminum foil that is 12 inches x 18 inches A container like a sink, tub or bucket to float your boat in Enough water to fill the container with at least 5 inches of water Approximately 50 pennies or marbles The Experiment: Fill a container with at least 5 inches of water For each trial, you will impale a few pieces of each type of food; using a few items (and not just one) will allow you to burn a larger mass. That way you are left with units of calories, a measure of energy, which is what you want. Experimental Procedure: Cover the insides of the flaps of the larger box with aluminum foil, with the shiny side facing out; tape the foil in place. (n.d.). Within this science project youll make little motorboats from aluminum foil to research how their shape and size affects many pounds they are able to carry and just how this pertains to the density water. ), Experiment 4: What if you warm the popcorn kernels before popping them? So what else can one make next to the warm, smoky blaze? Have students hypothesize what might happen when the kernels are heated and why. Place it within the water, notice how that one floats and doesnt sink towards the bottom regardless of how you strive. This will allow the flame to go from one item to the next. Procedure. (Just 4 Easy Steps)Id refer to this as experiment. Heat the oil in the popper to a temperature of only 250 degrees F. Have students hypothesize what might happen when the kernels are heated and why. hypothesize about the result of five experiments. Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Put aside your worries about your air fryer catching on fire, and focus on all the ways using aluminum foil there can help you: Utilizing aluminum foil in the air fryer will cut down on mess and significantly reduce overall . 2. The good news is that you get to eat lots of popcorn along the way. Fill a large basin with water, then cut a piece of tin foil that is 5 inches by 6 inches. People have been fascinated by popcorn for centuries. We'll highlight some amazing money-saving uses in this episode of The Saving's Experiment! You may also like the complete list fall science experiments and fall STEM activities! After a couple of batches I decided that pepcorns not my jam, but it doesnt even matter because this video is a nonstop homemade popcorn hack parade. Proceeds from the affiliate programs help support Don't touch the wire. More youthful kids may also make an aluminum foil boat. You assume all risk and liability. Put the foil on top of the embers. How important is physical attraction for any marriage? The pressure inside the grain will reach 135 pounds per square inch before finally bursting the hull open. Instructions. Cover tightly with foil, doming the top to leave enough room for kernels to pop, and place on campfire. Prepare a solution that attacks aluminum foil! Large tin can, 6 3/16 inches by 7 inches; no lid and no bottom, Small tin can, 3 3/8 inches by 4 1/16 inches; no lid, Sewing needles, sharps size 10 (minimum of 4), Water, preferably distilled; available at your local grocery store, Digital scale with 0.1 g increments. The corrosion rate ( ) in mg.cm-2.hr-1 is calculated using the following equation: is the weight loss in mg, A is the surface area of the specimen in cm2, and T is the exposure time in hr. Tin-Foil Boats Fill a large basin with water, then cut a piece of tin foil that is 5 inches by 6 inches. Now we have all of the information we need to calculate the amount of heat captured by the calorimeter: Can you see why the specific heat capacity of water has such strange units (cal/(g C))? Good popcorn is great, but most popcorn rarely lives up to its aroma. Youll want to have several jars on hand to test each mixture, and a timer to determine how long the kernels in each jar bounce before settling to the bottom of the jar. If their hypothesis was incorrect, have them record what they learned. Christopher Cascio is a memoirist and holds a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing and literature from Southampton Arts at Stony Brook Southampton, and a Bachelor of Arts in English with an emphasis in the rhetoric of fiction from Pennsylvania State University. Standard household foil is typically 0.016 mm (0.63 mils) thick, and heavy duty household foil is typically 0.024 mm (0.94 mils). Trace around the end of your tube onto a piece of brown paper (or construction paper). How do these types of molecules differ in the amount of energy they contain? When the kernels are heated, the water inside heats up to the point where it exerts enough pressure to burst the kernel open. Required fields are marked *. The temperature difference times the mass of the water (in grams) will give you the amount of energy captured by the calorimeter, in calories, a unit of chemical energy. Please describe how you need help as thoroughly as possible. We needed a way to make it look more like the texture of the moon so decided to crinkle it up into a ball (the kids will love this ;)!). Popcorn is a whole grain and is made up of three components: the germ, endosperm, and pericarp (or hull). Check out our Needs Improvement Report Card Commentsfor even more comments! If the food in your calorimeter burns well, you might opt to tent the calorimeter with aluminum foil so less heat is lost to the environment, leaving a small opening at the top to allow air circulation. We can write this in the form of an equation: The unit calorie (cal) (lowercase "c") is defined by the heat capacity of water. SLAC has a couplegreat video and article about the bake out, a maintenance procedure that involves metal strips, metal tape, and lots of foil that allows their equipment to keep its near-perfect vacuum. Tin-Foil Popcorn When not insulating hot foods or protecting surfaces, tin foil can be used for conducting science experiments. (n.d.). If so, can you use the efficiency to calculate the real caloric content of a food item for which you do not have package information from your measurements? Plus, you dont have to play the how ajar is too ajar? game, or handle a hot, heavy pot lid dripping with condensation. Science Buddies participates in affiliate programs with If you can, look up the caloric content of your food items, If you have the package information revealing the caloric content of some food items you measured, calculate the efficiency of your calorimeter. You will need the following supplies for the dancing popcorn experiment: ball mason 12 Jar with Lid-Regular MouOrville Redenbachers Gourmet Popcorn Kernels, Original Yellow, 8 lbMembers Mark Distilled White Vinegar Jug, 1 galArm & Hammer Baking Soda, 5 LbsCrisco Pure Vegetable Oil, 32 Fl OzSCS Alka-Seltzer Original Antacid and Analgesic 116 ct.The Mason Jar Scientist: 30 Jarring STEAM-Based ProjectsMARATHON Adanac 3000 Digital Sports Stopwatch Timer with Extra Large Display and Buttons, Water Resistant- Yellow, The Mason Jar Scientist: 30 Jarring STEAM-Based ProjectsBall Regular Mouth Mason Jars with Lids and Bands, 16-Ounces (4-Pack)Crisco Pure Vegetable Oil, 32 OunceBarbasol Soothing Aloe Thick & Rich Shaving Cream 10 Oz (2 Pack)Alka-Seltzer PFY BXAS50 80659297 Antacid and Pain Relief Medicine, Two-Pack (Pack of 50)Kadaon 10X Handheld Magnifier Antique Mahogany Handle Magnifier Reading Magnifying Glass for Reading Book, Inspection, Coins, Insects, Rocks, Map, Crossword PuzzleBORAX 20 Mule Team Laundry Booster, Powder, 4 PoundsFine Ground Celtic Sea Salt (1) 16 Ounce Resealable Bag of Nutritious, Classic Sea Salt, Great for Cooking, Baking, Pickling, Finishing and More, Pantry-Friendly, Gluten-FreeMcCormick Assorted Food Color, 1 Fl Oz (Pack of 1)Food Coloring 12 Color Vibrant Cake Food Coloring Set for Baking, Decorating, Fondant and Cooking Upgraded Liquid Concentrated Icing Food Color Dye for Slime Making, DIY Crafts .25 fl. Five Ways Aluminum Foil Is Advancing Science, Awesome Chemistry Experiment!! It's used industrially. (Keep the test tube pointed away from you!) As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases. Box (Pack of 4). Save this idea for later so you don't forget to use it! Reynold's says a reaction happens when aluminum foil comes in contact with salt, vinegar, highly acidic foods such as tomatoes or highly spiced foods. What you need: Aluminum foil Scissors Water Glass bowl Instructions: Fill your bowl up with water. You may need to stir the popcorn kernels up a bit to get them to start jumping. Tin Foil Boat Experiments to Test with Kids After all of our talk about history and investigating the coins themselves, it was time to get down to experimenting. It's a type of maize, or corn, and is a member of the grass family. Putting the baking soda into the vinegar slowly helped reduce the reaction time, enabling more of the popcorn kernels to dance.. Cover with heavy-duty aluminum foil and poke 10 slits in the top with a knife. Responsibility disclaimer and privacy policy | About us | Our mission | Site Map, The most important scientific discoveries of 2022. Set your oven to 350 degrees F. Place one pile of 20 uncracked popcorn kernels into a heat-resistant bowl and put them in the oven for about 30 minutes. When at least one food item catches fire, place the. Copyright 2022 - sciencebriefss.com. (We will use made-up numbers for the example; you will have to do the project for yourself to get actual measurements.) (Just 4 Simple Steps): I would call this experiment Awesome. Once you have decided what you want to look at, start thinking of questions you can ask and hopefully answer. Start by making your own foil canvas which will be the foundation of this project. So making a heat-powered turbine sounds complicated, right? Of the 4 most common types of cornsweet, dent (also known as field), flint (also known as Indian corn), and popcornonly popcorn pops! Don't fold all the . Diagram of a homemade calorimeter. You want the crimp to go in by a couple of folds. It calls for exactly the same materials used to produce a worx explosive device, but rather of trapping the Hydrogen gas in the sealed container, the gas is taken having a standard party balloon and ignited within the safest possible way. What is it you can measure? NOTE: New markers work the best, the fresh ink allows you to get a good . Be smart: plan ahead and conduct your experiment over several nights. Have a guess of methods you believe this may work, then watch the entire segment below to find out more. First, prepare the high moisture popcorn. Cl- ions can compromise the otherwise-strong Al2O3 layer around the foils surface and permit some copper ions Cu2+ in. Make sure to use only the amount of tin foil that's recommended because this reaction is volatile. Slowly lower the charged balloon toward the sheet of tin foil, and as you close in with the balloon, the foil balls will react to the static charge and begin jumping like exploding popcorn kernels, but won't stick to the balloon. Follow the same popping procedure used in the control experiment. Remove the kernels from the oven and allow them to cool. So try this easy project out for a crunchy, salty, late-night snack perfect for sharing or inhaling by yourself! Popcorn is a whole grain and is made up of three components: the germ, endosperm, and pericarp (or hull) . Im by no means encouraging anybody to create a worx explosive device. Step 1: Supplies You will need: - Popcorn - Oil - Salt (optional, and any other seasonings you like) - Pie pan - Wire hanger - Scissors - Stapler - Aluminum foil Add Tip Ask Question Comment Download Step 2: Measuring First, pull off a sheet of aluminum foil that is about twice as long as the pan. To make your own foil canvases, cut any cardboard you have on hand in to the shape you would like your canvas to be (we used cereal boxes and a square shape): Wrap the . Once your fire is going, find a good place to hold the pan- where it's hot but not inthe fire, and there's room for shaking. Poke a hole in the foil above where the plastic cup is located. Whether you need help solving quadratic equations, inspiration for the upcoming science fair or the latest update on a major storm, Sciencing is here to help. For safety reasons, use the grounding rod to turn on the generator and stand a fair distance away from it while . What to do: Cut five pieces of ribbon: two long pieces, two medium pieces, and one short piece. Add this 5g to the initial weight of the empty beaker so you can later subtract the weight of these control variables from the actual test results of the popcorn.3. Today, we are going to show you how some candles, tin foil, and a wooden stick can create a turbine. Each, 30% Pure Vinegar Home&Garden (1 Gallon), 12+ March Classroom Door Ideas Perfect for Warmer Weather, Easy Felt Penguin Dress-Up Activity for Preschoolers, Colorful Rainbow Bead Sensory Slime Recipe. Popcorn is scientifically known as Zea mays everta. Popcorn is scientifically known as Zea mays everta. Using a NEW dry erase marker, draw on your spiders. Use smoke coming out of the top as an indicator to evaluate if the burning is still in process. Key Tin Foil Boat Activity Terms Buoyancy - an upward force exerted by fluid on an object Displacement - when fluid is moved out of the way by the weight of an object placed in the fluid Floatation - a principle that occurs when a floating object displaces a weight of fluid equal its own weight For each item on your list, you will perform three measurements (trials). If you are doing this experiment with younger students, you might want to puncture the kernels yourself. Cover the plastic cup and pie plate with aluminum foil. Keep the pan over the fire using the handle- you can use gloves, switch hands every so often, trade off with someone else, or even hold it with a S'mores stick to keep from getting too hot. Actually, its more about how well kids can create a foil boat that holds lots of weight. Place the plastic cup in the center of a disposable aluminum pie plate. Use small strips of foil to fold around the hanger and around the pan edge at the hook and bottom ends of the hanger, and staple. Water. Fill each jar half-way with your liquid of choice. Make a small opening in the foil wrapped around the match head by inserting the point of a safety pin and bending upward slightly. Popcorn differs from other types of corn in that its hull has just the right thickness to allow it to burst open. Its a type of maize, or corn, and is a member of the grass family. When you hear the popcorn start to sizzle, shake the pan steadily to prevent burning. The reference level for a normal diet is 2,000 Calories. Looking for a fun popcorn experiment? Make sure it's as flat as possible with no sharp corners. Making Copper Powder BackgroundThe aluminum in aluminum foil reacts with copper sulfate and undergoes a single replacement reaction to create aluminum sulfate and copper metal:2Al + 3CuSO4Al2(SO4)3 + 3CuThis means that during the reaction, each aluminum atom loses three electrons to create an aluminum ion. This dancing popcorn experiment is the perfect way to test the duration and effectiveness of different chemical reactions, and it takes just 3 ingredients to complete! Now we will work through an example to make sure that the equation is clear. In this science activity, you will make little boats out of aluminum foil to explore how their size affects how much weight they carry and how this relates to the density of water. As it explodes, steam inside the kernel is released. Make aluminum foil boats and experiment to see how much weight hulls of different volumes can hold before sinking. In no time, youll have perfectly crispy, fluffy popcornwith no drips to ruin the party. Then, place pennies into your barge, one-by-one to see how many it can hold before the weight of the pennies is too great and your barge sinks. Ask yourself why the foil balls are attracted in this way. If you cannot find a fire-safe place with a breeze, consider using a fan (at safe distance). Andrew Olson, Ph.D., and Sabine De Brabandere Ph.D., Science Buddies. Have your child carefully open the ball and flatten it out. The Popcorn Board, The Popcorn Board now offers alternate sites in other languages: Since 1mL of water has a mass of exactly 1g, this water will have a mass of 100g (mwater = 100g). . Drench it with 1 tablespoons of oil. The kernel continues to heat to about 347 degrees. Use the worksheet below to record the results of your corn experiment! For each pair of students, you'll need a 1.5-volt light bulb, a battery, and a strip of aluminum foil. Introduction: The ability to float on a liquid (buoyancy) is a critical idea for our civilization. Hold the test tube over a flame, shaking it a little bit periodically to keep the kernel from burning. Cook until popping stops happening often. Try the following if you have trouble keeping the fire alive in the calorimeter: Some food items might keep burning when they were put in the calorimeter just smoldering, but others will need a real flame to keep the burning active in the calorimeter. Order your food items from more caloric to less caloric. What does that say about the charge of the foil balls, and how energy seeks balance? Copyright 2002-2023 Science Buddies. Things float in water due to displacement and the resultant forces that act back on the object. 2 tablespoons of unpopped popcorn kernels will make about a quart popped, 4 tablespoons = 1/4 cup which would yield about 2 quarts popped. Download Article. Place your pan on the scale and tare (or zero) the scale. Add 20 popcorn kernels to the beaker and oil. It will help you take notes as you perform your trials. From making hats to maintaining equipment, aluminum foil is advancing science in these five ways. Notice that the grams (g) from the mass of the water and the degrees Celsius (C) from the change in temperature cancel out with the grams (g) and degrees Celsius (C) in the denominator of the units for specific heat. Using aluminum foil with your food while it's air frying helps the spices to stay mixed with the food, rather than dripping through the basket and under the food, says keepingthepeas.com. Aluminum foil provides an affordable supply of aluminum. View Notes - Experiment 5 (9-13-17), CHEM 108.docx from CHEM 108 at Community College of Baltimore County. Make sure all items touch, as shown in Figure 5. The foil hack is compatible with any stovetop popcorn routine; all you have to do is swap out your usual pot lid for a sheet of foil. Then, cut many small pieces of tin foil and wad them up into balls that are approximately the size of corn kernels. This project gives a new meaning to the phrase "burning calories!" Summary It is a good idea to repeat measurements to ensure consistent results. If you have any comments (positive or negative) related to purchases you've made for science projects from recommendations on our site, please let us know. Im talking about plain wrap-your-sandwich-in-it aluminum foil. Check students' hypotheses and/or explanations of what they learned from each experiment. If the weight of the boat is less that the weight of the water it displaces, it floats! Add the popcorn and let it pop. Categories Thanksgiving STEAM Activities, Science Experiments. Stop and Breathe - Unpacking the Hidden Controversy of 125 Report Card Comments Displacement is simply an object pushing a liquid or gas out of the way. The popcorn science experiment can be modified for almost any age group. You can use the conductive properties of tin foil in experiments about electricity, or its physical properties to demonstrate the interplay between buoyancy and gravity. Related to the type of experiment performed, the aluminum foil sheets that are used have different shapes and dimensions. Home; About. Note this value (expressed in milliliters) in your lab notebook. Did the lower temperature pop the kernels bigger or faster or better? A cork at the bottom of the large can is used to hold burning food underneath the smaller can. Make sure you replicate your experiment. Today's mathematics is Wisdom Build or Destroy [28] which borns Knowledge (add-a-cipher) [10]. 1. Battery and Bulb Experiment for Kids. No Comments. The gas forms bubbles that collect around the popcorn kernels. If the boat weighs more than the water it displaces, it will sink. You may need to stir the popcorn kernels up a bit to get them to start jumping. It contains . It is important to remember, though, that energy is only one measure of nutritional value. Gladz Avenue 1.97K subscribers Join Subscribe 5.2K views 1 year ago #gladzavenue Popcorn (popped corn, popcorns or pop-corn) is a variety of corn kernel which expands and puffs up when heated;. To demonstrate this to the Scouts, try this experiment from Home Training Tools: Put a single kernel of popcorn in a dry test tube and cover the mouth of the test tube with aluminum foil. How to Cook Baked Brie With Basil Pesto and Sundried Tomatoes. What you need: Aluminum foil. Performing a bake outLawrence Berkeley Labs Advanced Light Source alone goes through about 20,000 square feet of the stuff each year, enough to cover a major league baseball in-field.