Materials

• Popcorn by Frank Asch
• Recording Sheet
• Bowl of popcorn
• Pencil/crayons

Popcorn by Frank Asch

Directions

• Have a discussion with the child(ren) about popcorn:
  • Have them think of times when they eat popcorn?
    • baseball games, watching the Super Bowl, movie, drive-in theater, slumber parties, etc.
      • Do you think that you would ever get tired of eating popcorn? Tell me why or why not? Why is popcorn such a yummy treat?
      • Can put different seasonings on it, convenient snack, smells good, crunchy, can be flavored, easy to make in microwave, etc.
• Read the Popcorn book or have them watch the YouTube video where the story is read aloud. Be listening for a funny end to the story.
• After reading the story, discuss the characters, setting, the problem and solution in the story. Also talk
  about what makes the ending funny.
• Have the child(ren) make a list of other snacks that Sam Bear could’ve served at his party that are made of corn.
  • corn muffins, corndogs, popcorn balls, corn chips, corn pops, corn flakes, corn chex, corn nuts, corn
    fritters, etc.
• Have them pick their 3 favorite snacks and add them to the recording sheet. **Note: Let them know that most of the snacks are made with dent corn (a different kind of corn) and not popcorn.
• Reach out to family and friends (call, email, text, etc.) and find out what their favorite corn snack is from your list. Make tally marks and graph your results.
• Closure: Look at the graph and answer the following questions:
  • “What is the easiest way to share data…tally marks chart or graph?”
  • “Why is that way the easiest?”
  • “What are other things that we could survey people about and make a graph?”
  • “How could this graph help a cook?”
  • “Where could we look for more ideas of items that are made with corn?”

Additional Resources & Activities

• Corn by Gail Gibbons (specifically highlight pages 20-21)
• The Tortilla Factory by Ruth Wright Paulsen to learn more about tortillas
• How It’s Made: Corn Tortillas Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgSL_CvX9cQ&t=21s
• Other activity:
  • Count out 100 kernels and 100 pieces of popped popcorn and put them into separate bowls.
  • Without picking them up have the child(ren) estimate how much each pile weighs and which one weighs more.
  • Use a kitchen scale to weigh them and discuss the results and why you think there’s a difference.
• Other activity:
  • Fill one jar with 50 kernels and one jar with 50 popped popcorn.
  • Don’t tell child(ren) how many are in each jar and have them estimate how many are in each jar.
  • Count them together and discuss their estimates.
    • Why did the jars look different if they contained the same amount?
  • Bake/cook your favorite corn treats