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Word of the Week preserve — to keep alive or in existence; make lasting
Popcorn
Tens of thousands of years before there were movies, there was popcorn. Archaeologists have found 80,000-yearold corn pollen below Mexico City. Because this pollen is almost exactly the same as modern popcorn pollen, researchers believe that "cave people" most likely had popcorn. Popcorn probably grew first in Mexico, though it also was used in China and India hundreds of years before Columbus reached the Americas. The oldest popcorn ever found was discovered in the "Bat Cave" of central New Mexico. It is thought to be about 5,600 years old. In tombs in Peru, archaeologists found ancient kernels of popcorn that are so well preserved that they can still pop. Sometimes, conditions can preserve ancient popcorn so perfectly that it still looks fluffy and white when the dust is blown off of it. In a cave in southern Utah, researchers found surprisingly fresh-looking 1,000-yearold popcorn. Popcorn was probably an important part of life in the ancient Americas. On a 1,700year-old painted funeral urn found in Mexico, a corn god is shown wearing a headdress of popcorn. Decorated popcorn poppers from around the same time have been found in Peru. Europeans learned about popcorn from Native Americans. When Cortes invaded Mexico, and when Columbus arrived in the West Indies, each saw natives eating popcorn, as well as using it in necklaces and headdresses. Native Americans brought a bag of popped corn to the first Thanksgiving. A common way to eat popcorn at that time was to hold an oiled ear on a stick over the fire, then chew the popped kernels off it. Natives throughout the Americas also made a popcorn beer. Some made popcorn soup.
Newspaper Knowledge From your newspaper, clip several advertisements for basic goods. Go to the newspaper office or library to look up back issues for three, five and 10 years. What has the inflation rate been for these products?
Did You Know? • Americans consume some 16 billion quarts of this whole grain, good-for-you treat. That’s 51 quarts per man, woman and child. • Compared to most snack foods, popcorn is low in calories. Airpopped popcorn has only 31 calories per cup. Oil-popped is only 55 per cup. • Popcorn is a type of maize (or corn), a member of the grass family, and is scientifically known as Zea mays everta. • Of the six types of maize/corn — pod, sweet, flour, dent, flint and popcorn — only popcorn pops. • Popcorn is a whole grain. It is made up of three components: the germ, endosperm and pericarp (also know as the hull). • Popcorn needs between 13.5-14 percent moisture to pop. • Popcorn differs from other types of maize/corn in that is has a thicker pericarp/hull. The hull allows pressure from the heated water to build and eventually bursts open. The inside starch becomes gelatinous while being heated; when the hull bursts, the gelatinized starch spills out and cools, giving it its familiar popcorn shape.
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After learning about the fluffy food, colonists began enjoying the first puffed breakfast cereal — a bowl of popcorn, served with cream or milk. Popcorn was very popular in the United States from the late 19th century through the middle of the 20th century. It was available in parks, from street vendors and near theaters. During World War II, when sugar was rationed, Americans changed their snacking habits — they ate three times as much popcorn as they had before. Perhaps the favorite place to eat popcorn was at the movies. When television took off in the 1950s, popcorn sales dropped for a while. Today, the average American eats nearly 70 quarts of popcorn a year. But the United States isn't just a land of popcorn lovers—it's also the land of popcorn. Most of the world now gets its popcorn from Nebraska and Indiana.
A popcorn kernel is actually a seed. Like other seeds, inside it has a tiny plant embryo (a life form in its earliest phase). The embryo is surrounded by soft, starchy material that would give the embryo energy for growing into a plant. A hard, glossy shell protects the outside of the seed. The soft, starchy material holds some water. When the kernel is heated to a high heat (400 degrees F), the water inside the kernel turns into steam. The pressure from the steam causes the kernel to explode. The soft starch inside bursts out at about 40 times its original size, turning the kernel inside out. This creates the fluffy white area of a popped kernel. The ideal popcorn kernel contains about 14 percent moisture. If the popcorn is much drier, it will not pop. Popcorn kernels should be kept in a tightly sealed jar so that they will not dry out.
Fun Popcorn Facts • Most U.S. popcorn is grown in the Midwest, primarily in Indiana, Nebraska, Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky and Missouri. • Many people believe the acres of corn they see in the Midwest during growing season could be picked and eaten for dinner, or dried and popped. In fact, those acres are typically field corn, which is used largely for livestock feed, and differs from both sweet corn and popcorn. • The peak period for popcorn sales for home consumption is in the fall. • Most popcorn comes in two basic shapes
when it's popped: snowflake and mushroom. Snowflake is used in movie theaters and ballparks because it looks and pops bigger. Mushroom is used for candy confections because it doesn't crumble. • Popping popcorn is one of the No. 1 uses for microwave ovens. Most microwave ovens have a "popcorn" control button. • "Popability" is popcorn lingo that refers to the percentage of kernels that pop. • There is no such thing as “hull-less” popcorn. All popcorn needs a hull in order to pop. Some varieties of popcorn have been
bred so the hull shatters upon popping, making it appear to be hull-less. • How high popcorn kernels can pop? Up to 3 feet in the air. • The world’s largest popcorn ball was created by volunteers in Sac City, Iowa in February 2009. It weighed 5,000 pounds, stood more than 8 ft. tall, and measured 28.8 feet in circumference. • If you made a trail of popcorn from New York City to Los Angeles, you would need more than 352,028,160 popped kernels!
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Valentine
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Hey Elementary Schools!
Brown Bag Microwave Popcorn 1. Put 1/4 cup popcorn in a brown paper bag. Fold top over a few times and tape it. 2. Place in microwave folded side
Have your class make cards out of materials (preferably reused items) to give to patients at Dayton Children’s Medical Center and area nursing homes. Use your creativity to give someone a great Valentine’s Day Card. Make this a class project and the class with the most cards made wins a party sponsored by Scott Family McDonalds®! The class instructor wins a prize, too! Send your cards by Feb 10, 2013 to: Dana Wolfe, Newspapers in Education, 224 S. Market St., Troy, OH 45373.
upfor 2 to 3 minutes or until there is 5 seconds between pops. 3. Eat plain or add flavors (such as salt, butter, sugar, etc.)
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Answers — Ronald Wants To Know: kernel, natives, seed, heat, explode, butter
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