Grade Level: 1st Grade

What’s Your Favorite?

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Overview

Activity

Time: 30-45 minutes

Subject Areas
Math

Essential Question
How can I organize data about favorite corn snacks?

Objective
Identify household items that are made with corn (field corn)

Teacher Guide

Materials
Directions
Additional Resources & Actvities

Materials

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

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
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

This lesson is the work product of the Kansas Corn Commission. Our lessons are written in collaboration with Kansas teachers for use in the classroom. Teachers may copy and share this curriculum. Use of this product for commercial or promotional use is prohibited without express permission of Kansas Corn.