Gail Meadows, age 8, of Asheville

What makes popcorn pop?

Popcorn is Andy’s favorite candy, summer and winter. Like everybody else, he has always wondered why those hard and tiny kernels pop into frothy big mouthfuls with just a little heat. Most experts think they have the answer, but they are not perfectly sure.

The little kernels are jam‑packed with rich starchy corn food. There also may be moisture hidden inside the hard little bullets# The heat may turn the moisture to steam, which needs far more room. It swells and swells, mixing with the starch to form light frothy foam. Suddenly the exploding mixture bursts the hard little kernel coat with a pop. Popcorn is grown from a special kind of corn. It is a cousin to ordinary corn, but the plant is smaller, the ears are smaller and the seeds are smaller ‑ until we pop them in the popcorn heater.