Maple Syruping


A man helping a boy to put a hole in a maple tree using a hand drill Students rotate through three 15-minute stations with a naturalist, learning plant biology and some of the chemistry of sugar. They also learn some Native American/Wisconsin history, and how colonists collected sap. The naturalist takes the students outdoors to find a maple tree to tap, and they take turns using the equipment to tap the tree. Students will get the opportunity to taste and collect sap, if the trees are dripping. Then it's back to the 'sugar shack' to see how we cook the sap into syrup. Students finish up by eating vanilla ice cream with pure maple syrup on it. 

 2-1/2 hrs. $4.50/person


Two girls, one girl is pouring sap from a metal Vermont bucket into a plastic bucket which the other





STANDARDS

SCI.LS1.A.4          Plants have internal and external macroscopic structures that allow for survival

SCI.LS1.C.5          Plants obtain energy from sunlight

SCI.LS1.C.k          Plants need water and light

SCI.LS1.C.m         Plants use the energy from light to make sugars through photosynthesis

SCI.LS2.A.2          Plants depend on water and light to grow

ELS.C1.B.e            Identify where one's food comes from

ELS.EX2.C.e          Identify ways in which people are dependent on natural resources

ELS.EX5.C.e          Compare historical and contemporary natural resource use and practices

ELS.EX5.B.i.          Describe how living things respond to changes in natural systems

ELS.C1.C.e            Explore outdoors

SCI.PS3.D.4,5        Plants capture energy from sunlight, which can be used as fuel or food

SS.BH3.a.2           Compare a belief in one culture to one in a different culture (First People and Nations; Early European

                               Explorers & Arrivals)

BH4.a                    Progression of technology (First People and Nations; Early European Explorers & Arrivals)

Clear maple sap dripping from a metal spile into a metal bucket.