Maple Sugaring and Math: Perfect Together
Jen’s 2/3 learning group spent an entire day at the Great Swamp Education Center in Chatham this January. The students learned how to identify maple trees and how to measure them to locate ones that were old enough to tap for sap. The children learned about the necessary night and day temperatures to have a “run” of sap in a maple tree, the exact temperature maple sap needs to be slowly cooked to to turn to syrup and about how much sap is needed to make a gallon of maple syrup.
The students then applied all of the new found information to hands-on activities outdoors in the woods of the Great Swamp. Our adventure also included a taste test of a variety of maple syrups and maple “flavored syrup”. It was interesting to read how many ingredients are in imitation syrup! Maple sugaring is actually a simple practice and one that the children enjoyed. Similar workshops are open to the public in the winter months at the Great Swamp and would make a great family day!
About the Author
Jennifer Carcich is the 2/3 Grade Teacher and Sustainability Coordinator at Unity Charter School. This is her fifth year teaching at Unity Charter School. She is certified to teach both general education and special education students and has been in the teaching field since 1994. Jennifer takes pride in helping Unity Charter School and continuing to strengthen its unique and innovative approach to education and bring forth the school’s mission.
The opinions expressed by the author and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Unity Charter School. Unity Charter School is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied by the author.
Tags: Maple Sugaring, Maple Syrup, Maple Tree, Math, Sap, The Great Swamp