On Tuesday we went on a field trip to learn about Maple Syrup.
It was very interesting!
What did we learn???
The weather conditions have to be below freezing at night and above 40* during the day for sap in Maple trees to run.
Below is a map of the region in the US and Canada where Maple Sap is gathered.
It was very interesting!
What did we learn???
The weather conditions have to be below freezing at night and above 40* during the day for sap in Maple trees to run.
Below is a map of the region in the US and Canada where Maple Sap is gathered.
First we learned the history of Maple Syrup and other interesting facts, then we went out in search of a Maple Tree.
After we found one, we hand drilled a hole several inches in to a tree. A tree has to be bigger than 10 inches in diameter to put one tap it. For every additional 5 inches, another tap can be added, up to 4 taps per tree.
After we had a whole, we added a spout and then hung our bag. The sap began to immediately trickle into the bag.
Below is a picture of a bag, started earlier that morning, gathering sap.
After the bag is full, the sap is taken to a boiling house where it is boiled down.
Do you know how many gallons of sap it takes to make one gallon of pure Maple Syrup? 40! No wonder the real stuff is pricey.
They had an old tree stump in the boiling house. It was almost as wide as Tyson is tall.
At the end our our field trip, we all got treated to ice cream topped with Maple Syrup, YUMMY!
7 comments:
So I can't tell, is the sap really that clear? I know the other day when the kids where at G&G they said the trees where crying ... and they were refering to how the sap was coming out ... or something like that, I was in a bit of a hurry and didn't get the whole educational lesson. Very interesting. What fun things you get to do with Home Schooling! -b
fun! oh, i crave real maple syrup. on ice cream! yum!
Yes, the sap is clear like water. It really is a neat process. Isn't God's design for creation amazing!
Annika, where did you go to see all of this?
Indian Creek Nature Center east of CR. We went with our home school group. It was $3 per person, but worth it!
we will go see a local man's trees on tomorrow - we are excited, but since it has been warmer during the night they haven't been getting as much sap. Looks like you had fun
Very interesting, I thought the sap would be yellow/brown.
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