Sticky Sweet Learners

Maple syrup is a sweet way to learn about evaporation and viscosity.

“40 gallons of sap only make one gallon of syrup,” said Ryan LeFevre. “It’s 97% water and only 3% sugar.”

With a backyard full of maple trees, it’s hard not to take advantage of a unique opportunity to take learning outdoors. This year, as the weather fluctuated to below freezing at night and above freezing during the day, fifth-grade students at Somers Intermediate School learned how to make maple syrup.

“The weather helps the sap flow through the tree,” said Cormac Pelhank.

Evie Bahr added, “It took about a week to collect the sap.”

To start, students learned how to spot a maple tree and then how to tap it. With a helping hand from their teachers, students used electric drills to bore into the trees and then tapped small metal spouts into the holes with a hammer, a process known as “tapping” the trees.

Students placed empty five-gallon water bottles under the spouts and connected them with rubber tubing to collect the sap. It took many days for the weather to be just right, but once it was, the sap flowed quickly, filling the bottles. Students and teachers worked together to carry the full bottles back to the school, where small propane cooking stations were set up. The sap was poured into large pots. Teachers helped bring the sap to a boil and supervised as it cooked for many hours.

“When the wind blew at us, the scent of the maple syrup smelled so good,” said Evie. “It smelled like pancakes!”

Halfway through the cooking process, the sap was strained to remove any impurities, such as bits of leaves and twigs. As it cooked, the water in the sap evaporated, leaving behind the thick, sweet syrup, helping students to learn about viscosity in real life.

“You have to be so careful not to burn it,” added Cormac. “If you burn it, it’ll harden too much, and you won’t be able to use it.”

Once the maple syrup was the right consistency, it was removed from the heat and bottled in mason jars. Students were able to taste the syrup at the different stages in the process, starting with “syrup water” or the sap that comes out of the tree, partway through the cooking process, and once it was finished. Students celebrated their hard work by enjoying their maple syrup on pancakes cooked by their teachers.