After reading the story, we were able to properly identify the sap bucket and spile (or spigot). We also double checked that we had the right sized drill bit for the job.
As soon as we tapped the tree, the sap started to run. Miss Wood had to hurry to get the spile in the hole and hang the sap bucket. We then continued to Outdoor Learning where we looked for other maple trees around the school property. When we came back about an hour later, we were surprised to see how much sap had already collected.
After the weekend, our sap bucket was full. We had to use a funnel to help pour the sap into the jugs.
Miss Wood was going to take the sap home to boil it and boil it and boil it. We learned that you needed 40 litres of sap to make just one litre of syrup. This was really hard to imagine so we helped Ms de Vries count out 40 pegs and then imagined just one of them being syrup when it was all done.
Finally Miss Wood got all the sap boiled. We thought the best thing to do would be to have pancakes to enjoy our syrup with. Ms de Vries had an idea that we could make our own butter as well! We made the butter and our teachers made the pancakes.
We LOVED the butter and the syrup! It was so good some of us licked our plates.
