Measuring Sweet Water and Maple Syrup

This activity is intended for students to count or explore how many drops of sweet water collect in the bucket in one or two minutes. 

Students watch the video (included in this lesson plan) of sweet water collecting in a bucket. Depending on the group of learners, the video can be viewed for approximately 1 - 3 minutes. 

For additional background knowledge, watch selected sections of the Collecting Maple Sap video (included with this lesson plan), which explores the process of collecting sweet water and the various techniques used both historically and in modern times. 

Use prompting questions to stimulate thinking and discussion:

"What do you notice?"  "What do you wonder?"

Jot down all ideas on chart paper, Smartboard, etc. 

Guiding question for the educator:

"How are your students ‘seeing it' (the vision)?"

Spiritual and Emotional learners - One of the videos featured in this lesson reviews the protocols of offering tobacco to maple trees before starting the process of collecting sweet water. In essence, this captures the understanding that we have a relationship with Creation and we must always ask for permission to collect natural resources.

Physical learners - The videos provide a visual representation of sweet water collecting in a bucket.

Intellectual learners - Students have the opportunity to assess how many drops of sweet water can fall in one minute, which can be developed further in this lesson. 

This activity is designed to prompt the students to investigate how much sweet water is required to make maple syrup.

Counting drops: forty drops of sweet water yields one drop of maple syrup.  

1. Students count forty drops in one cup and then place one drop in a separate cup. Educators should encourage the students to consider what this tells us about the process of making maple syrup.

Guiding question: "Is this an easy process if takes forty drops of sweet water to make one drop of syrup?"

2. Explore how many drops there are in one teaspoon. Ask students how many drops of sweet water are needed to make one teaspoon of maple syrup?

3. What if we wanted to make 10 ml, 15 ml, 20 ml, 25 ml, 30 ml, etc. of maple syrup? Ask students to determine how many ml of sweet water are needed for each measurement and record their findings in a chart (e.g. 10 ml = ____ ml of sweet water, and so on for each measurement).

Guiding questions:

How are your students ‘relating to’ the vision?

How are your students ‘figuring it (the vision) out’?

Emotional learners - This activity can prompt learners to recognize the importance of community, because making maple syrup is something beyond the capabilities of one individual. This activity demonstrates how working together towards a common objective was, and still is, a crucial factor in being successful in making maple sugar. 

Physical learners - Students actively engage in the experiment by measuring droplets of sweet water in various volumes or measurements (ml).

Intellectual learners - Students engage in proportional reasoning to undertake calculations.

This activity allows time for the students to consolidate and reflect on their learning. 

Educators should guide a discussion with the students to reflect upon their learning.

Guiding questions:

"Given the measurement you and your partner(s) were assigned, what caught your attention and what did you find surprising?"

"Looking at the broad context, is this something one person could do by themselves? What does this tell us about the importance of community?"

"What new questions did you think about while doing this activity?"

Guiding question for the educator:

"How are your students ‘doing’ the vision?"

Intellectual learners - Can use their understanding of proportional reasoning to: i) focus on the importance of community when harvesting and processing maple syrup; and ii) recognize that this process requires a large measurement of sweet water.

Physical learners - This lesson accommodates physical learners when holding a sharing circle, which will require reorganizing classroom furnishings. This lesson also encourages physical learners through interaction and discussion.

This is a list of optional activities and cross-curricular links that may be explored in order to extend the learning.

Educators can also incorporate Science and Technology (2007) curriculum as follows (see: http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/Curriculum/elementary/scientec18currb.pdf):

Grade 4

Understanding Life Systems (Habitats and Communities) 1.1, 1.2, and 3.10

Grade 3

Understanding Life Systems (Growth and Changes in Plants) 1.1, 1.2, and 3.5