Environmental Science and Biology teacher Amy Thut decided to tap into her knowledge of photosynthesis this spring and began maple syrup production around her house and Bethany.
Since Amy was involved with tapping for maple syrup at Merry Lea, she already knew the ropes of production. This spring, when she found out that silver maples could be tapped along with the usual sugar maple, the idea for home production began to take root. With a silver maple in her own yard and at least six more on Bethany campus, Amy and her family decided to try tapping.
The first question was where to get supplies. Then Amy overheard a friend at church talking about two extra spiles they had left over from their production. Subsequently, Amy’s husband, Greg, heard of a friend that was done tapping and had extra equipment they could borrow.
Equipment no longer a question, Amy and Greg chose their trees. They tapped one silver maple in their own yard and six on the Bethany campus. Because they started the process near the end of the season, they wanted to get started as soon as possible. As a result, Amy and Greg came to school on a Saturday morning and tapped all the trees.
Students watch the evaporation process.
The maple syrup production process fit into Amy’s Biology curriculum for sophomore students. In the middle of a unit about photosynthesis, they watched the evaporation process and class time was spent collecting the buckets from the trees.
Amy was surprised at how productive the trees were, especially for as late in the season as they started. More syrup was produced because of how cold the winter was. Temperatures must be below freezing at night and above freezing during the day for this to occur.
It has been an interesting experience for Amy and Greg to have maple syrup in their backyard. They’ve ended up doing a lot of hosting this season, including many friends and neighbors who have heard about their project and even a group visiting from France that was curious about the process.
Looking ahead, Amy isn’t sure whether or not production will continue on campus. Amy says it might be a possibility for maple syrup to become a wider school project for more subjects than just science classes. Despite an uncertain future, this season has been a fun, educational project for Amy, Greg, and the community.
~Katie Hurst