The maple tree is a northeastern icon. From its leaves to the sweet syrup that is shipped all around the world, it can be easy to take for granted this staple of our landscape and breakfast table. But at Montessori School of Northampton, our students learn to appreciate every aspect of this wondrous species through classroom lessons and hands-on activities as part of Outdoor Enrichment. Outdoor Enrichment is a Montessori program designed to enhance a child’s appreciation for and knowledge of the natural world around them.
Outdoor Enrichment starts in Kindergarten when students learn to identify the basic types and parts of trees. Our kindergarten class this year started seeds, harvested and pressed flowers, and even brewed teas from their bounty. In Montessori Lower Elementary, students learn even more about the tree’s yearly cycle of budding and flowering and take an active hand in school gardens.
In Montessori Upper Elementary, their knowledge really gets put into practice.
The Maple Syrup Project
During the winter months, Upper Elementary students embark on a New England tradition, tapping trees in preparation for a sap boil at the winter-spring transition. First comes identification, which is made a little harder with foliage buried under snow. Instead, they have to learn to identify viable maple trees from their bark, searching for the Maple’s tell-tale red bullseye. With a few trees picked out, students grab the taps, hoses, and buckets that will siphon the tree’s sap.
While they wait for the sap to collect and the days to hit the right temperature, students learn about the internal mechanisms happening in the tree. They visit the “Leaf Factory” and construct models of sugar molecules to learn how photosynthesis powers plants and gives life to the soil.
Then it’s time. Freezing nights give way to above freezing days and the Maple sap flows by the bucketful. When each is brimming, the boil begins. This winter marked the second straight year that students carried the process all the way to the syrup stage. For the ultimate sense of satisfaction, once they cooked their sap down to syrup, they poured it over some fresh pancakes they baked themselves.
There’s not many places where a student would experience a science lesson with all five senses, but at MSN, students get to see (and taste) how wonderful nature can be.