Maple Sugaring in a Warming Climate

Provided by: Gulf of Maine Research Institute |Published on: May 3, 2024

Lesson Plans

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Synopsis

In this collection of 6 lessons, students will learn about why trees make sugar, how people harvest that sugar, and the impacts of climate change on Maine's maple syrup producers.
Students will create a diagram illustrating the process of syrup-making, analyze data for Portland, Bangor, and Quebec City temperatures to decide the time to start tapping, play a game to model syrup production in Jackman, analyze maps, graphs, and interviews, adapt the game to account for temperature variability, and create a maple business proposal using Passamaquoddy Maple as an example.

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Subjects: Biology, Mathematics

Authors: Gulf of Maine Research Institute

Region: North America, USA - Northeast, United States, Vermont, Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island, New Hampshire

Languages: English

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Teaching Materials

Positives

The modeling game will keep students engaged and help them understand the syrup production process.
The "Wabanaki Studies Dos and Don'ts" document is a starting resource for teachers to ensure they are not doing any cultural harm.

Additional Prerequisites

The link for "A Kid’s Guide to Maple Tapping" by Julie Fryer is broken.
Students should understand how climate change may affect temperature variability and changes in seasonal norms.
The interviewee uses the word "damn" in the "Suckers for Sap" video in Lesson 6 Maple Business Planning Resources.

Differentiation

In the data analysis activity, some students may be overwhelmed by the amount of data on the page. For these students, it may help to give them only some of the data points at a time.
If available, teachers can have a speaker from the Passamaquoddy Tribe to talk to students. Alternatively, teachers can find reputable videos of Passamaquoddy speakers.
Economics teachers can extend the modeling game or business proposal activity to cover costs and benefits, business, and supply and demand.

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Maple Sugaring in a Warming Climate

Synopsis

Teaching Materials

Scientist Reviewed

Related Teaching Resources