Maple Sugaring in a Warming Climate
Lesson Plans
Grades6, 7, 8Biology, Mathematics
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Provided by Gulf of Maine Research Institute
What it is
- 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.
Teaching tips
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.
From the scientist review
In this lesson, students will learn about maple sugaring and how the industry and practice will be affected by climate change. The resource includes an introduction to global warming and how we know it is happening. The lesson includes links to many good resources, additional information, and notes about what data can and cannot be used to conclude climate and climate change. There is also information about the practices and beliefs of the Wabanaki communities. This resource is recommended for teaching.
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