Science is Sweet in the Bell Top Learning Barn

Mar 21, 2024 | Bell Top, District

Maple sugaring in Bell Top Learning Barn

Bell Top First Grade Teacher Melanie Lyte explaining the maple sugaring process to students in the Bell Top Learning Barn.

Bell Top Elementary School students gathered in the Learning Barn behind school earlier this month to learn the scientific process for making maple syrup. First grade teacher Melanie Lyte led the annual activity by boiling sap that students had collected from trees on the Bell Top property earlier in the winter.

As Mrs. Lyte added wood logs to the firebox and water vapor left the sap and floated to the rafters of the Learning Barn and outside, she taught students about the states of matter.

Students were able to taste the difference between sap and maple syrup. They also learned vocabulary and filled out a worksheet during the activity.

Meanwhile, retired Bell Top teacher Mary Ann Morgan worked with other students in the Learning Barn on a photosynthesis worksheet.

“Maple sugaring has been a Bell Top tradition for over 25 years,” said Mrs. Lyte. “Students love to participate in the process from tapping the trees, to collecting the sap, and finally watching the evaporation process in the Learning Barn. It is an experience they will never forget!”