Maple Links

2/16/2024

Notes from the Field with evan and Amy

Sap Lab: Chemistry 

Our buckets have been full around here. The sugaring process is underway and as we collect the sap from the maples we have been generating questions that have fueled our science explorations. Namely, why is sap sweet?

Our observations have led us to conclude that sap is mostly water. Using this information we have been creating our own scientific experiments.

Guiding questions from the children: 

Can we make sap using sugar and water?

How much sugar is in sap?

How does sugar dissolve in water?

How is diluting a liquid different than a solid(sugar crystal)?

With those questions in mind we developed hypotheses to test and analyzed our results. This exploration of chemistry has been a fruitful addition to our maple sugaring curriculum. As we use our senses, make predictions, test hypotheses and draw conclusions we are also constructing knowledge about how sugar and water behave. Dilution is a scientific concept that childen usually encounter in the middle grades.  At Randolph School as we work through each step of the process children are able to fully understand how the concentration of sugar in sap is diluted by water AND how evaporation removes water from sap to concentrate the sugars into syrup. This is complex science that we have found a way to weave into the real life work of making maple syrup. We will certainly draw upon this knowledge as we shift from sap collection to evaporation in the coming weeks. 

Maple Math 

We love making maple syrup for so many reasons. Certainly near the top of that list is the way that the process requires our students to apply mathematical skills.  When these skills are embedded in real world scenarios children are not only practicing math skills, they are learning that math is a tool that can help them solve problems. Here sre some of the ways we have incorporated math in our sugaring so far.

Finding Circumference and Diameter

A tree needs a diameter of 11" to support one tap hole. It is not possible to measure a tree's diameter directly. Luckily there is a relationship between circumference and diameter.  You may remember pi(2)(r)=Circumference.

Fo our purposes we find ways to illustrate the ratio between diameter and circumference. It doesn't matter the size of the circle, the circumference will always be equal to about 3 times the diameter. So, if we know the trees circumference, we can divide it by three to approximate its diameter.  Mathematical!

Measuring Capacity and Volume

Sap comes out of the tree looking a lot like water, because that is what it is, mostly. Sap is composed of about 98% water and between 2-3% sugar. Working with this precious liquid is a perfect way to incorporate matematical principles of measuring capacity and volume. As we diligently keep track of the sap that we collect from each bucket we need to be able to measure using 1/4 gallons as our unit. As we collect sap we now have created an opportunity to add equivalent fractions and mixed numbers. 

Mathematical Systems, Data Collection and Graphing

Over the years we have noticed that counting and organizing buckets and numbering trees make for an efficient tapping process. It also allows us to marshall our collective resources as scientific observers and mathematicians because we know that once the trees start flowing our desire to better understand all of the organic and physical phenomena we observe intersecting to produce the miracle of maple sugaring will be boundless. Familiar tools like number lines, charts and tables, and unit blocks all serve to help us ask, measure, record, and answer questions about the diversity of volumes, quantities and ratios related to turning sap into syrup. 

Upstairs Neighborhood Numbering the Buckets

Bug Bunch Charting if the Sap is Dripping or Not

Wolf Spiders Measuring the Sap Using 1/4 Gallons as a Unit

Representing the Sap Data Using Unit Blocks

Egg Graph

While venturing over from our Links gathering spot by the evaporator to check the elder trees around the amphitheater for signs of sap rising we can’t help but notice the chickens carrying on with their regular daily cycles of foraging and roosting, and the log the Neighborhood has been keeping of how many eggs they collect each day became the perfect foundation for a deep dive into what students already know about graphing and how they can use these skills to better understand intriguing things happening in the world around them.

Back in the Stacks with Siobhan

Bug Bunch


For the first time since we moved back into the library space after the pandemic, and since we implemented a digital catalog, the Downstairs kiddos are checking out library books! For the past couple of weeks, they have been practicing choosing books to take home and learning how to check them out on the computer–something that Randolph kids do independently with grown-up help as needed. We are learning about renewing books, placing them on hold, and how to manage feelings when we forgot to return our books. 


Thank you so much to all the Downstairs grown-ups who have reached out, followed up, made sure books got into backpacks, and shared stories about reading library books at home. We are all thrilled that the youngest members of our community get to fully engage with the library in this special way. 

Upstairs Neighborhood


The Neighborhood is just at the beginning of their Black American Heroes project (see last week’s It Happened post for more information). The first step in this project is to identify a hero that each kid would like to learn more about. We’ve been using their library time to read lots of books and research lots of important and notable people. It’s been wonderful so far to see who the kids are drawn to and to help find information about them. Look for updates soon!

Eagles

The Eagles are READING! All year, they have been working hard in phonics, being exposed to lots of books by all the teachers who read to them around campus, and building a practice of independent reading in the library. All of this is paying off in big ways. Recently, the Eagles have been coming to the library in smaller groups and electing to spend nearly all of their time reading independently. Without being prompted, they find a book, cozy up, and read for as long as we’ll let them. They are choosing longer, more complex, and more adventurous books. They are reading to each other and recommending books to each other. They are reading for longer and longer periods of time. It has been such a joy to be a part of this with them and to see the fruits of all their hard work. 


Soon we hope to continue a project around MLK Jr. and Civil Rights, which will involve multiple research methods and reading for information. Stay tuned for news about that as it comes. 

Wolf Spiders


For the past few weeks, the Wolf Spiders have been spending most of their library time reading a book called Killer Underwear Invasion: How to Spot Fake News, Disinformation & Conspiracy Theories by Elise Gravel. It sounds silly (and it definitely is) but is also an excellent primer on the whys and hows of disinformation. We have been learning new words, sharing personal experiences, and digging deep into the topic together. 


During their snack time on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, the Wolf Spiders stay in the library to listen to a super creepy audio series called Origins Unknown. The story is engaging, exciting, and definitely only appropriate for Wolf Spider-aged kiddos. It is also helping us learn about important elements of writing like suspense, character development, and descriptive details. Not everyone likes scary stories, but so far all of the Wolf Spiders are enjoying this one.

As soon as skiing is over for the season, we are going to begin a program we’re calling First Chapter Fridays. Each Friday, we will pick a different genre and read the first chapter of a book from that genre. Sometimes we will read all together and sometimes each kid will choose their own book. We’re looking forward to this as a way to develop our own reading preferences and also to expand them! Stay tuned for updates about this as well. 

Vashti Harrison wins the Caldecott Medal

Every kid in the school got to hear the amazing news that Vashti Harrison won the Caldecott Medal this year, marking the first time it has been awarded to a Black woman. If you haven’t read it at home yet, Big is a beautiful, heartbreaking, and uplifting book with a strong message about self-love and acceptance. We highly recommend it!

Mississippi John Hurt

Something you can hear frequently hummed around campus these days is a song called “Chicken” by blues musician Mississippi John Hurt. (Thanks to Michael for teaching all of us this new favorite.) We’ve been watching a video snippet of the song and lots of photos of Hurt in the library recently. Elizabeth and Evan have been teaching us how to learn by closely examining photographs and we used some of those skills to discover things about Hurt while watching the video.

Inside(and Outside) the Studio with Nina

Photography

We’ve been so lucky in the studio to explore photography with Elizabeth Messer, one of our resident photographers. She joined the Upstairs Neighborhood and Carriage House in the studio to share her knowledge and experience. Kids learned about landscape, still life, and portrait photography, while having a chance to use cameras around the Randolph campus. Elizabeth shared examples of photographs and children discussed what they saw, what they wondered about, and what kind of photo each might be. 


Children were paired up and given a photo assignment- try and capture all three of the types of photos we discussed- landscape, still life, and portrait. They thought about how to set up photos and how to capture the light and their subjects. They collaborated with each other to take interesting shots, made sure everyone got camera time, and created some really amazing photos!

In addition to our guided photography work, Elizabeth helped us set up a camera check out system, so that students can check out a camera anytime during the school day to document something they’re interested in, like maple sugaring work, a Links Friday, a special event or visitor, or even just playground time.  With Elizabeth’s help, we’ve also set up a small photo gallery in the hall of the studio building where we’re sharing these student photos. 

As part of this work we collaboratively came up with a set of camera agreements for using a camera: 

Musical Storytelling with Michael

Linking Sugaring and Storytelling

It has been an exciting time here at the Randolph campus with sap flowing, racoons leaving prints near the evaporator, and exploring songs by Mississippi John Hurt and Lead Belly for Black History Month.

Listening to the sap buckets drip drop is one of my favorite deep listening endeavors. It comes suddenly, when the temperature variation is right, and without a lot of fanfare, yet the kids approach the trees with real excitement and curiosity. When the sap is flowing, we set up our listening station classroom near the tapped trees in the back of our campus.  Working in teams of two, we explore the trees and listen to the rhythm and how the saps sound in the buckets. Each student is responsible for selecting which tree’s sap bucket to listen in on, learning that rhythm and then teaching it to their partner using a simple hand drum. 

It is a wonderful investigation into acoustics, as we link how much sap is in the bucket and how that determines the resonance.  We also talk about learning musical notes via nature, determining the specific notes inside the sap buckets with portable glockenspiels. It is amazing how precise they are in approximating the notes!

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We have also been learning two songs by wonderful Black artists who were contemporaries of Pete Seeger. 

The first is called Chicken, written by the artist Mississippi John Hurt, in the early 20th century. We’ve explored his life and inspirations related to writing music.  We discussed how using lyrics is a tool for self-expression and, in Mississippi John Hurt’s case, necessary self-protection against the overt racism he lived with in the American south.  The lyrics are a balance of play and social commentary.

C is the way we begin

H for the letter Hen

I am the way

C for when the seasons are grey

K Don’t fence me in

E We’re nearly at the end

CHICKEN that’s the way you spell Chicken.

This song instantly became a hit at the school, with our own chickens chiming in on occasion.

We then used this song and its format, to write another song, inspired by the Bug Bunch, and their learning about racoons. We talked about raccoons, the sounds they make, their characteristics, habits, etc and school wide came up with some incredible verses written collectively. 

We also learned a song called ‘Red Bird” by Lead Belly that is very simple lyrically yet provides clear cues within the song for square dancing. We discussed his life and his musical skills, including playing multiple instruments and his use of body percussion.  Using partner dance, we explored ways in which dance and music are so intricately combined.  We investigated how tempo, dynamics and melody help guide the form.

All in all, a wonderful few weeks!

Celebrating the Year of the Dragon

On Thursday, Alaia's mom Lu, Mia's mom and dad Christy and Greg, and Coco's mom Caitlin joined us for a Lunar New Year celebration! We gathered as a community to learn more about the holiday and the Year of the Dragon. We explored crafts together, played games and paraded around our campus. Creating new links around cultural celebrations in our community is an important aspect of our curriculum. We are grateful that our parents are so generous with their time and talents. 

Happy Lunar New Year!