[♪ INTRO]
Mmm!
These pancakes are delicious, Squeaks!
And look, I brought our favorite pancake topping.
[Squeaks squeaks]
Yup, maple syrup, nice and sweet.
I found someone selling maple syrup that they had made from their maple trees,
so I bought some for us to share.
[Squeaks squeaks]
Oh, you have a question, buddy?
[Squeaks squeaks]
Oh yeah - that’s a really good question.
How did they get the maple syrup out of the trees?
Making maple syrup is a little more complicated
than just scooping syrup out of the tree.
Do you remember what maple trees look like, Squeaks?
[Squeaks squeaks]
Yeah!
They do have really pretty leaves!
Maple leaves are famous - they’re even on the flag of Canada.
During the summer, maple leaves are busy making food for their tree
to help it grow and survive.
The big leaves use air, water, and sunlight to make a special type of food,
and you like this food, too, Squeaks!
Trees need to make sugar!
[Squeaks squeaks]
Those beautiful maple leaves create sugar that the tree uses to grow
and stay strong, just like how our food helps us to grow and stay strong.
To help the sugar move around to different parts of the tree,
the sugar is mixed up with a bunch of water, so it can flow easily
through the different parts of the tree.
That sugar-water mixture is called sap, and it looks just like water,
but tastes a tiny bit sweet.
The sap moves the sugar around, a little bit like blood moves around inside your body.
[Squeaks squeaks]
Maple sap is actually what people use to make maple syrup,
but we have to wait for a special time of year to get the sap out of the tree.
During the colder months, the tree’s food is stored away inside the tree,
ready to be used in spring for the tree to grow.
Because the sap is stored inside the tree, we have to wait until the sap
is running to pull it out of the tree’s trunk.
[Squeaks squeaks]
Oh, no, the sap doesn’t grow legs and run away, Squeaks.
We say that the sap is running when it begins to move
up and down the tree in early spring.
When winter is changing into spring, it’s time for the trees to start
growing new leaves.
When the nights are cold enough that the sap freezes into ice
and the days are warm enough that the icy sap melts,
maple trees are able to start pumping sugary sap to their branches.
This temperature change makes the sap move up and down the trunk.
This sap looks like it’s running through the tree - up up up during cold nights,
and down down down during warm days.
As the sap runs up and down, it’s the perfect time to collect sap from the tree trunk.
To get the sap out, people tap the tree.
They drill a small hole into the trunk of the three,
and a short spout is placed in the hole.
As the sap runs up and down the trunk, some of it goes through the hole,
and out the spout.
The sap can be caught by a bucket underneath the spout, or funneled down
a long set of tubes to be caught in big barrels.
[Squeaks squeaks]
Oh!
It’s not syrup quite yet, Squeaks.
Syrup-makers gather as much sap as they can, making sure to leave plenty for
the trees to keep growing, and they put it in a giant pan called an evaporator to boil.
As the sap boils, a lot of the water in the sap evaporates,
or floats away in the air as water vapor.
The remaining sap gets thicker, sweeter, stickier,
and it turns a beautiful brown as the sugars inside heat up.
Eventually, it turns into…
[Squeaks squeaks]
Right, maple syrup!
Maple-syrup makers have to work very hard to gather enough sap, boil it just right,
and take care of all of the maple trees that help make our favorite syrup.
[Squeaks squeaks]
Oh I agree, Squeaks!
Thank you so much maple trees.
And now it’s time to eat some of this delicious maple syrup
and finish off these pancakes.
[Squeaks squeaks]
Do you have maple trees where you live?
Are there other plants preparing for spring or helping provide tasty foods
for you to eat?
Have fun exploring, and remember, if you would like to keep learning
and discovering new things with me, Squeaks, and all of our friends,
make sure to click the subscribe button.
And we’ll see you next time here at the Fort.
[Squeaks squeaks]
[♪ OUTRO]