This spring Hermantown Elementary students participated in the schools first ever Sugarbush. A Sugarbush is the process of making maple syrup from start to finish. Every student played a part in the great event.
Through this unit, we took a deep dive into Ojibwe culture, language and life. We learned the process and how to show respect for nature from reading the Ojibwe story of the Sugarbush. We would like to thank Fond Du Lac schools for showing us their process and helping us get this first year going.
To make this event even better we were lucky to have many helpful volunteers, it was great to have parents come to the Sugarbush to experience this with their kids. Here is a quick list of what the students did.
All K-4 students participated in tapping, collecting, & the boiling process. All students were also introduced to the Ojibwe language with some of the basic language of the Sugarbush camp.
4th Grade (Bakker’s class): Created a digital thermometer using a Micro Bit Device for Mr. Borak to use with all of his students. They also helped program 2 devices that digital track and log weather patterns. Mrs. Bakker’s class has been tracking, analyzing and graphing temperature patterns in relation to the maple syruping process.
HS Computer Science class - students participated in an app design process to create an app to document sap collection. This app included data points for weather, time, date, gallons,
Thank you to: The individuals that donated the ES evaporator & wood supply, Fond Du Lac Schools for sharing their Sugarbush knowledge, Mrs. Bakker’s 4th Grade class, HS Essentials of Computer Science students, our partners from NCCSE at the College of St. Scholastica, all of the parent volunteers and of course all of the elementary students for their hard work and efforts!