Maple Syrup Process

Sap’s Running

by Stephen R. Swinburne

The Coleman brothers—Nelson, Ralph, and Harold—step out their front door in Vermont. They feel the wind. They feel the sun on their faces. “Sap could be running this morning,” says Nelson.

As they pass 75-year-old sugar-maple trees, sap drips from holes in the trees into metal buckets. They know for sure that today will be a good day for sugaring.

Sap from sugar maples looks like water, but tastes sweet. That’s because it has sugar in it. It also contains minerals from the soil. A 50-foot-high sugar maple has nearly two hundred thousand leaves. All these leaves drink in summer sunshine and make sugar. During winter, sugar is stored in the tree. Running sap in the spring contains the sugar that was made in the tree the summer before.

Every spring, the Colemans tap holes into sugar-maple trees, then hang a bucket under each hole to catch the sap. To make syrup, the sap is heated in big open pans so that most of the water will boil away. The Colemans say it takes about thirty-five gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup.

More than a hundred years ago, scientist Charles Darwin wrote that sap flow was a “most mysterious subject.” Since then, many people have studied how sap flows. Much of the research has been done at the University of Vermont, where sap is still being studied.

Nelson Coleman and his brothers have made maple syrup all their lives. It is a family tradition. They don’t worry too much about why the sap is running in their trees this morning. They’re just glad it is.

The Iroquois Legend of Woksis and Maple Syrup

According to legend, an Iroquois chief named Woksis yanked his tomahawk out of a maple tree one spring day. A bowl sat by the trunk of that tree. As the day warmed, sap dripped from the gash into the bowl. When Woksis’s wife saw the sap in the bowl, she thought it was water. She used it to cook their meal. The sap boiled away, leaving maple syrup. When Woksis tasted the sweetened meat, he loved it. So, boiling sap to make maple syrup began.

What Makes Sap Run?

For years, people have thought that sap rises up from the roots of the sugar-maple tree. It doesn’t. “During the time when sap flows from tap holes, the bulk flow of sap is downward,” says Dr. Tim Perkins. He is a scientist at the University of Vermont.

How does sap flow? During cold nights, maple trees freeze solid. That’s when water rises into the trunk and branches. The water forms frost inside tiny hollow spaces within the tree. In the morning, this frost melts and becomes sap, which flows down the tree.

Scientists say that anyone who cuts down a sugar-maple tree in freezing weather can see this is true. When the weather warms up, sap will flow from the cut end of the trunk—not from the stump.

“Sap’s Running” by Stephen R. Swinburne from Highlights for Children. Copyright © 2004 by Highlights for Children, Inc.

1. Which sentence from the passage supports the idea that the Coleman brothers have experience with making maple syrup?

• a. “The Coleman brothers – Nelson, Ralph, and Harold – step out their front door in Vermont.”

• b. “As they pass 75 year old sugar maple trees, sap drips from the holes in the trees into metal buckets.

• c. “Every spring, the Colemans tap holes into sugar-maple trees, then hang a bucket under each hole to catch the sap.”

• d. “They don’t worry too much about why the sap is running in their trees in the morning.”

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Sap’s Running

by Stephen R. Swinburne

The Coleman brothers—Nelson, Ralph, and Harold—step out their front door in Vermont. They feel the wind. They feel the sun on their faces. “Sap could be running this morning,” says Nelson.

As they pass 75-year-old sugar-maple trees, sap drips from holes in the trees into metal buckets. They know for sure that today will be a good day for sugaring.

Sap from sugar maples looks like water, but tastes sweet. That’s because it has sugar in it. It also contains minerals from the soil. A 50-foot-high sugar maple has nearly two hundred thousand leaves. All these leaves drink in summer sunshine and make sugar. During winter, sugar is stored in the tree. Running sap in the spring contains the sugar that was made in the tree the summer before.

Every spring, the Colemans tap holes into sugar-maple trees, then hang a bucket under each hole to catch the sap. To make syrup, the sap is heated in big open pans so that most of the water will boil away. The Colemans say it takes about thirty-five gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup.

More than a hundred years ago, scientist Charles Darwin wrote that sap flow was a “most mysterious subject.” Since then, many people have studied how sap flows. Much of the research has been done at the University of Vermont, where sap is still being studied.

Nelson Coleman and his brothers have made maple syrup all their lives. It is a family tradition. They don’t worry too much about why the sap is running in their trees this morning. They’re just glad it is.

The Iroquois Legend of Woksis and Maple Syrup

According to legend, an Iroquois chief named Woksis yanked his tomahawk out of a maple tree one spring day. A bowl sat by the trunk of that tree. As the day warmed, sap dripped from the gash into the bowl. When Woksis’s wife saw the sap in the bowl, she thought it was water. She used it to cook their meal. The sap boiled away, leaving maple syrup. When Woksis tasted the sweetened meat, he loved it. So, boiling sap to make maple syrup began.

What Makes Sap Run?

For years, people have thought that sap rises up from the roots of the sugar-maple tree. It doesn’t. “During the time when sap flows from tap holes, the bulk flow of sap is downward,” says Dr. Tim Perkins. He is a scientist at the University of Vermont.

How does sap flow? During cold nights, maple trees freeze solid. That’s when water rises into the trunk and branches. The water forms frost inside tiny hollow spaces within the tree. In the morning, this frost melts and becomes sap, which flows down the tree.

Scientists say that anyone who cuts down a sugar-maple tree in freezing weather can see this is true. When the weather warms up, sap will flow from the cut end of the trunk—not from the stump.

“Sap’s Running” by Stephen R. Swinburne from Highlights for Children. Copyright © 2004 by Highlights for Children, Inc.

2. This question has two parts. First, answer part A. Then, answer part B.

Part A

Click on the sentence that gives the best conclusion about sugar-maple trees.

• a. Sugar maple trees grow best in cold weather.

• b. Most sugar maple trees are about 50 feet tall.

• c. The sap in sugar maple trees begins flowing in early spring.

• d. Vermont has the best weather for growing sugar maple trees.

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Sap’s Running

by Stephen R. Swinburne

The Coleman brothers—Nelson, Ralph, and Harold—step out their front door in Vermont. They feel the wind. They feel the sun on their faces. “Sap could be running this morning,” says Nelson.

As they pass 75-year-old sugar-maple trees, sap drips from holes in the trees into metal buckets. They know for sure that today will be a good day for sugaring.

Sap from sugar maples looks like water, but tastes sweet. That’s because it has sugar in it. It also contains minerals from the soil. A 50-foot-high sugar maple has nearly two hundred thousand leaves. All these leaves drink in summer sunshine and make sugar. During winter, sugar is stored in the tree. Running sap in the spring contains the sugar that was made in the tree the summer before.

Every spring, the Colemans tap holes into sugar-maple trees, then hang a bucket under each hole to catch the sap. To make syrup, the sap is heated in big open pans so that most of the water will boil away. The Colemans say it takes about thirty-five gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup.

More than a hundred years ago, scientist Charles Darwin wrote that sap flow was a “most mysterious subject.” Since then, many people have studied how sap flows. Much of the research has been done at the University of Vermont, where sap is still being studied.

Nelson Coleman and his brothers have made maple syrup all their lives. It is a family tradition. They don’t worry too much about why the sap is running in their trees this morning. They’re just glad it is.

The Iroquois Legend of Woksis and Maple Syrup

According to legend, an Iroquois chief named Woksis yanked his tomahawk out of a maple tree one spring day. A bowl sat by the trunk of that tree. As the day warmed, sap dripped from the gash into the bowl. When Woksis’s wife saw the sap in the bowl, she thought it was water. She used it to cook their meal. The sap boiled away, leaving maple syrup. When Woksis tasted the sweetened meat, he loved it. So, boiling sap to make maple syrup began.

What Makes Sap Run?

For years, people have thought that sap rises up from the roots of the sugar-maple tree. It doesn’t. “During the time when sap flows from tap holes, the bulk flow of sap is downward,” says Dr. Tim Perkins. He is a scientist at the University of Vermont.

How does sap flow? During cold nights, maple trees freeze solid. That’s when water rises into the trunk and branches. The water forms frost inside tiny hollow spaces within the tree. In the morning, this frost melts and becomes sap, which flows down the tree.

Scientists say that anyone who cuts down a sugar-maple tree in freezing weather can see this is true. When the weather warms up, sap will flow from the cut end of the trunk—not from the stump.

“Sap’s Running” by Stephen R. Swinburne from Highlights for Children. Copyright © 2004 by Highlights for Children, Inc.

Part B

3.Click on the sentence from the passage that best supports your answer in part A. Choose oneanswer.

• a. A 50-foot-high sugar maple has nearly two hundred thousand leaves.

• b. The Coleman brothers—Nelson, Ralph, and Harold—step out their front door in Vermont.

• c. Scientists say that anyone who cuts down a sugar-maple tree in freezing weather can see this is true.

• d. Every spring, the Colemans tap holes into the sugar-maple trees, then hang a bucket under each hole to catch the sap.

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Sap’s Running

by Stephen R. Swinburne

The Coleman brothers—Nelson, Ralph, and Harold—step out their front door in Vermont. They feel the wind. They feel the sun on their faces. “Sap could be running this morning,” says Nelson.

As they pass 75-year-old sugar-maple trees, sap drips from holes in the trees into metal buckets. They know for sure that today will be a good day for sugaring.

Sap from sugar maples looks like water, but tastes sweet. That’s because it has sugar in it. It also contains minerals from the soil. A 50-foot-high sugar maple has nearly two hundred thousand leaves. All these leaves drink in summer sunshine and make sugar. During winter, sugar is stored in the tree. Running sap in the spring contains the sugar that was made in the tree the summer before.

Every spring, the Colemans tap holes into sugar-maple trees, then hang a bucket under each hole to catch the sap. To make syrup, the sap is heated in big open pans so that most of the water will boil away. The Colemans say it takes about thirty-five gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup.

More than a hundred years ago, scientist Charles Darwin wrote that sap flow was a “most mysterious subject.” Since then, many people have studied how sap flows. Much of the research has been done at the University of Vermont, where sap is still being studied.

Nelson Coleman and his brothers have made maple syrup all their lives. It is a family tradition. They don’t worry too much about why the sap is running in their trees this morning. They’re just glad it is.

The Iroquois Legend of Woksis and Maple Syrup

According to legend, an Iroquois chief named Woksis yanked his tomahawk out of a maple tree one spring day. A bowl sat by the trunk of that tree. As the day warmed, sap dripped from the gash into the bowl. When Woksis’s wife saw the sap in the bowl, she thought it was water. She used it to cook their meal. The sap boiled away, leaving maple syrup. When Woksis tasted the sweetened meat, he loved it. So, boiling sap to make maple syrup began.

What Makes Sap Run?

For years, people have thought that sap rises up from the roots of the sugar-maple tree. It doesn’t. “During the time when sap flows from tap holes, the bulk flow of sap is downward,” says Dr. Tim Perkins. He is a scientist at the University of Vermont.

How does sap flow? During cold nights, maple trees freeze solid. That’s when water rises into the trunk and branches. The water forms frost inside tiny hollow spaces within the tree. In the morning, this frost melts and becomes sap, which flows down the tree.

Scientists say that anyone who cuts down a sugar-maple tree in freezing weather can see this is true. When the weather warms up, sap will flow from the cut end of the trunk—not from the stump.

“Sap’s Running” by Stephen R. Swinburne from Highlights for Children. Copyright © 2004 by Highlights for Children, Inc.

4. Read the sentences from the passage.

More than a hundred years ago, scientist Charles Darwin wrote that sap flow was a "most mysterious subject." Since then, many people have studied how sap flows. Much of the research has been done at the University of Vermont, where sap is still being studied.

What does this paragraph show about the author's point of view?

• a. He believes that no one will ever be able to solve the mystery of how sap flows.

• b. He believes the way sap is turned into syrup is difficult to understand and the University helps.

• c. He believes the way sap is formed and how it runs is still being studied at the University of Vermont.

• d. He believes that Charles Darwin would have been able to help the University in figuring out how sap runs

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Sap’s Running

by Stephen R. Swinburne

The Coleman brothers—Nelson, Ralph, and Harold—step out their front door in Vermont. They feel the wind. They feel the sun on their faces. “Sap could be running this morning,” says Nelson.

As they pass 75-year-old sugar-maple trees, sap drips from holes in the trees into metal buckets. They know for sure that today will be a good day for sugaring.

Sap from sugar maples looks like water, but tastes sweet. That’s because it has sugar in it. It also contains minerals from the soil. A 50-foot-high sugar maple has nearly two hundred thousand leaves. All these leaves drink in summer sunshine and make sugar. During winter, sugar is stored in the tree. Running sap in the spring contains the sugar that was made in the tree the summer before.

Every spring, the Colemans tap holes into sugar-maple trees, then hang a bucket under each hole to catch the sap. To make syrup, the sap is heated in big open pans so that most of the water will boil away. The Colemans say it takes about thirty-five gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup.

More than a hundred years ago, scientist Charles Darwin wrote that sap flow was a “most mysterious subject.” Since then, many people have studied how sap flows. Much of the research has been done at the University of Vermont, where sap is still being studied.

Nelson Coleman and his brothers have made maple syrup all their lives. It is a family tradition. They don’t worry too much about why the sap is running in their trees this morning. They’re just glad it is.

The Iroquois Legend of Woksis and Maple Syrup

According to legend, an Iroquois chief named Woksis yanked his tomahawk out of a maple tree one spring day. A bowl sat by the trunk of that tree. As the day warmed, sap dripped from the gash into the bowl. When Woksis’s wife saw the sap in the bowl, she thought it was water. She used it to cook their meal. The sap boiled away, leaving maple syrup. When Woksis tasted the sweetened meat, he loved it. So, boiling sap to make maple syrup began.

What Makes Sap Run?

For years, people have thought that sap rises up from the roots of the sugar-maple tree. It doesn’t. “During the time when sap flows from tap holes, the bulk flow of sap is downward,” says Dr. Tim Perkins. He is a scientist at the University of Vermont.

How does sap flow? During cold nights, maple trees freeze solid. That’s when water rises into the trunk and branches. The water forms frost inside tiny hollow spaces within the tree. In the morning, this frost melts and becomes sap, which flows down the tree.

Scientists say that anyone who cuts down a sugar-maple tree in freezing weather can see this is true. When the weather warms up, sap will flow from the cut end of the trunk—not from the stump.

“Sap’s Running” by Stephen R. Swinburne from Highlights for Children. Copyright © 2004 by Highlights for Children, Inc.

5. What is the most likely reason the author included the legend in the passage? Pick two choices.

• a. To make the idea of tasting sap seem fun

  b. To provide details about the Iroquois way of life

• c. To explain how people discovered how to make syrup

  d. To show sap has been used to make syrup for many years.

• e. To provide information that shows that sap is a good sweetener for food

  f. To show how the Iroquois used to make syrup and how syrup is made today

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Sap’s Running

by Stephen R. Swinburne

The Coleman brothers—Nelson, Ralph, and Harold—step out their front door in Vermont. They feel the wind. They feel the sun on their faces. “Sap could be running this morning,” says Nelson.

As they pass 75-year-old sugar-maple trees, sap drips from holes in the trees into metal buckets. They know for sure that today will be a good day for sugaring.

Sap from sugar maples looks like water, but tastes sweet. That’s because it has sugar in it. It also contains minerals from the soil. A 50-foot-high sugar maple has nearly two hundred thousand leaves. All these leaves drink in summer sunshine and make sugar. During winter, sugar is stored in the tree. Running sap in the spring contains the sugar that was made in the tree the summer before.

Every spring, the Colemans tap holes into sugar-maple trees, then hang a bucket under each hole to catch the sap. To make syrup, the sap is heated in big open pans so that most of the water will boil away. The Colemans say it takes about thirty-five gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup.

More than a hundred years ago, scientist Charles Darwin wrote that sap flow was a “most mysterious subject.” Since then, many people have studied how sap flows. Much of the research has been done at the University of Vermont, where sap is still being studied.

Nelson Coleman and his brothers have made maple syrup all their lives. It is a family tradition. They don’t worry too much about why the sap is running in their trees this morning. They’re just glad it is.

The Iroquois Legend of Woksis and Maple Syrup

According to legend, an Iroquois chief named Woksis yanked his tomahawk out of a maple tree one spring day. A bowl sat by the trunk of that tree. As the day warmed, sap dripped from the gash into the bowl. When Woksis’s wife saw the sap in the bowl, she thought it was water. She used it to cook their meal. The sap boiled away, leaving maple syrup. When Woksis tasted the sweetened meat, he loved it. So, boiling sap to make maple syrup began.

What Makes Sap Run?

For years, people have thought that sap rises up from the roots of the sugar-maple tree. It doesn’t. “During the time when sap flows from tap holes, the bulk flow of sap is downward,” says Dr. Tim Perkins. He is a scientist at the University of Vermont.

How does sap flow? During cold nights, maple trees freeze solid. That’s when water rises into the trunk and branches. The water forms frost inside tiny hollow spaces within the tree. In the morning, this frost melts and becomes sap, which flows down the tree.

Scientists say that anyone who cuts down a sugar-maple tree in freezing weather can see this is true. When the weather warms up, sap will flow from the cut end of the trunk—not from the stump.

“Sap’s Running” by Stephen R. Swinburne from Highlights for Children. Copyright © 2004 by Highlights for Children, Inc.

6. Read the sentences from the passage.

Nelson Coleman and his brothers have made maple syrup all their lives. It is a family tradition.

What is a family tradition?

• a. The way that some families act

• b. A breakfast food that a family eats

• c. A place where a family likes to go together

• d. Something that a family does year after year

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Sap’s Running

by Stephen R. Swinburne

The Coleman brothers—Nelson, Ralph, and Harold—step out their front door in Vermont. They feel the wind. They feel the sun on their faces. “Sap could be running this morning,” says Nelson.

As they pass 75-year-old sugar-maple trees, sap drips from holes in the trees into metal buckets. They know for sure that today will be a good day for sugaring.

Sap from sugar maples looks like water, but tastes sweet. That’s because it has sugar in it. It also contains minerals from the soil. A 50-foot-high sugar maple has nearly two hundred thousand leaves. All these leaves drink in summer sunshine and make sugar. During winter, sugar is stored in the tree. Running sap in the spring contains the sugar that was made in the tree the summer before.

Every spring, the Colemans tap holes into sugar-maple trees, then hang a bucket under each hole to catch the sap. To make syrup, the sap is heated in big open pans so that most of the water will boil away. The Colemans say it takes about thirty-five gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup.

More than a hundred years ago, scientist Charles Darwin wrote that sap flow was a “most mysterious subject.” Since then, many people have studied how sap flows. Much of the research has been done at the University of Vermont, where sap is still being studied.

Nelson Coleman and his brothers have made maple syrup all their lives. It is a family tradition. They don’t worry too much about why the sap is running in their trees this morning. They’re just glad it is.

The Iroquois Legend of Woksis and Maple Syrup

According to legend, an Iroquois chief named Woksis yanked his tomahawk out of a maple tree one spring day. A bowl sat by the trunk of that tree. As the day warmed, sap dripped from the gash into the bowl. When Woksis’s wife saw the sap in the bowl, she thought it was water. She used it to cook their meal. The sap boiled away, leaving maple syrup. When Woksis tasted the sweetened meat, he loved it. So, boiling sap to make maple syrup began.

What Makes Sap Run?

For years, people have thought that sap rises up from the roots of the sugar-maple tree. It doesn’t. “During the time when sap flows from tap holes, the bulk flow of sap is downward,” says Dr. Tim Perkins. He is a scientist at the University of Vermont.

How does sap flow?

During cold nights, maple trees freeze solid. That’s when water rises into the trunk and branches. The water forms frost inside tiny hollow spaces within the tree. In the morning, this frost melts and becomes sap, which flows down the tree.

Scientists say that anyone who cuts down a sugar-maple tree in freezing weather can see this is true. When the weather warms up, sap will flow from the cut end of the trunk—not from the stump.

“Sap’s Running” by Stephen R. Swinburne from Highlights for Children. Copyright © 2004 by Highlights for Children, Inc.

7. Read the sentence from the passage.

All these leaves drink in summer sunshine and make sugar.

Which statement best describes what this sentence means?

• a. Leaves grow larger in the summer

• b. Leaves use sunlight to make sugar

• c. Summer is the best time to collect sugar

• d. Trees with many leaves make more sugar.

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