I saw so many different kinds of maples with their twirly parachute seedpods clustered on the tips of the branches. Go out and see how many you can find! Don't forget to take a ruler marked with centimeters, so that you can compare your maple seeds and leaves with the measurements in the chart below...
Here are some that I saw. If you can't get outside, try to identify these...
Trunk of maple with leaves and seedpods above
Notice there are no leaves with these seedpods.
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| Are there always leaves on the branch with the seedpods? |
How many seedpods are usually in a cluster? What color are the seedpods?
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| How does the bark differ on each tree? |
Creative Snack: Did you know that maple syrup comes from maple trees? It is sap, basically the "blood" of the tree, that carries dissolved food to all parts of the tree. Syrup is sap that has been boiled to evaporate the water until the sap gets really thick. Then you can put it on pancakes! Here is a versatile pancake recipe that can be adapted to use whatever ingredients you have available or whatever your favorite ingredients are....
This recipe is adapted from Laurel's Kitchen cookbook and Sheldon's Lunch
Whole Wheat Pancakes
Ingredients: 2 cups whole wheat flour (or spelt flour)
1 teaspoon (t) sea salt
1 t baking soda
2 eggs, slightly beaten, or 2 T arrowroot powder or cornstarch
2 cups milk (non-GMO soy, almond, coconut, yogurt, or buttermilk)
2 Tablespoons (T) non-GMO, no antibiotics or hormones butter, and/or oil (walnut, soy, vegetable, not olive or canola or safflower)
1 pint of blueberries, or 1 cup raisins, grapes, or dried cranberries (preferably fruit juice=sweetened or unsweetened)
Optional: Substitute 1/2 cup rolled oats and/or cornmeal for 1/2 cup of the flour
Optional: Add 1 cup chocolate chips or put on top to make eyes, nose, and mouth, while cooking (dark, Ghirardeli, grain-sweetened, preferably)
and/or 1 cup crushed walnuts or pecans
Optional toppings after finished cooking...
butter
pure maple syrup (Don't forget to refrigerate when done)
peanut butter (without hydrogenated oil)
no-sugar preserves
cinnamon
vanilla yogurt
Instructions: Pre-heat castiron skillet on medium or medium-high. Mix dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients. Add fruits, nuts, and chocolate chips last. Using ladle, pour batter into skillet. When edges are brown, use spatula to turn pancake over. When cooked, place on plate and cover with an overturned plate to keep warm while you cook others. Extras can be wrapped and frozen or kept in fridge until next time you get hungry!
Here is an Internet resource with maple syrup-related readings and activities...
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