Overview

Lesson Procedure

55-65 minutes of class time across 5 phases.

1. Warm-Up5-10 minutes
2. Direct Instruction15 minutes
3. Guided Practice15 minutes
4. Independent Practice15 minutes
5. Closure5-10 minutes

1. Warm-Up5-10 minutes

   Warm-Up Prompt

   "A weather app says, 'Rain likely this afternoon,' and next to the words it shows a chart of the chance of rain for every hour. What can you learn from the chart that the words do not tell you? What do the words tell you faster?"

   Take several answers. Students usually notice that the chart tells when the rain is most likely and how likely, while the words give the main message at a glance. Name what they just did: they integrated two formats, words and a chart, to get a fuller answer than either one gives. Tell students that RI.6.7 asks them to do this with texts, graphs, tables and diagrams about one topic, and to put the pieces together into one explanation that fits all of them.

2. Direct Instruction15 minutes

   Teach the terms and leave them on the board:

   • Format: the form information takes, such as a paragraph, a table, a graph or a diagram. The standard also says media, the ways information is delivered, such as print, video or a website.
   • Visual information is shown in pictures, diagrams and graphs. Quantitative information is given in numbers: counts, measurements and amounts.
   • Line graph: points joined by lines, good for showing change over time. Bar graph: bars whose lengths show amounts, good for comparing. Table: numbers in rows and columns, good for exact values.
   • Scale: the numbers along the side of a graph, with equal steps. Drawn to scale means equal amounts always take up equal space.
   • Integrate: combine information from different formats into one explanation. Coherent: fitting together, with no part that contradicts another.

   Introduce the topic. Maple syrup is made from the sap of sugar maple trees, a watery liquid that flows inside the tree. In early spring, sugar makers drill small holes in the trees, called tapping, and collect the sap that drips out. Then they boil it until most of the water is gone. Passage 1 comes from a booklet written in 1912 by Vermont sugar makers. Words to know: sugar camp (the place in the woods where sap is gathered and boiled), teams (horses or oxen that pull a sled), break roads (pack down a path through the snow), bit (the part of a drill that makes the hole), diameter (the width of a circle), spout (a short tube that carries the sap into the bucket), grove (a group of trees), apparatus (equipment), evaporator (a large pan for boiling sap), compartment (one section of the pan) and dense (thick). Read Passage 1 aloud. Then show Diagram 1 and Table 1: the same invented data about one sugar camp, shown in two formats.

   1Along in March of each year, the farmer begins to watch the weather for signs of spring and conditions favorable to a flow of sap. It can only be obtained for a period of a few weeks in the spring, and on certain days when the weather conditions are favorable. Snow usually lays on the ground when the sugarmaker begins his operations in the sugar camp. The first step is to break roads in the soft and thawing snow, so that the teams can get about and gather the sap. This breaking roads is often no light task as the snow oftentimes has icy crusts beneath the surface. After the oxen or horses have been over the road several times and they have become somewhat passable, the buckets are distributed one or two to a tree and the sugar maker goes about his grove tapping them by boring a hole with a bit three-eighths to one-half inch in diameter and two or three feet from the ground as the snow will permit; in this hole he drives a spout that conveys the sap to the bucket, and on which the bucket usually hangs.

   2When the sugar maker has finished tapping his trees he is ready for a flow of sap. Sometimes it comes at once and then again the weather may turn suddenly cold and for a week or ten days there is nothing doing in the sugar camp; meantime he can get his boiling apparatus in readiness and perhaps get a little more wood.

   3But spring will come sooner or later and there is bound to be a rush of sap. Then comes the busy time in the camp; the men and boys gather the sap with oxen and horses. This is usually done with a tank holding from 20 to 40 pails on a sled and drawn to the sugar house and stored in tanks from which in turn it flows to the boiling pan or evaporator; the flow from the storage tank being regulated by feeders which keeps the boiling sap in the evaporator constantly at the same level. The sap as it boils passes from one compartment to another becoming more dense and sweeter until it reaches the syruping off pan, where it is drawn off in the form of syrup.

   Table 1: ten days at a sugar camp with 100 taps (invented data)

   Date	Overnight low (°F)	Afternoon high (°F)	Sap collected (gallons)
   Mar 10	20	28	0
   Mar 11	18	30	0
   Mar 12	22	41	60
   Mar 13	25	45	90
   Mar 14	27	43	80
   Mar 15	34	50	15
   Mar 16	36	52	5
   Mar 17	24	38	50
   Mar 18	21	44	85
   Mar 19	16	27	0

   • Words and a graph show the same thing

     Passage 1 warns that "the weather may turn suddenly cold and for a week or ten days there is nothing doing in the sugar camp" (paragraph 2). Where does Diagram 1 show this?

     Result: On March 10 and 11, the afternoon highs were 28°F and 30°F, below the red freezing line, and the sap bars are at 0 gallons. The words tell us that cold weather stops the sap; the graph shows exactly how cold and how complete the stop was. Together they say: when the temperature stays below freezing all day, no sap runs.

   • The graph adds what the words leave out

     Passage 1 says sap can be had only "on certain days when the weather conditions are favorable" (paragraph 1), but it never says what those conditions are. What do Diagram 1 and Table 1 add for March 12-14?

     Result: On March 12, 13 and 14, the overnight lows were 22°F, 25°F and 27°F, below freezing, and the afternoon highs were 41°F, 45°F and 43°F, above freezing. The camp collected 60, 90 and 80 gallons. So the "favorable" days in this data were days after a freezing night that warmed above freezing. The words give the idea; the numbers make it exact. (Scientists explain the pattern this way: a freezing night draws water up into the tree, and a warm day builds pressure inside the trunk that pushes sap out of the tap hole.)

   • Numbers give the words a size

     Passage 1 says that when spring comes, "there is bound to be a rush of sap" (paragraph 3). How big is a rush? Use Table 1.

     Result: The words say only "a rush." The table puts a number on it: on the best day, 100 taps gave 90 gallons, almost a gallon from each tap in one day. The words also tell us what a rush meant for the people: "Then comes the busy time in the camp." A coherent summary uses both: "A rush of sap can bring in close to a gallon per tap in a single day, and everyone has to work to gather and boil it."

   • Choosing a format

     Paragraph 3 of Passage 1 describes the path of the sap: gathered with "a tank [...] on a sled," "drawn to the sugar house and stored in tanks," then into "the boiling pan or evaporator," through one "compartment to another," until it reaches "the syruping off pan." What format would make this clearer?

     Result: A flowchart, a diagram of boxes joined by arrows: bucket, tank on the sled, storage tank, evaporator, syruping off pan, syrup. The long sentence asks readers to hold six steps in their heads; the flowchart lets them see the order at once. The words still matter, because they explain details a flowchart leaves out, such as the "feeders" that keep the sap "constantly at the same level."

   Read, match, combine. Model the routine with the examples: (1) read the words and say what they claim or describe; (2) find the part of the graph, diagram or table about the same thing, and read its title, labels, scale and units; (3) combine: write one sentence that uses a fact from each and names both sources. Point out that Diagram 1 and Table 1 hold the same numbers: the graph shows the pattern at a glance, and the table gives exact values. Give students a frame: "Passage ___ says ___. Diagram / Table ___ shows ___. Together they show that ___."

3. Guided Practice15 minutes

   Read Passage 2 aloud: an informational article written for this page. Its facts about sap and syrup are real; Ellen Hart and her sugarhouse are invented. Words to know: percent (parts out of 100), rule of thumb (a quick way to estimate that is close enough for everyday use) and sugarhouse (the building where sap is boiled). Then pairs study Table 2 and answer the three questions below, writing one "Together they show" sentence for each. Teacher notes:

   1Sap from a sugar maple looks like water, and it tastes only a little sweet. That is because sap is mostly water. In a typical tree, only about 2 parts of every 100 parts of sap are sugar. In other words, sap is about 2 percent sugar.

   2To turn sap into syrup, a sugar maker boils away most of the water. Finished syrup is about two-thirds sugar, so a lot of water has to go. For sap that is 2 percent sugar, it takes about 43 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup. Sugar makers often round this to "about 40 to 1."

   3Not all sap is the same. Sap from some trees, or on some days, is sweeter than sap from others. Sugar makers use a rule of thumb called the Rule of 86: divide 86 by the percent of sugar in the sap, and the answer is about how many gallons of sap it takes to make 1 gallon of syrup. Table 2 shows the rule for five kinds of sap.

   4A tap hole gives about 10 gallons of sap in an average season. Ellen Hart, who runs a small sugarhouse, hangs 250 buckets. "People are surprised," she says, "that one bucket, all season long, gives us only about a quart of syrup."

   5That is one reason real maple syrup costs more than pancake syrup made from corn syrup. Every gallon on the store shelf began as dozens of gallons of sap.

   Table 2: the Rule of 86 (gallons of sap = 86 divided by the percent of sugar, rounded)

   Sugar in the sap	Gallons of sap for 1 gallon of syrup
   1.5 percent	57
   2 percent	43
   2.5 percent	34
   3 percent	29
   3.5 percent	25

   1. What does the table add? Paragraph 2 gives one case: "For sap that is 2 percent sugar, it takes about 43 gallons." What does Table 2 show that the paragraph does not? Teacher note: the table shows the pattern across five kinds of sap: the sweeter the sap, the fewer gallons it takes, from 57 gallons for 1.5 percent sap down to 25 gallons for 3.5 percent sap. The words give the rule; the table shows what the rule does.
   2. Combine words and numbers. About how much syrup can Ellen Hart make in an average season if her sap is 2 percent sugar? Teacher note: the words give two facts, "250 buckets" and "about 10 gallons of sap" per tap hole in a season, so 250 × 10 = 2,500 gallons of sap. Table 2 gives 43 gallons of sap per gallon of syrup, and 2,500 ÷ 43 is about 58 gallons of syrup. No single source holds this answer.
   3. Check that it fits. Does Ellen's saying, "one bucket, all season long, gives us only about a quart of syrup," agree with the rest of the passage? Teacher note: 58 gallons shared among 250 buckets is about 0.23 gallon per bucket, and 1 gallon is 4 quarts, so that is just under 1 quart. The quotation, the numbers and the table fit together: that is what a coherent understanding looks like.
4. Independent Practice15 minutes

   Students read Passage 3 on their own, from the same 1912 booklet, and study Diagram 2, which places every temperature in the passage on one thermometer drawn to scale. Then they answer the quiz with Passages 1-3, Tables 1 and 2 and both diagrams in front of them. Words to know: density (how thick and heavy a liquid is for its size), net (not counting the container), graduated (marked with a scale), altitude (height above sea level), air pressure (the push of the air around us, which is lower in high places), arch (the brick or iron firebox under a boiling pan), sugaring off (boiling syrup further until it turns into sugar), scorch (burn slightly) and waxed sugar (the chewy candy that forms when hot syrup is poured on snow).

   1The right density can be determined by a thermometer or the skilled operator can tell by the way the syrup "leather aprons" from the edge of the dipper. If the thermometer is used a temperature of 219° F. will give a syrup that will weigh eleven pounds to the gallon net. It must be remembered, however, that the thermometers are graduated at the sea level, and as the altitude increases a lower temperature will give the same result on account of the reduced air pressure. An allowance of 1° for every 500 feet rise has been found to be about right; thus at an altitude of 1,000 feet a boiling temperature of 217°F. will give the 11 pounds syrup.

   [...]

   2Nothing has as yet been said about sugaring off, but this is a process by itself and comes after we get the syrup. Anyone who has maple syrup can sugar off, as the saying is, or convert the syrup to sugar by boiling it.

   3In the sugar camp the sugaring off is usually done in a deep pan on a separate arch, as the boiling sugar has a tendency to boil over unless constantly watched. The size of the pan depends on the form of product to be made. If the sugar is to be put in tin pails or wood tubs it can be handled in lots of 100 pounds or more; this would require a pan 12 inches high, 2 feet wide and 4 feet long. For shipping long distances or to hot climates the sugar should be cooked down to a density of 240° to 245°F. Great care is necessary however, not to burn or scorch the sugar when cooked to so high a temperature. For ordinary purposes if the sugar is to be used soon after it is made a temperature of 235° to 238° is high enough.

   [...]

   4There is another form of sugar, and no sugar party is complete without it, that is sugar on snow or ice. Boil the syrup down a little past 230°, cool it and put on snow with the spoon. When cooled, the waxed sugar eaten with an occasional plain doughnut and now and then a pickle is a pleasure long to be remembered and a banquet fit for a King.

5. Closure5-10 minutes

   Exit ticket: (1) Name one thing you learned from a graph or table today that the words did not say. (2) Name one thing the words told you that no graph or table on the page could show.

   Teacher note on the sources and the facts. Passages 1 and 3 come from a 1912 booklet that Vermont sugar makers wrote partly to sell their product, so it praises Vermont maple sugar; the facts in these excerpts match what sugar makers still teach: sap runs in early spring, finished syrup weighs about 11 pounds per gallon, and syrup is finished at a slightly lower temperature on a high hill than at sea level. Its mention of "the men and boys" reflects who did the work on many farms at the time. Passage 2's facts are real (sap averages about 2 percent sugar, and the Rule of 86 is a rule of thumb sugar makers use); its sugar maker is invented. Diagram 1, Table 1, Passage 4 and Table 3 are invented and labeled that way; their numbers were chosen to be realistic, with about 10 gallons of sap per tap in a season. Vermont is still the leading maple syrup state in the United States. Boiling sap and syrup is hot work: any classroom demonstration of sugar on snow should be done by an adult.

   For homework: students read Passage 4, a report by a sixth grader about her family's sugar season, written for this page, and study Table 3. Words to know: sugarbush (a grove of maple trees tapped for sap), runs (periods when sap flows fast), buds (the small swellings on a branch that open into leaves) and off-flavored (tasting wrong).

   1My family has a small sugarbush, which is what sugar makers call a grove of maple trees tapped for sap. This spring we hung 200 buckets. Table 3 shows how much sap we gathered each week and how much syrup we made.

   2The season started slowly. The first week of March was cold, and on most days the sap barely dripped. Then the weather changed. In the second week, almost every night dropped below freezing and almost every afternoon warmed up into the 40s. We could hardly empty the buckets fast enough, and my dad boiled until midnight three nights in a row.

   3After that, the runs got smaller. In the last week, the nights stayed warm and the buds on the maples began to swell. The sap turned cloudy, and the syrup started to taste bitter, so we pulled the taps. Sugar makers call this late, off-flavored sap "buddy."

   4Our sap was about 2 percent sugar all season. My dad says we made almost a quart of syrup for every bucket, which is about average.

   Table 3: one family's sugar season, 200 buckets (invented data)

   Week	Dates	Sap gathered (gallons)	Syrup made (gallons)
   Week 1	Mar 1-7	220	5
   Week 2	Mar 8-14	610	14
   Week 3	Mar 15-21	520	12
   Week 4	Mar 22-28	390	9
   Week 5	Mar 29-Apr 4	180	4
   Total	Mar 1-Apr 4	1,920	44

Differentiation Strategies

Assessment Guidance

1. Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   What does it mean to integrate information from a text and a graph?

   ATo choose whichever of the two sources seems easier and use only that one BTo copy every number from the graph into the text word for word CTo check that the graph and the text use exactly the same words DTo combine facts from both into one explanation that fits them both

2. Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   A student wants to show how the temperature changed every day for two weeks in March. Which format fits best?

   AA line graph of the temperature, with one point for each day BA map that shows the town where the temperatures were measured CA single sentence giving the warmest temperature of the two weeks DA flowchart with arrows that show how thermometers are made

3. Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In Diagram 1, the camp collected only 15 gallons of sap on March 15 and 5 gallons on March 16, after 80 gallons on March 14. What do the temperatures on the graph show about those two days?

   AThe afternoons stayed below freezing, so the sap stayed frozen in the trees BThe nights stayed above freezing, with lows of 34°F and 36°F CThe temperature was exactly the same as on March 14 on both days DThe graph shows no temperatures for March 15 and 16

4. Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   According to Diagram 1, how many gallons of sap did the camp collect in all over the ten days?

   A90 gallons B385 gallons C398 gallons D7 gallons

5. Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Passage 2 says that sap which is 2 percent sugar takes about 43 gallons to make 1 gallon of syrup. If the sap collected on March 13 in Diagram 1 was 2 percent sugar, about how much syrup could it make?

   AAbout 90 gallons, since boiling does not change the amount BAbout 43 gallons, the number given in Passage 2 CAbout 2 gallons, by dividing 90 gallons by 43 DAbout 3,870 gallons, by multiplying 90 by 43

6. Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Passage 1 says the sugar maker taps the trees "by boring a hole with a bit three-eighths to one-half inch in diameter and two or three feet from the ground" (paragraph 1). Which visual would present this information most clearly?

   AA pie chart showing what share of the trees in the grove were tapped BA photograph of a full bucket of sap taken from far across the grove CA labeled drawing of the hole's width and its height on the trunk DA line graph of how much sap each tree gave over the whole season

7. Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   A sugar maker tests her sap and finds it is 3.5 percent sugar. Using Table 2, about how many gallons of sap does she need to make 4 gallons of syrup?

   AAbout 25 gallons BAbout 14 gallons CAbout 344 gallons DAbout 100 gallons

8. Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Passage 3 says syrup is done at "219° F." at sea level. Diagram 2 adds that water boils at 212°F at sea level. How many degrees above the boiling point of water is the syrup finished?

   A5 degrees B7 degrees C219 degrees D431 degrees

9. Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Passage 3 gives a rule: "An allowance of 1° for every 500 feet rise has been found to be about right." Diagram 2 shows syrup done at 219°F at sea level and 217°F at 1,000 feet. At what temperature should a sugar maker 2,000 feet up stop boiling?

   A219°F B217°F C223°F D215°F

10. Question 10 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    According to Passage 3 and Diagram 2, which product is cooked to the highest temperature, and why?

    ASugar for shipping long distances or to hot climates, cooked to 240° to 245°F BSugar on snow, cooked a little past 230°F so it can be eaten with doughnuts CSyrup at sea level, cooked to 219°F so it weighs eleven pounds to the gallon DSugar to be used soon, cooked to 235° to 238°F in a deep pan on a separate arch

11. Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Why is the 217°F mark below the 219°F mark on Diagram 2, when both are labeled as finished syrup?

    ABecause syrup finished at 217°F is a lower grade that weighs less than eleven pounds a gallon BBecause at 1,000 feet the lower air pressure lets a lower temperature make the same syrup CBecause the thermometer in Diagram 2 is not drawn to scale near the bottom DBecause sugar makers boil faster at 1,000 feet and stop the fire sooner

12. Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Which piece of information does Diagram 2 give that Passage 3 does not?

    AThe temperature at which sugar on snow is ready to cool BThe temperature of finished syrup at sea level CThe temperature at which water boils at sea level DThe size of the pan needed for 100 pounds of sugar

13. Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Which piece of information does Passage 3 give that Diagram 2 cannot show?

    AThat a skilled maker can judge syrup by how it "leather aprons" off the dipper BThat sugar for shipping far away is cooked hotter than sugar that will be used soon CThat 217°F, the mark for 1,000 feet, is a lower temperature than 219°F DThat sugar on snow is boiled a little past 230°F

14. Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Passage 3 says the pan for 100 pounds of sugar is "12 inches high, 2 feet wide and 4 feet long." A student draws the pan to scale. Which drawing is correct?

    AA box 4 feet long, 2 feet wide and 12 feet high BA box 12 feet long, 4 feet wide and 2 feet high CA box 4 feet long, 2 feet wide and 1 foot high DA box 4 feet long, 4 feet wide and 1 foot high

15. Question 15 of 20 · Short Answer

    In Diagram 1, sap ran on March 17 and 18 but stopped on March 19. Using the temperatures on the graph, explain why.

    Show model answer

16. Question 16 of 20 · Short Answer

    Using Passage 3 and Diagram 2, explain the difference between finished syrup and sugar on snow. Include how each is made and at what temperature.

    Show model answer

17. Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer

    Passage 3 says finished syrup will "weigh eleven pounds to the gallon." Describe a visual you could make to present this fact, and explain what the visual would show more clearly than the words.

    Show model answer

18. Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer

    The camp in Diagram 1 has 100 taps. Passage 2 says a tap hole gives about 10 gallons of sap in an average season. About what fraction of a whole season's sap did the camp collect in these ten days? Show your work and explain what this tells you.

    Show model answer

19. Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer

    Passage 1 and Diagram 1 both describe the sap season. Name one piece of information that only the words give and one that only the diagram gives, and explain why each format is better for its piece.

    Show model answer

20. Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer

    Using at least three sources on this page (passages, tables or diagrams), write 4-5 sentences that explain how sap from a maple tree becomes syrup. Include at least two numbers, and name the source of each fact.

    Show model answer

These standards connect to RI.6.7: prerequisites to review first, parallel standards at the same level, and next steps that build on it.

Standard text: Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy. © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.