January 13

How maple syrup is made

"maple syrup"

Yodyodyo / Pixabay

You may like maple syrup on your waffles but do you know where it is from? Does it come from unicorns? Does it come from Atlantis? Does it come from trees? Well close enough. It comes from the Maple tree. Did you know that maple syrup was discovered by native people boiling sap thinking it was water. Syrup comes from trees but you can’t just stick a straw in a tree and start drinking.

A maple tree is what starts the magic. People collect a water with a little bit of sugar called sap. Sap is more water then sugar, sap has 1% to 4% sugar. I bet that sap will taste as plain as milk, which means it is NOT syrup. I am sure the last time you ate syrup it tasted sugary. People who make maple syrup drill a hole in the maple tree, then sap will start to pour out, then you boil it. You may ask why you boil the sap? It is because you are getting the water part out of the sap by making the water evaporate so mostly sugar is left. That’s how it’s made! You might ask why you don’t boil all the way. Here is the answer: if you boil it all the way, it turns into maple sugar to make maple candies and it tastes like (you guessed it!) maple syrup. Sounds good, right? Well this is the conclusion of this post. I hope you use this information wisely.

January 13

Can Animals get Sunburned?

You might think animals can get sunburned, and yes they can but they also can’t. The reason why some of the animals can’t is because some animals use sunscreen–not Coppertone but other things found in nature. Elephants use mud for sunscreen and seals use sand for sunscreen.

An elephant covers itself in mud so it doesn’t get sunburned.

Some animals don’t need sunscreen because they can’t get sunburned. That doesn’t happen to all animals though. It only happens to the animals that have really thick skin like otters or whales. If animals don’t put their sunscreen on then they will get sunburned. lf it’s a really hot day, pigs  on a farm might roll in mud so they won’t get sunburned.

Some animals like dogs and cats don’t have any sunscreen so they can get sunburned really easily. Next time it’s sunny make sure your dog or cat isn’t in the sun because he could get sunburned.