The Lucia Wallace 4th graders went on a field trip to the Sugar Shack located south of Algona. First, the 4th graders learned about wood tapping. They got to drill holes by hand in the tree to reach the flowing sap. They stuck a tap in the hole and then put a bucket on the tap to collect the sap. Next, they started to gather sap from buckets hung on nearby maple trees. Volunteers helped students take the buckets off the trees so students could haul the sap back to the shack. The sap was dumped in a strainer to remove the bark and bugs. Finally, the students went in the Sugar Shack to learn how they make the syrup. In order to turn the sap into syrup the sap must be boiled. The sap is boiled to evaporate the water out of it. There may also be sugar sand in the sap because the roots of the trees have sand and dirt in them. This sugar sand could be in the sap and needs to be filtered out several times. At the end of the field trip the 4th graders got a sample of the delicious syrup. The Lucia Wallace 4th graders had a fun time at the Sugar Shack.