National Wildlife Federation
Branching Out – Exploring Dendrochronology
Tree rings from North America give a continuous history of El Nino intensity over the last 1,100 years. Scholars learn how scientists use tree rings to create timelines demonstrating variations in weather patterns. The cumulative...
Curated OER
Signs of Change: Tree Rings
Young scholars identify and experiment with dendrochronology (the study of tree rings to answer ecological questions about the recent past) and come up with conclusions as to what possible climatic conditions might affect tree growth in...
Curated OER
Time and Cycles - Dendrochronology
Students investigate the lives of trees by examining ring cycles. For this plant life lesson, students identify the field of study known as dendrochronology and discover its history. Students investigate a simulated tree ring...
Curated OER
Reading Trees: Understanding Dendrochronology
Students examine tree-ring dating and discuss the lack of water the settlers in Jamestown faced. They create paper tree rings, simulate rain patterns, and describe the history of construction paper tree sequences.
Curated OER
"Logs of Straw: Dendrochronology"
Students act as dendrochonologists working to reconstruct a 50 year climatic history. They make a personal timeline.
Curated OER
Tree-ring Dating
Pupils complete activity sheets and participate in discussions while they study dendrochronology. They determine a tree's age and recognize how the climate varied over time.
Curated OER
Trees: Are They Thriving or Surviving?
In this trees survival lesson plan, 8th graders discuss what trees need to grow, brainstorm things that could adversely affect tree growth, and compare characteristics of thriving trees vs. surviving trees. Students learn about the...
Curated OER
How Old Is This Tree?
High schoolers work in pairs to determine the age of a tree using two different methods in this experiment. They collect data about how trees change over time.
Curated OER
Aging of Trees
Students examine tree rings to determine its age. For this tree ring lesson, students examine core tree samples, identify the tree rings, and then determine its age. Students complete a worksheet, deciding which of the two core...
Curated OER
Science: The Age of the Redwoods
Students discover how to estimate the age of redwood trees. They measure the trees' diameters by using string to calculate the circumferences. Students conclude by discussing the science of dendrochronolgy.
Curated OER
Global Change- Time and Cycles
Students study trees and their growth. In this investigative lesson students work in groups to reconstruct a 50 year climatic history using a simulated tree ring.
Curated OER
What Does Plant Biology Teach Is About Climate?
Students examine what factors influence climate. In this investigative instructional activity students compare the factors that influence climate and how they effect tree growth.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Time and Cycles: Dendrochronology
Students explore the direct impact of climate on annual tree growth patterns by using pre-marked paper strips to simulate tree-ring core samples.
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
Ucar: Dendrochronology Trees: Recorders of Climate Change
Students discover how tree age can be determined by studying the rings, and how ring thickness can be used to deduce times of optimal growing conditions. Then they investigate simulated tree rings applying the scientific method to...
University of Maryland
Maryland Sea Grant: Dendroclimatology
This is a set of lessons where students investigate tree rings and what scientists can learn from them. They measure tree rings and correlate the data to precipitation patterns in order to make predictions about the climate. For an...
University of Colorado
University of Colorado: Signs of Change: Studying Tree Rings
Students gather information from real tree core samples and compare them with local climate history.
PBS
Pbs Teachers: Methuselah Tree
Examine how scientists determine the age of living and non-living trees and identify factors that impact sizes of tree rings. Analyze tree ring samples and determine the age of the oldest sample.