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: Tree Rings Simulation Dendrochronology
Tree rings help scientists learn about past climates by decoding tree ring patterns. Use this interactive simulation to learn how tree ring patterns tell us about climate conditions in the past.
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 Corporation for Atmospheric Research
Ucar: Introduction to Climate
A detailed overview of the Earth's climate, with explanations about the difference between weather and climate, dendrochronology, palynology, and how Earth's climate has changed over time. All information is reinforced through pictures,...
PBS
Nova: Build a Tree Ring Timeline
This activity is an introduction to the branch of science called dendrochronology. Discover what this science tells us about the past and see if you can create a tree ring timeline by matching up band patterns from several different trees.
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
Ucar: Tree Rings and Climate Timeline Simulation
In this online interactive activity, you will align tree ring cores to build a long chronology of climate history.
University of Maryland
Maryland Sea Grant: Dendroclimatology
This is a set of lessons where young scholars 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...
NOAA
Noaa: Be a Tree Ring Detective [Pdf]
Discover the reason why trees have rings. Then use your skills of inquiry to decide which tree samples are the oldest, based on their rings.
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.
University of California
Ucsb: Archserve: Exercise 1 2: Chronological Methods
A resource highlighting the process of dating methods in archaeology. Look at Relative Dating and Absolute Dating systems.
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.
Science Struck
Science Struck: Relative vs. Absolute Dating
Explains what relative and absolute dating are and some different methods used for each. A Venn diagram is presented showing what characteristics they share and how they differ.