Tree Rings

Internet Lesson

Site: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/vikings/treering.html


1. What is dendrochronology



2. Go to build a tree timeline, see if you can create the chronology using the shockwave document (click and drag to match patterns to the one at the top). This takes a lot of patience. If you can get it, you’ll see a “Congratulations” at the top. If you’re out of patience, move on to the next section.

If you succeeded, you’ll know how far back the chronology extends. What year does it go to ______________ ?



3. What is crossdating?



Go to the Anatomy of a Tree Ring Link (at the bottom)

4. When the cells of the growth ring get smaller, what happens?





Go to Growth and Sensitivity Link


5. Explain the difference between a complacent and a sensitive tree.




Go the the SKeleton Plotting Link

6. What information (besides age) do growth rings give about a tree?

Go to the The Laboratory of Tree Ring Research (link at bottom: http://tree.LTRR.arizona.EDU/dendrochronology.html )


7. Earlywood refers to growth that occurs during early or late summer?

8. Earlywood or Late wood actually makes the rings?

9. View the conifer ring tree-ring sample.

How old is this tree? ________

Which year did the tree have the most growth? ______


10. “Chrono” means ___________________

“Dendro” means __________________

“ology” means __________________



Finished? Go to Yahooligans.com and type “Tree” into the search engine, browse some interesting sites on trees.
Oh, choose Yahooligans rather than Yahoo. Reason: main searches will often send you to college and “advanced” sites with lots of text book info (boring). Yahooligans will send you to flashier and more interesting sites with lots of pictures.

Write down any sites you go to below. You don’t need to put the URL, just put the title of the site.