TREE RINGS

Dendrochronology? It’s all greek to me!

Dendrochronology Pronounced den – dro - kron – o - la – gee Word roots dendro (from dendros, greek for tree) chrono (from chronos, greek for time or past events) logy (from logos, greek for reason or word. “ology” indicates a study or theory)

What are tree rings? Growth – varies throughout year in our climate Late Spring/Summer – wide light coloured ring (lots of growth) Late summer/autumn – narrow darker ring (little growth) Winter – dormant (no growth)

X From LTTR, Arizona So one year’s growth is a dark and light ring together = annual growth ring = X

Total ring width = a light and dark band From LTTR, Arizona Earlywood – appears light in colour – cells are thin walled and large in diameter Latewood – appears dark in colour – cells have thick walls and are small in diameter Total ring width = a light and dark band

Photos by Grassino-Mayer at UTK (see web address)

? 2002 The new millenium? When were you born? The year England won the world cup?

Put in some important dates

Is there a relationship between the width of the summer ring and the weather that year?

Let’s do a tree ring activity to find out.