In this student activity, drinking straws will be used to simulate tree-ring core samples. From a living tree, July 1992, Pinetown Forest. From a tree stump in the Pinetown Christmas Tree Farm. From a log found near the main trail in Pinetown Forest. From a barn beam removed from Pinetown Hollow.
Students record their answers in the first column in a chart like the one below.
Have students look for patterns in the rings. Once a ring pattern has been discovered, line up all the samples. Because they know that Sample 1 was cut in 1992, they can match the patterns of all the other samples and determine what year the other trees were cut or cored, and also when they began to grow. Have students record this information in the chart. Now have students make a time line.