Tree Cookies
Get this Guide
Find Training
One way to learn about tree growth is to look at annual rings. Tree rings show patterns of change in the tree’s life, as well as changes in the area where it grows. Students will trace environmental and historical changes using a cross-section of a tree, or “tree cookie.”
Objectives
Students will
- Examine cross-sections of trees.
- Infer from a tree’s rings what environmental conditions it might have experienced.
- Correlate the time it takes a tree to grow with events in human history.
For the complete activity and more like this, purchase the Explore Your Environment: K-8 Activity Guide at Shop.PLT.org and/or attend a professional development training in your state.
Explore Your Environment: K-8 Activity Guide is a supplementary curriculum that is multi-disciplinary, with an emphasis on science, reading, writing, mathematics, and social studies.
Each activity displays explicit connections to practices and concepts expected by the following national academic standards so teachers can easily see where the materials will fit into their lesson plans:
- Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
- Common Core Toolkit, includes
- English Language Arts (CCSS.ELA)
- Mathematics (CCSS.MATH)
- College, Career, and Civic Life Framework for Social Studies (C3)
Our professional development further demonstrates these connections, as well as to state and local standards, contact your state coordinator.
Circle Unbroken: The Story of a Basket and Its People
Circle Unbroken: The Story of a Basket and Its People Grades K-2 and 3-5 Written by: Margot Theis Raven Illustrated by: E.B. Lewis Published by: Square Fish, New York, 2004 ISBN-13: 978-0312376031 Recommended Reading A young girl sits in her grandmother’s lap and learns how to sew a basket made of natural sweetgrass. The... Read more »
EE Resources
Video: How Does a Tree Grow? Hint: It’s Not What You Think
“How Does a Tree Grow? Hint: It’s Not What You Think.” This 7:06-minute video describes how a tree’s twigs, trunk, and branches grow longer and fatter, explains how to count tree rings on a tree cookie, and shows some different stories a tree cookie might reveal.
Video: Crowns, Trunks, and Roots!
“Crowns, Trunks, and Roots!” This 5:36-minute video examines how the trunks, crowns, and roots of trees work together to support the tree. This video is one of a series of BeLeaf It or Not! videos by Michigan State University Extension, which are geared for students.
Video Demo: Tree Cookie
Watch the Tree Cookie Demonstration video (12 minutes). PLT’s Tree Cookies engages students in investigating the patterns of growth in trees. With only some art supplies and creativity, students can become their own tree detectives. This video was developed by Anita Smith, PLT Facilitator in Maine.
What Can Trees Tell Us About Climate Change?
Learn about the connection between trees and climate change, how tree rings can tell a story about past weather events, and the methods by which scientists are recording this data. What Can Trees Tell Us About Climate Change? is a resource offered by NASA’s Climate Kids, designed for upper-elementary students. Find images, fact sheets, activities,... Read more »
Tree Cookie Cross Section
Observe annual growth rings using this Tree Cookie Cross Section of a 102-year-old ponderosa pine from northwest Nebraska to learn about the many changes in a tree’s lifetime. Early on, the ring widths show average growth for a tree in arid northwest Nebraska but they began to narrow considerably when the tree was about 20 years old.... Read more »
Tree Rings Simulation
The science of tree rings is called dendrochronology. Tree rings help scientists learn about past climates by decoding tree ring patterns. Climate scientists use clues from ice cores, layered sediment deposits in lakes and seas, the structure of coral reefs, as well as tree ring sequences to learn about paleoclimates. The use of tree ring records... Read more »
Places Where You Can Buy Tree Cookies
These two websites are places where tree cookies can be purchased: http://www.acornnaturalists.com/ (Acorn Naturalists may refer to them as “tree rounds”) http://www.nature-watch.com/ (Nature Watch may refer to them as “tree discs”)
Tree Cookies Information
Want to have some tree cookies for you own? Use this handy document that lays out the steps for creating a perfect tree cookie. You can read the article In Search of the Perfect Tree Cookie for even more information.
Inner Parts of A Tree Model
Help students visualize the inner layers of a tree trunk and better understand the function of its different parts by creating this easy-to-make visual aid – a cross-section of a tree trunk.
A Machine That Turns a Tree’s Rings into a Musical Score
Learn about a modified record player that reads growth rings from a tree like musical notes. Created by German artist, this machine uses the annual rings that you find in cross-sections of trees and converts them into piano music.
Remote Ready Student Pages – Tree Cookies
Google Slides and Docs are great tools for facilitating remote learning and student collaboration. They can be integrated into Google Classroom or other e-learning platforms. Check Tree Cookies for our remote-ready educator instructions and student pages. Please note: Resources are available as view only and require that you make a copy to your own Drive in order to... Read more »
Login to download supporting materials such as appendices and teaching tips.
LoginYou Might Also Like
Invasive Species
Students research invasive species to determine their impact on ecosystems and what characteristics make them so challenging.
Every Tree for Itself
Through a simulation, students explore the ecosystem components that trees need to live and grow, and learn how organisms in an ecosystem often must compete for their needs.
Power Plants
Plants are crucial components of most ecosystems because they provide the energy that other organisms need to live. In this inquiry-based activity, students design investigations to explore what these “power plants” need to function and grow.
Web of Life
By conducting research and simulating a food web, students take a close look at a forest ecosystem and discover ways that plants and animals are connected to each other.