Open with a discussion on weather and climate and then explain how tree rings can provide scientists with information about the earth's past climate. Pupils analyze graphics of simulated tree rings from various US locations for the environmental conditions over the seasons and years. Finally, they visit the My NASA Data website in order to compare their simulation data.

Concepts

global warming, climate change, human impact on the environment, environmental stewardship

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Additional Tags

tree ring, climate change, global warming, human impact on the environment, science

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Pros

• Published by a reputable government source
• Raises awareness of human impact on the world climate
• Clearly written procedures guide teacher and students through the activity

Cons

• Paper tree rings are so easy to read that they do not give learners a feel for the challenges of reading real tree rings