PreK-8 Activity 76 - Tree Cookies

Student Pages
Tree Rings (pdf)
Reading Tree Cookies (pfd)

Spanish Student Pages
Anillos de Arbol (pdf)

Connecting Kids to Nature Activity Page
Tree Cookies

Earth & Sky Radio Show Correlations
This activity can be supplemented with related Earth & Sky radio show audio and transcripts, available for free download, for use in your classroom.
 - Edward Cook Says U.S. Southwest May Suffer Sustained Drought

Additional Resources
Tree Ring Questions

How to Make Tree Cookies (pdf)

Information on Tree Cookies

Read the article In Search of the Perfect Tree Cookie to help complete Activity 76

Identifying types of end grain in tree cookies (scroll to second page)

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.

Places Where You Can Buy Tree Cookies:
http://www.museumproducts.net/

http://www.acornnaturalists.com/ (Acorn Naturalists may refer to them as "tree rounds" though)

http://www.nature-watch.com/ (Tree cookies are called tree disks, a pack of 25 is $13.00)

http://web.utk.edu/~grissino/resources.htm#Educ

Reading Connections
Crinkleroot’s Guide to Knowing the Trees. Arnosky, Jim. ISBN 0027058557. Publisher: Simon & Schuster. 1992. An illustrated introduction to trees and woodlands with information on how to identify the bark and the leaves, the many ways that animals use trees, and how to read the individual history that shapes every tree. Grades 2-7. 

The Big Tree. Hiscock, Bruce. ISBN 1563978105. Publisher: Atheneum Books –MacMillan. 1991. Follows the development of a large old maple tree from its growth from a seed during the American Revolution to its maturity in the late twentieth century. Grades K-4.

Yonder. Johnston, Tony. ISBN 1586851802. Publisher: Holt. 1988. Year after year, the plum tree which the farmer planted is witness to the continuing generations of his family. Grades K-3. 

Outside and Inside Trees. Markle, Sandra. ISBN 0027623130. Publisher: Simon
and Schuster. 1993. Discusses various parts of trees and their functions, including the bark, sapwood tubes, roots, and leaves. Grades K-3.

The Ever-Living Tree: The Life and Times of a Coast Redwood. Vieira, Linda. ISBN 0802774776. Publisher: Walker. 1994. The story plots the march of time as major events in history unfold next to the growth of an ever-living sequoia. Grades K-3.