Climate Change - is it real where you live? Tree Cookies have the answer. Each year, the trees around your house or school are making a record of the climate in your area. When there's a lot of rain, they add a think annual ring to their trunks. When it's hot and dry, the ring is thinner.

Here's a way to see what's up where you live. Next time you (or someone else) trims trees in the neighborhood, save a few branches, and (safely) cut them into slices. Now, you have tree cookies!

Since you know when they were cut, you can examine the rings (some sanding and polishing helps), and count them to see in what years they were laid down. Measuring their widths gives an indication of climate conditions in that year.

With this procedure, you can make a graph of tree ring widths, and compare with climate data recorded at a nearby weather station.

Instructions on getting the data and a teacher's guide PowerPoint are included.

Happy Tree Cookies!!