Recently, a large oak tree fell outside of Wellwood Middle School in Fayetteville. But instead of letting the tree be cleared without circumstance, an educator decided to turn the large fallen tree into a learning opportunity for students.
Erin Concannon, the upcoming K-6 science resource teacher, said she plans to take a section of the fallen tree to teach students about the field of dendrochronology. Dendrochronology is the study of tree time based on the rings that are added to the tree annually. From studying these rings, students can learn many things, such as the age of the tree, local climate and global climate patterns.
According to Concannon, rings are created through a visible pattern of light and dark wood. The light wood indicates the early growing season where the wood is less dense. The darker wood shows the end of the growing season. Although she has not seen a piece of the oak tree to study, Concannon said the people who removed the tree estimate that it is about 200 years old.
Climate can be shown by studying tree rings because narrow bands show poor growth and usually correlate to droughts or poor growing conditions, while wide bands mean there was favorable growth conditions, such as ample water and warm temperatures.
“I’m excited,” said Concannon. “Anytime you can relate an event, like the tree falling, to a learning experience is helpful for learning and making connections.”
When the tree was removed, there was a large bee hive found in the tree, and Colcannon said she may look into tying that into the lesson plans.
Concannon said she has not decided which age group will receive these lessons, but she will most likely create several lesson plans and move the tree specimen between schools so more students can benefit from the learning experience.
Years ago at Fayetteville Elementary, an oak tree fell, and Conannon said a now-retired science teacher made a similar learning experience, which is where she got the idea from.
The oak tree has been a symbol to the F-M school district for many years and can be seen in the school’s official letterhead. The F-M yearbook has also been titled “Oak Leaves” for some time. Signs of the oak tree can even be seen in the school’s alma mater, “Guarded by the old oak tree, symbol of our goal. Steadfast is our pride in thee, its strength will write or scroll.”
Most of all, Concannon said she wants to makes students excited about science.
“It’s an inquiry type of learning, but there’s also a hands-on piece,” said Concannon. “There’s a lot that goes into it, a lot of patterns that show it’s all part of a larger picture.”
Hayleigh Gowans is a reporter for the Eagle Bulletin. She can be reached at [email protected].
