Skip to main content
Natural Inquirer - Homepage

Free Science Materials for K-12 Students

  • Bookmarks
  • Cart0
  • Account
  • Find Outdoors
  • USDA
  • USDA Forest Service logo.
Natural Inquirer - Homepage
  • About
    • About Natural Inquirer
    • Team
    • Partners
    • Press & Past Events
    • Contact Us
  • Resources
    • View All Resources
    • Grade Levels
      • PreK - 2nd Grade
      • Upper Elementary
      • Middle School
      • High School
      • All Grade Levels
    • Resource Types
      • Articles
      • Activities
      • Collector Cards
      • Coloring Books
      • Glossary
      • Lesson Plans
      • Scientists & Collaborators
      • Spotlights
      • Virtual Learning Adventures
      • All Types
    • Resource Topics
      • Wilderness
      • Wildlife
      • Water
      • Climate
      • Social Science
      • Fire
      • Agriculture
      • Recreation
      • Carbon
      • Insects
      • All Topics
    • Special Collections
      • Artemis Moon Trees
      • Experimental Forests & Ranges
      • Project Learning Tree Connections
      • Globe Connections
      • Smokey Bear
      • Spanish Editions
      • Woodsy Owl
      • World's Forests
      • All Special Collections
  • Order Materials
    • View All Products
    • Journals & Monographs
    • Readers
    • Collector Card Packs
    • Coloring Books
  • Educators
    • For Educators
      • Note to Educators
      • Educator Blog
      • Educator Newsletter
    • Classroom Ready Resources
      • Lesson Plans
      • Activities
      • Learning Modules
      • GLOBE Connections
      • Project Learning Tree
    • Get Involved
      • Volunteer Your Classroom
  • Virtual Learning Adventures
  • Bookmarks
  • Cart
  • Account
  • About
    • About Natural Inquirer
    • Team
    • Partners
    • Press & Past Events
    • Contact
  • Resources
        • View All Resources
        • By Grade
          • PreK - 2nd
          • Upper Elementary
          • Middle School
          • High School
        • By Type
          • Articles
          • Activities
          • Collector Cards
          • Coloring Books
          • Glossary
          • Lesson Plans
          • Learning Modules
          • Journals
          • Monographs
          • Readers
          • Scientists & Collaborators
          • Spotlights
          • Virtual Learning Adventures
          • All Types
        • By Topic
          • Agriculture
          • Carbon
          • Climate
          • Fire
          • Insects
          • Recreation
          • Social Science
          • Water
          • Wilderness
          • Wildlife
          • All Topics
        • Special Collections
          • Artemis Moon Trees
          • Experimental Forests and Ranges
          • GLOBE Connections
          • Project Learning Tree Connections
          • Smokey Bear
          • Spanish Editions
          • Woodsy Owl
          • World's Forests
          • All Special Collections
  • Order Materials
        • Download all resources - FREE!

          **Due to recent government funding changes, we currently are only able to process bulk orders.** We hope that we will be able to resolve this issue in the near future. In the meantime, please feel free to download our resources and explore the website for many great lesson plans and activities. Thank you!

          View All Products
        • Journals & Monographs

          Journals focus on a group of related articles, while monographs focus on one research article.

          Journals & Monographs
        • Collector Cards

          Learn about possible career opportunities in science!

          View All Card Packs
        • Readers

          For a PreK-2nd grade audience, each Reader focuses on one Forest Service scientist and their research.

          View All Readers
        • Coloring Books

          Learn more about science through our coloring books!

          View All Coloring Books
  • Educators
        • Overview
          • Educator Guide
        • Classroom Ready Resources
          • Learning Modules
          • Lesson Plans
          • Explore All
        • Order Materials
          • View All Free Products
          • Contact Us
        • For Educators
          • Educator Blog
          • Educator Newsletter
          • Project Learning Tree
        • Get Involved
          • Volunteer Your Classroom
  • Virtual Learning Adventures

Breadcrumb

  • Home
  • Resources
  • Back to the Future: Using Dead Trees to Predict Future Climates
Bookmark
Please login to bookmark Close

Please login to bookmark


Lost your password?

No account yet? Register

Back to the Future: Using Dead Trees to Predict Future Climates

  • Article
  • Middle School
  • 1 Classroom Period
  • Climate
  • Dendrochronology
  • Global Positioning System
  • Preservation
  • Volcano
The cover of "Back to the Future" featuring a black and white photo of a tree stump left from a volcanic explosion in the Inyo Craters in California.
SHARE
  • Copy Link
  • Facebook
  • X (Twitter)
  • Pinterest
  • Email
  • Google Classroom

The tree line is the edge of a habitat at which trees are capable of growing. In this study, the scientists wanted to examine dead trees that they found above the current tree line. The deadwood found above the current tree line indicated that the climate during the trees’ lifetime was different than it is now. The scientists were interested in learning about the climate that existed when these trees were alive.

Back to the Future: Using Dead Trees to Predict Future Climates

Part Of

Natural Inquirer - Vol. 14 No. 1

Explore Full Journal
SHARE
  • Copy Link
  • Facebook
  • X (Twitter)
  • Pinterest
  • Email
  • Google Classroom
Download PDF
  • The question you will answer in this FACTivity is: How does dendrochronology help us understand the environment in which a tree lives?

    FACTivity – Back to the Future

    • Activity
    • Middle School
    • 2-3 Classroom Periods
    • Climate
    • Wilderness
    • Dendrochronology
    • Tree growth
    • Tree Rings
    The question you will answer in this FACTivity is: How does dendrochronology help us understand the environment in which a tree lives?
    • Explore Activity
    • Download FACTivity (PDF)
    • Explore Activity
    • Download FACTivity (PDF)

    Part Of

    Back to the Future: Using Dead Trees to Predict Future Climates

Download PDF

Glossary

View All Glossary
  • annual

    (an yə(-wə)l): (1) Covering the period of a year; (2) occurring or happening every year or once a year.

  • climate

    (klī mǝt): The average weather conditions of a particular place or region over a period of years.

  • core

    (kȯr): (verb) To remove a core from (like taking a sample from a tree’s core with a drill).

  • elevation

    (e lǝ vā shǝn): The height above sea level.

  • Global Positioning System (GPS)

    (glō bəl pə zi sh(ə-)niŋ si stəm): A navigation system that uses satellite signals to find the location of a radio receiver on or above the Earth’s surface.

  • mean

    (meen): The average in a set of numbers.

  • precipitation

    (pri si pə tā shən): A deposit on the Earth of hail, mist, rain, sleet, or snow.

  • preserve

    (pri zərv): To keep alive, intact, or free from decay.

  • Ms. Diane Delany sitting on a beach

    Diane Delany

    When I was a little girl I loved to collect things in nature. I collected rocks, shells, bird nests, and pine cones. I collected them everywhere I went. I would...
    View Profile
  • Dr. Connie Millar hiking around a cratered body of water

    Connie Millar

    Climate Ecologist | Ecology

    Recently, I had a great science treasure hunt in the wild lands of Nevada. We were looking for the lowest elevation living bristlecone pine. The bristlecone pine is known for...
    View Profile
  • Dr. Robert Westfall sitting on a large rock

    Robert Westfall

    Geneticist

    Dr. Millar and I were searching for pika in a boulder field on Warren Bench, above Mono Lake, California. Pikas are small mammals in the same family as rabbits. We...
    View Profile

Jump To

  • Education Standards
  • Educator Guide
  • Lesson Plans
  • Education Files

Standards addressed in this Article:

Social Studies Standards

Social Studies Standards are educational guidelines outlining the essential knowledge, skills, and concepts students should learn in subjects such as history, geography, civics, and economics, aiming to provide a comprehensive understanding of societal structures, historical events, and global perspectives.
  • People, Places, and Environments
  • Science, Technology, and Society
  • Time, Continuity, and Change

Note To Educators

The Forest Service's Mission

The Forest Service’s mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the Nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations. For more than 100 years, our motto has been “caring for the land and serving people.” The Forest Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), recognizes its responsibility to be engaged in efforts to connect youth to nature and to promote the development of science-based conservation education programs and materials nationwide.

USDA and Forest Service Logos

What Is the Natural Inquirer?

Natural Inquirer is a science education resource journal to be used by students in grade 6 and up. Natural Inquirer contains articles describing environmental and natural resource research conducted by Forest Service scientists and their cooperators. These scientific journal articles have been reformatted to meet the needs of middle school students. The articles are easy to understand, are aesthetically pleasing to the eye, contain glossaries, and include hands-on activities. The goal of Natural Inquirer is to stimulate critical reading and thinking about scientific inquiry and investigation while teaching about ecology, the natural environment, and natural resources.

Natural Inquirer bee sitting at a desk with paper and pencil

  • Meet the Scientists

    Introduces students to the scientists who did the research. This section may be used in a discussion about careers in science.

  • What Kinds of Scientist Did This Research?

    Introduces students to the scientific disciplines of the scientists who conducted the research.

  • Thinking About Science

    Introduces something new about the scientific process, such as a scientific habit of mind or procedures used in scientific studies.

  • Thinking About the Environment

    Introduces the environmental topic being addressed in the research.

  • Introduction

    Introduces the problem or question that the research addresses.

  • Method

    Describes the method the scientists used to collect and analyze their data.

  • Findings & Discussion

    Describes the results of the analysis. Addresses the findings and places them into the context of the original problem or question.

  • Reflection Section

    Presents questions aimed at stimulating critical thinking about what has been read or predicting what might be presented in the next section. These questions are placed at the end of each of the main article sections.

  • Number Crunches

    Presents an easy math problem related to the research.

  • Glossary

    Defines potentially new scientific or other terms to students. The first occurrence of a glossary word is bold in the text.

  • Citation

    Gives the original article citation with an internet link to the original article.

  • FACTivity

    Presents a hands-on activity that emphasizes something presented in the article.


Science Education Standards

You will find a listing of education standards which are addressed by each article at the back of each publication and on our website.


We Welcome Feedback

  • Contact

    Jessica Nickelsen
    Director, Natural Inquirer program

  • Email

    Contact us here.

Lessons

  • Give each student or group a copy of the THIEVES chart reproduced at the end of the lesson plan PDF. You may either write the questions on the board, or...

    Lesson Plan – THIEVES Chart Guided Reading

    • Lesson Plan
    • Middle School
    • 1 Classroom Period
    • Agriculture
    • Carbon
    • Citizen Science
    • Climate
    • Engineering and Forest Products
    • Fire
    • Insects
    • Pollinators
    • Pollution
    • Recreation
    • Social Science
    • Water
    • Wilderness
    • Wildlife
    • Graphic Organizer
    • Guided reading
    • Reading for Information
    Give each student or group a copy of the THIEVES chart reproduced at the end of the lesson plan PDF. You may either write the questions on the board, or...
    • Explore Lesson Plan
    • Download Lesson Plan (PDF)
    • Explore Lesson Plan
    • Download Lesson Plan (PDF)

    Part Of

    Natural Inquirer - Vol. 14 No. 1

Education Files

Jump To

  • Additional Resources

Additional Resources

  • Geologic History of Inyo Craters

    Learn about how the Inyo Craters were formed.

    Visit Website
  • NOVA: Anatomy of a Volcano

    Learn more about the anatomy of a volcano.

    Visit Website
  • EPA's Climate Change Webpage

    Browse the resources available on the EPA website.

    Visit Webstie
  • Arbor Day's Life of a Tree

    An interactive webpage for kids.

    Visit Website
Back to Top
  • Natural Inquirer - Homepage
  • Find Outdoors
  • USDA
  • USDA Forest Service logo.

The Natural Inquirer program produces a variety of science education materials for PreK through grade 12. Natural Inquirer products are produced by the USDA Forest Service, FIND Outdoors, and other cooperators and partners.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.
* denotes mandatory fields
Loading
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • X, formerly Twitter
  • YouTube
  • About Natural Inquirer
  • Team
  • Partners
  • Press & Past Events
  • Contact Us
  • Accessibility Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Shipping Policy
© 2025 - Natural Inquirer | Website Credit