9451025 Luken Tree-ring chronologies and related activities are used to focus of two newly developed undergraduate laboratories. These chronologies, in the form of cores, represent unique and readily available long-term records of organism/environment interaction. One laboratory for introductory biology requires students to measure a series of tree-rings, relationships between ring-widths, and climatic factors. The concepts of accuracy, precision, and variable identification are also taught. Another laboratory in ecology requires students to measure a series of tree-rings to determine combinations of climatic factors that affect growth over periods of time.
