Meet the Challenge (Optional final assessments)

In this lab on drought in the Hudson Valley, you have started to learn how scientists work. You explored the Humpty Dumpty talus slope site with Google Maps and learned about the importance of picking study sites where the ecology of the site shows that the trees will be sensitive to climate. You have learned to evaluate patterns in tree-ring records by observing and comparing core samples, and you now have some experience using Climate Explorer, a powerful online tool that allows you to map and evaluate recorded meteorological data. You were also able to confirm that tree-rings are recording climate information by comparing your observations of 'marker years' from the core samples to the recorded data from Climate Explorer from the same year. Congratulations!

Now you will apply what you've learned to mount a virtual tree-ring science expedition and analyze climate data. Two Challenge projects are listed below. In the first challenge, you will select a stand of trees to study at a site of your choosing, using Climate Explorer to analyze and determine the past climate of the region. In the second challenge, you will travel far away, to Mongolia, and use tree-ring science data and Climate Explorer to discover when periods of drought struck the region. Choose whichever one interests you most. Can you use your new skills to uncover evidence of climate change at your site?

Option 1 - Climate Change in a Region of Your Choice

1. Choose a wooded area that you think would be interesting to study. It could be an area in or near your community, or a place you've visited like a state or national park.

2. Use Google Earth to survey your site. Take a screen shot of it and include it in your report. Describe the location of area (coordinates), the general site conditions, and ecology of your study site. Indicate what type of trees you think are available to take sample cores.

3. You won't be able to take core samples yourself, obviously, so you will use Climate Explorer to investigate the climate record at your site.

4. Follow the procedure in Part 3 to collect the same three sets of data (time series, seasonal, regional/spatial) using the latitude and longitude of your study site.

5. Include these graphs in your report.

6. Evaluate and describe the meteorological data.

7. Using your findings, describe what the tree-ring patterns in your study site would look like if the trees at the site are truly climate sensitive?

8. Combine your graphs and descriptive material into a PowerPoint presentation or other type of report.

Option 2 - Paleoclimate in Mongolia

Are you ready to apply your knowledge of tree ring analysis to uncover secrets of past climate in a different region of the world? Mongolia has a predominantly desert and grassland terrain. The virtual expedition you are embarking on will focus on a site called the Khorgo Lava Field, a place where trees are growing among ancient volcanic rubble. These trees have been used to examine changes in climate back to 750 AD.This site is of special interest because it has been used to analyze the climate conditions that existed during the reign of one of the most feared rulers of all time: Genghis Khan.

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map of SE asia

Provenance: Google Maps
Reuse: This item is offered under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ You may reuse this item for non-commercial purposes as long as you provide attribution and offer any derivative works under a similar license.

Mongol leader Genghis Khan (1162-1227) rose from humble beginnings to establish the largest land empire in history. After uniting the nomadic tribes of the Mongolian plateau, he conquered huge chunks of central Asia and China. His descendants expanded the empire even more, advancing to places as far away as Poland, Syria and Korea. At their peak, the Mongols controlled between 11 and 12 million contiguous square miles, an area about the size of the continent of Africa.

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map of SE asia

Provenance: Google Maps
Reuse: This item is offered under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ You may reuse this item for non-commercial purposes as long as you provide attribution and offer any derivative works under a similar license.

1. Study the maps above to get an idea of geography surrounding the Khorgo site.

2. Take a closer look at the Khorgo Lava field site.

Khorgo Lava Field site (view I)

How is the Khorgo Lava field site similar to the Humpty Dumpty Talus Slope site? How is it different? Would you expect tree growth in this region to be fast or slow?

3. Use the method you employed in Part 2 to analyze the three Khorgo Lava Field core samples shown below. Look for wet and dry years in each of the three samples and determine what marker years are present. The first ring, marked with three dots near the bark near the right edge of the image, is the year 2000.

4. Follow the procedure in Part 3 to collect the same three sets of data (time series, seasonal, regional/spatial) using the coordinates of the site (Latitude = 48.17 N, 99.87 E).

5. Include these graphs in your report.

6. Evaluate and describe the meteorological data.

7. Using your findings, describe what the tree-ring patterns in your study site would look like if the trees at the site are truly climate sensitive?

8. Combine your graphs and descriptive material into a PowerPoint presentation or other type of report.

Evaluation