Tree Boring and Coring
It was day 2 out in the field. Another beautiful sunny day. The rain stayed away and allowed us to work all day. We went back to Rocket Lake and continued where we left off. We needed to bore and core 50 trees within the forest. The trees in the forest are all White Spruce or Black Spruce trees. They look just like your typical Christmas tree. I couldn't believe we completed 50 trees by the end of the day. The difference between boring and coring is that "boring" means to drill into a tree. "Coring" is when the core is taken from the tree trunk. Don't worry, the core is only the size of a straw. In fact that is what we keep them in so they don't break. I was concerned that because we drill all the way through the tree that insects might get it and ruin or kill the tree. However I was told that the trees will release a sap into the hole to plug it up. It kind of uses it as a bandaid. Today I spent countless minutes trying to get crumbling tree cores into their straws. Some of the trees were ruthless when it came to boring them and the tree corer tool would often get stuck or the spoon couldn’t grasp hold of the core. The dead trees were often the worse to core, being the most difficult of all. I ended the day with sore knees, bloody knuckles, and you can’t forget my cracked fingernail. Needless to say boring isn’t as easy as it looks and there will be a lot of gluing together all the broken cores. Today in the field we had a very special visit from “Lab Man” He is the super hero of the forest that helps get research done in the field at lightning fast speed. I think Verdi was scared at first because he tried to attack "Lab Man". He quickly made friends with him and realized he was just there to help. Tomorrow we will be moving into the tundra/forest area and bore another 50 trees. We are expecting good weather and another visit from “Lab Man”.
Questions: What is the average age of a white spruce or black spruce tree? What is the oldest living tree, how old is it, and where was it found? What is the "tundra"?
posted by Cari @ 8:29 PM
15 Comments:
Hi Mrs. Carlson,
It is finally Mrs. Hubbard's class. We checked out your blog on Tuesday, but our computer time ran out before we could send any message.
Some of our questions are how do you get the metal (?) spoon into the tree and out without breaking the core? What is the age span (youngest to oldest) of the trees you have cored? (Khiry, Marisol)
How are the temperate forests there different from the ones we have here? (Jacob)
Have you seen or will you see any ice cores that are being used to study climate change? We looked at a picture of some from Greenland. (Elliot & Mrs. H)
What kinds of technology is being used to study the tree cores you collect? (Mario, Marisol)
Dear Mrs.Carlson
Are you having fun? Do you like the people there?
I miss you. Is the weather cold there?Is Verdi having
fun?
love Cassidy
Hi Mrs Carlson are you having fun. can you show us the scientist puppets?
israel
DEAR MRS CARLSON I AM DARIANA WHAT ARE
YOU DOING MRS CARLSON?
Hi Mrs. Carlson
Is it hard to core a tree? Have you seen a polar bear yet?
I miss you. I hope Verdi is okay. Bye Pamela
HI MRS. CARLSON,
I LIKED THE PICTURE OF YOU CORING THE TREE. HOW OLD WAS THE TREE? IS IT REAL WINDY THERE? HAVE YOU SEEN ANY SNAKES? ARE YOU KEEPING WARM? I LIKED THE PICTURE WITH THE BEAR PAW. I HOPE YOUR PLANE FLIGHT WAS OKAY. I MISS YOU BYE Heskarleth
Hi Mrs. Carlson, how was your day?
What is it like up there? When are you coming back? I hope you are having a lot of fun.
Love, Shawn
Dear Miss.Carlson
Hi.How are you?Are you having fun? I am Natalie.
love NATALIE
Dear Mrs. Carlson,
Hi,how are you? How many polar bears have you seen? I hope you are having a great time.
your student,
ashley
Dear Carlson i miss you so munch that i cant wait to see you Love Katrina.
Dear Mrs.Carlson
What kind of animals are there except a polarbear.
Thank you.by.
love Richard,
Dear Khiry & Marisol,
I made a video at the end of my blog "Boring and Coring". I don't if I had uploaded it in time though, but if you haven't seen it, it shows me boring a tree. The metal spoon is very thin piece of metal so when you slide it into the corer it only takes up a minimal amount of space. As soon as it meets with the core it slides underneath it and lifts it up a bit like a spoon so when I pull it out the core is sitting there all nice and pretty (if I'm lucky). So far the oldest tree is around 200 years old. We haven't been able to date the trees yet so I don't know for sure. We had to put the cores into the oven to try them out. Then in the next few days we will sand them with 4 different grades of sand paper. This will allow us to see the rings really good so we can count them and date the trees. Today we finished coring and were looking for seedlings and saplings. We found some that were less than 1 year old.
Jacob - This is considered the arctic forest, its not considered temperate. It is not as heavily populated with trees as our forests. The trees don't grow as high and don't keep their needles as long. Temperate forest ecosystems with their four distinct seasons are found throughout the middle latitudes most commonly in the northern hemisphere (US, Europe, and Asia). Up here the trees are much more hearty due to the fact that they are faced with below freezing temperatures.
Elliot & Mrs. H -
We are expecting to go out and look at some permafrost next week. We are going to search for ice wedges that grow naturally in cracks and fissures in the ground. There is no ice for us to core at the moment, because we are not that far north in the Arctic. We are on the way outer edge of it.
Mario & Marisol -
Read the response to Khiry & Marisol) We are responsible for inputing all of our data we collect in the field everynight after our work day. The information is compiled by the scientists and they are the ones that make conclusions based upon the data. They are the smart ones, I am just their little elf. I would like to see how the data we've been collecting relates to global warming.
Hi class - thanks for all your comments. Some of you asked the same questions so to save time, make sure to read my response to everybody's questions because I might answer your question then. Or Make sure to read all the blogs back and forth. I know its alot of reading, but they are almost all questions from Carminati kids. I'll try and answer all unanswered questions in this one post.
Cassidy - I am having a blast. There are 10 other teachers here working with me on this expedition. They are really cool. I have to share a room with Mrs. Linda. We have 2 sets of bunk beds, but we both are sleeping on the bottom. It kind of feels like a summer camp. My bed has sheets with penquins and igloos on them. The weather is getting colder. Today it was about 45'F - but very windy, so it felt colder. At one point today, there was a wind gust that knocked me over. I wish I had a video of it because you all would have laughed your heads off.
Israel - I will put pics up of the other scientists' pets. There is of course Verdi, then there is Dr.Foo Foo the polar bear, and Curious George. Don't forget the real life hero "Lab Man"
Pamela, Heskarleth - read my post to Mrs. Hubbard's class to answer your questions about tree coring.
I haven't seen any snakes while in the field. The only thing I've seen are Canadian Geese, a caterpillar, and a Grey Jay (bird). The polar bear rug is cool. There are lots of other animal bones and skulls around the center. I'll take pics later in the week to show you.
Dear mrs.carlson
I miss you but I had a fun when we got to see you today. Did you? I am sorry I was so shy I was just exsided about seeing you. Do you like the food and trip? Was it fun? How is verdi? We found out about the house. We are geting the keys on monday. Then we can start moving in. It is prety exieding. love cassidy
Cassidy - It was great talking to you all. I really miss you kids, but it sounds as if everything is going well in class. So glad to hear you get your keys. Now the fun part....moving in 105'F heat - YUCK!! Report cards should go home next week and I left a little something in there for you.
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