USING DATA ANALYSIS FROM STUDENT FIELD INVESTIGATIONS AND INTERNET SEARCHES TO DETERMINE THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN TREE RING DATING, WILDFIRES, AND FLOODS BY ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOL CLASSES

Students from Colorado Springs School Districts 11 and 12 have developed and completed a field and internet investigation to develop an understanding of the complexity of science. Various classes from 4th to 8th grade have traveled to various forested locations in the Pikes Peak region to collect dendrochronology data by coring and counting the tree rings in the cores and in previously cut trees to gain knowledge about both the age of different tree types and to develop a possible drought/wet diagram for the years indicated by the tree rings. Further information was collected by visiting appropriate websites for the collection of climatic data that includes stream flows, flooding events, and precipitation, wildfire episodes, and information about the science of dendrochronology. This paper will present the data developed, the processes used, and the statistical data determined in a tabular form and through flow modeling. The relationships between climate, wildfire, and tree rings are shown to be directly related.