Why Do Trees Grow Rings as They Age?

Trees grow rings because they get bigger every year. Imagine a tree like a cake, each year, it adds a new layer around the outside. In the spring, it grows soft green layers, and in the fall, it turns hard brown ones. That’s why you can see circles inside a tree when you cut it open!

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Examples

A baby tree has just one ring, it’s only one year old.
An older tree might have dozens of rings, each telling a story about its life.
If you look at the trunk of a very old tree, you can see hundreds of rings inside.

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Categories: Biology · tree rings,growth patterns,biology of trees