Chapter 4 Investigation

Tree Growth

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Chapter 4
Investigation Tree Growth

This Chapter was all about turning raw data into

graphs that show you patterns in the data.

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Chapter 4
Investigation Tree Growth

The loss of forest areas (deforestation) is a huge

environmental problem.

Many countries are cutting down trees at

a faster rate than they can be replaced.
diameter
If you look at a cross section of a tree,
you’ll notice a pattern of rings.

Each ring is a layer of wood that took one year to grow.

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Chapter 4
Investigation Tree Growth

26 pine trees have been felled.

The number of rings on each stump and the diameter
are recorded below.

Number of
rings (age) 23 69 15 4 46 19 20 53 68 32 27 32 32

Diameter
30.6 62.1 25.5 11.2 41.4 9.2 20.7 42.0 47.1 11.1 20.4 27.0 31.8
(cm)

Number of
rings (age) 50 37 11 48 8 43 42 63 16 53 64 57 58

Diameter
49.3 40.0 13.7 14.3 4.8 30.9 33.4 53.5 4.8 33.7 35.0 45.5 52.5
(cm)

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Chapter 4
Investigation Tree Growth

• Draw a scatter diagram of the data. Put “Age (years)”

on the x-axis and “Diameter (cm)” on the y-axis.

Number of
rings (age) 23 69 15 4 46 19 20 53 68 32 27 32 32

Diameter
30.6 62.1 25.5 11.2 41.4 9.2 20.7 42.0 47.1 11.1 20.4 27.0 31.8
(cm)

Number of
rings (age) 50 37 11 48 8 43 42 63 16 53 64 57 58

Diameter
49.3 40.0 13.7 14.3 4.8 30.9 33.4 53.5 4.8 33.7 35.0 45.5 52.5
(cm)

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Chapter 4
Investigation Tree Growth

• Describe the correlation between the age of the tree

and the diameter of its trunk. Why do you think that the
correlation is not perfect?

• Draw a best-fit line for the data. A best-fit line is one that
passes as close to as many of the points as possible.
About half the points should be on each side of the line.
Would you expect this line to pass through the origin?
Why?

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Chapter 4
Investigation Tree Growth

• What is the slope of the best-fit line?

What does the slope of your graph represent?

• Find the equation of the best-fit line.

• a) How old would you expect a tree to be if its

diameter is 23 cm?
b) What would you expect the diameter of a 6-year-old
tree to be?

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Chapter 4
Investigation Tree Growth

Extensions:
It’s difficult to measure the diameter of a living tree. It’s much
easier to measure the circumference of the tree instead.
1) Write an equation to link a tree’s circumference with
its likely age. How old is a tree likely to be if its
circumference is 157 cm?
2) What is the average annual increase in a tree’s
circumference?

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Chapter 4
Investigation Tree Growth

(For this investigation you will need a

Open-ended Extensions: selection of books of different types.)
1) Record the number of pages and the thickness of each book
(excluding the cover). Produce a scatter diagram of the data
and draw a best-fit line.

Find the slope and equation of your line.

What does the slope mean?

Measure the thickness of some different books.

Use your equation to predict the number of pages.
How accurate are your predictions? Why do you think this is?

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Chapter 4
Investigation Tree Growth

(For this investigation you will need a

Open-ended Extensions: selection of books of different types.)

2) Think of two sets of data that you suspect may have

a linear relationship. You should choose data sets
that you can easily collect. Investigate the
relationship using a scatter diagram.

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Chapter 4
Investigation Tree Growth

Round Up

You can work out patterns in any collection of data,

as long as the data is all about the same thing.

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