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Ellis Abel Learns.

In my own words

Why I love forests

The dark ragged skyline of a Douglas fir forest at Point Reyes, California, silhouetted against a pale grey sky. Real USGS photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Forests" page.
The dark ragged skyline of a Douglas fir forest at Point Reyes, California, silhouetted against a pale grey sky. National Park Service, via U.S. Geological Survey · Public domain
  • It is all connected under the ground.
  • A tree keeps a record of every year it lived.
  • Everything in here is eating or being eaten.

What it really is

A forest is a system where soil, water, plants and animals depend on each other.

Three things to try today

  1. Find a tree stump and count the rings.
  2. Find a wide ring and a thin one.
  3. Say what a thin year might mean.
USGS forest ecologist Jenny Briggs holds a measuring tape against the trunk of a pine tree killed by mountain pine beetles. Real USGS photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Forests" page.
USGS forest ecologist Jenny Briggs holds a measuring tape against the trunk of a pine tree killed by mountain pine beetles. U.S. Geological Survey · Public domain

For the grown-up reading this

Tree rings are a data set a child can read with their eyes. Wide equals a good year.

Why I love forests — 4,299 places across America

Alabama (87)
Alaska (33)
Arizona (43)
Arkansas (86)
California (273)
Colorado (85)
Connecticut (27)
D.C. (1)
Delaware (5)
Florida (158)
Georgia (185)
Hawaii (8)
Idaho (54)
Illinois (155)
Indiana (117)
Iowa (112)
Kansas (116)
Kentucky (129)
Louisiana (81)
Maine (21)
Maryland (35)
Massachusetts (53)
Michigan (120)
Minnesota (111)
Mississippi (88)
Missouri (131)
Montana (61)
Nebraska (97)
Nevada (22)
New Hampshire (13)
New Jersey (45)
New Mexico (40)
New York (90)
North Carolina (127)
North Dakota (57)
Ohio (124)
Oklahoma (88)
Oregon (51)
Pennsylvania (88)
Rhode Island (6)
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (5)
South Carolina (65)
South Dakota (68)
Tennessee (114)
Texas (340)
Utah (48)
Vermont (16)
Virginia (158)
Washington (77)
Washington, D.C. (1)
West Virginia (64)
Wisconsin (95)
Wyoming (25)

Love something else too

All 51 things to love · Girls are great at math