Joey Blodgett

Biology Extra Credit Article

Period 4
3/12/17
National Geographic
March 2017
The Wisdom of Trees

This article encompases several interesting trees around the world. Trees are
seen as magical and mystical, plus provide shelter and food for many countries.

There is a tree with 4,789 rings and that means the tree has lived for 4,789
years. Each ring represents a year of a tree's life. It also represents the weather
conditions of earth meaning if it was a drought year or very wet. The trees rings can
also reflect if there was a fire. In 1974 a researcher cut down a tree with 4,862 rings,
the oldest tree on recorded history. Hard to believe that a tree could life that many
years anywhere on earth.

Newtons Apple tree is located in Lincolnshire England. The apple that fell from
the tree in front of Sir Isaac Newton did not hit him on his head, rather it dropped from
the tree as all apples drop from trees. Still Newton went on to discover gravity. That
tree has since been struck by foul weather and was nearly destroyed in 1820, but it
remained rooted in the same place for it to grow again on Newton's front lawn still
making apples for all scientists to see.

There is a cypress tree (Arbol del Tule) in Mexico that has a crown (branches
and leaves) that is the size of two tennis courts. Its trunk circumference is 119 feet and
the diameter is 38 feet. This is a huge tree. The tree was being choked by car exhaust
and lacked a watercourse so in the 1990s the Mexican government took action. The
government rerouted the Pan American highway to get the exhaust away from the tree
and they created a well. Today the tree is thriving in Oaxaca Mexico.

Mozambique has a mango tree that provides shade from the saharan sun. It is
the spot for stories, politics, play and even a nap. It is also a place for food. In this area
of the world both shade and food are had to discover.

Trees offer oxygen for our atmosphere for humans to exist however, this article
proves that there are more uses for trees. They are places to relax, the topics of stories
and fairytales and can provide a village with food.