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What are the rings on the wood?

Oh, those rings you see when you cut a tree? They're like the tree's personal diary, but instead of words, they use lines. Each ring represents one year in the life of the tree. Pretty cool, huh?

Let's break this down: during a year, a tree goes through different seasons - spring, summer, autumn and winter (unless it's an evergreen in a tropical country, then it's just summer all year round...lucky tree!). In spring and summer when there's plenty of sunlight and rain for photosynthesis (that's how trees make their food), the tree grows faster and the wood it produces is light-colored. This part of the ring is called 'earlywood'.

Then comes autumn and winter. The days get shorter and colder, so the tree slows down its growth. The wood produced during this time is darker and denser, called 'latewood'. Together, the light earlywood and dark latewood form one annual ring. So if you want to know how old a tree is without asking it (because trees are rather tight-lipped), you can just count its rings!

But remember! Trees are important for our environment. They provide oxygen, absorb carbon dioxide, and are home to many species. So let's not go around cutting trees just to read their diaries. It would be like reading someone else's diary...only much worse!