Tree Growth Around a Birdhouse Hook

This tree has grown around the hook on the birdhouse chain. The branch it was originally hung on broke off in a storm, but the hook remained inside the trunk of the tree.

Possible Guiding, Compelling and/or Anchoring Questions

• How did the hook on the birdhouse chain get inside the trunk?
• If the branch it was hanging on broke off in a storm, why didn’t the birdhouse fall down, too?

Classroom Suggestions

• Lead students to understand that trees grow despite anything that might be obstructing them.  The trunk of a tree gets larger and larger as it grows with each passing year, and this tree was changed by a birdhouse that was hung on a branch and a storm that broke the branch on which it was originally hung.

Related Resources

• All About Trees: Provides information and guidance about planting trees and how they will grow around solid objects if they’re planted too close to them.
• The New Yorker: Article explains how a tree’s growth can be measured with new technology called a dendrometer.