Which Is Colder? Red Oak or White Oak?

Which Is Colder? Red Oak or White Oak?By: Sam Meyer, and Samantha Fletcher

Hypothesis: We believed that the Red Oak would be colder because of the fact that the Red Oak generally grows much faster than the White Oak. We took that information, to form the hypothesis that the Red Oak would hold in the cold, and in turn be colder than the White Oak.

MaterialsIRT

GPS

Notebooks

ProcedureStarted testing Jan. 25, 2010To gather our data, we used an IRT and our notebooksTimes varied from 11:18-11:30Due to an error, for the first three days, we only did one temperature readingThe other six days we took three temperatures, one at the top, middle, and bottom

Red OakRed Oak is said to be the fastest growing Oak tree out of all the Oaks(depending on the type of environment). If the Oak is in a nice Environment (moist, rich soil) then it is most likely the fastest growing Oak

Red Oak Leaves

Red Oak acorns Red Oak in the FallRed Oak in the Spring

Red Oak Red Oak is found in many different places. most common in Canada, North United States, Reaches West to central Minnesota, eastern Nebraska and Kansas.

Grows throughout Eastern EuropeAcorns important food source for many animalsGrows in wide range of soilsFlowers in springFirst, yellow flowers then reddish pistillate flowersAcorns mature about 120 days after pollinationWhite Oak

White OaksInsects attack White Oak treesSome include the Gypsy Moth, Orange Striped Oakworm, and the Oakleaf CaterpillarThe White Oak is also killed by many types of fungus

Type Of TreeDateTimeTemperatureWhite OakRed OakJan. 25, 201011:16-0.4C-0.6CWhite OakRed OakJan. 26, 201011:18-2.4C-2.6CWhite OakRed OakJan. 27, 201011:15-2.4C-3.4CWhite OakRed OakJan. 28, 201011:17-3.2C -6CWhite OakRed OakFeb. 1, 201011: 20-0.5C-5.2CWhite OakRed OakFeb. 2, 201011:160.4C0.9CWhite OakRed OakFeb. 3, 201011:170.6C-2.4CWhite OakRed OakFeb. 4, 201011:187.9C3.3CWhite OakRed OakFeb. 5, 201011:15-0.7C-2C

Discussionred oak colder eight out of nine times colder overall when compared to the white oak hypothesis was that the red oak was going to be colder grows faster meaning it would be thicker and retain the cold studied each tree (one of each kind) compared them by using an IRT (Infrared Thermometer) recorded three different areas of each tree base, middle, and top averaged them to show the information

11Bibliographyhttp://ostermiller.org/tree/readoaks.html

Http://www.na.fs.fed.us/pubs/silvics_manual/volume_2/quercus/alba.htm