Trees have been designed to accurately record time and weather. Archeologists can use tree-ring data to determine when a town was built or burned down. Tree rings even accurately record seasons and of drought and abundant rain.
Check out this page for an explanation of tree-ring dating techniques and to learn about collecting this data from live trees.
The University of Arizona has an entire laboratory dedicated to tree-ring research. This field is called dendrochronology.
Here is a great activity using tree ring core samples that you can do at home. All you need is a printer.
