How fat is a tree?
As trees grow they not only get taller but generally become fatter too - the older the tree the greater the circumference of the trunk. However some species such as field maple and hawthorn are very slow growing and may seem small in comparison to say an oak of the same age.
You can have a go at measuring the girth or cirumference of a tree by hugging it. A hug is based on finger tip to finger tip measurement of an adult, which we can assume is about 1.5m and for children about 1m. This distance is usually almost the same as your height, and means that you can try measuring a tree when you are out and about. |  |
This is a method you can use for measuring the height of a tree. Select a tree and walk away from it until you can just see its top when you bend over and look through your legs. Then count the number of paces from the spot where you stopped back to the tree. A pace is usually around 1 metre for an adult and 0.5 metres for a child. The number of paces you count should be roughly the same as its height!