Above: Rocks can look very different through a microscope. What are they made of?

Left: Fossils are interesting to study. The USGS doesn't have enough to let everyone take them home, but visitors can make rubbings of them to keep.

Below: Two girls study rocks with magnifying glasses.

Above: A retired USGS employee, one of the cadre of retired employees who volunteer at the Center, teaches these young students about stream gauging by using the current meter and the flume, thus simulating the activities of a USGS hydrologist. By monitoring a network of over 7,000 gauging stations across the country, the USGS has an integral role in keeping the Nation's water safe.

Right: Computers have made map making much easier for cartographers and have made etching onto coated plastic (a process called scribing) practically obsolete. Here students try their hand at the "old" way of making maps and learn about the types of skills cartographers needed to do their jobs.