Annual Open House

Open House Exhibits

Example Open House exhibits from past years are listed below.

Tools of the Trade Wear a USGS hard hat, tool belt and learn how to handle several tools of the trade. Let a geologist teach you about different products made from various minerals and where they are found. Can you guess which mineral is ground to produce baby powder? Come and ask!

Volcano - Mount St. Helens Watch Mount St. Helens erupt and send ash into the air! Learn about the relationship between plate boundaries, major fault zones, and active volcanoes. Mount St. Helens, located in Washington State, experienced its last major eruption in 1980, and was followed by 21 smaller eruptive episodes. The last 17 episodes built a lava dome in the volcano's crater. To monitor Mount St. Helens visit http://volcanoes.usgs.gov.

Auger Drill Barge Geologists frequently drill cores samples. The auger drill is used by USGS scientists to take sand and clay cores. The auger drill has a cork-screw shaped drill. Scientists have used the auger drill in Louisiana, South Carolina and Tampa Bay just to name a few locations. In Louisiana, drilling was done from the barge; in Tampa Bay scientists used the auger to drill monitoring wells; and in South Carolina it was used to take continuous sediment cores.

Sands from Around the World Do you think sand at all beaches in the United States looks and feels the same? Take a look at a gigantic United States map and take a guess. Learn why sediment sizes, colors, and textures are different practically everywhere! Maybe you can make suggestions about your next family vacation after you visit this exhibit.

Looking Beneath the Sea Floor Dig through sediment core halves, taken from various locations in Florida. Use an official USGS sampling bag to take home a sediment sample. Maybe you will find a piece of coral, an interesting rock, or a fossil. Learn how geologists use core samples to discover the history of the earth.

Collecting Microbes in African Dust A "mad scientist" will show you how bacteria, gathered in air samples from around the world, grow on Petri-dishes in the lab. Get the chance to feel the jelly like agar in the Petri-dishes between your fingers and compare the different types of bacterial growth. For more information, visit http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/african_dust/.

Coral Reefs: Cities Under the Sea Learn and touch different types of Caribbean corals. What conditions do coral reefs require and how quickly do they grow? Could African dust be contributing to the decline of coral-reef environments? Coral reefs are the rainforests of the sea. In the movie "Fishes of Isla del Coco, Costa Rica," small butterfly fishes and angelfishes clean large sharks and rays; remoras harass divers; guinea fowl puffers interact in curious ways; groupers and trumpet fishes eye an octopus; barnacle blennies daringly leap from their homes to feed; and bottlenose dolphins herd jacks into a "bait ball" as a prelude to feeding.

Coastal Louisiana Sinking! Since the 1930s, more than 1,000 square miles of Louisiana's coastal wetlands have disappeared! In some local areas, 35 to 60% of the original land area is now open water. Hear what is causing the land to sink at much faster rates than in the recent geologic past. Look inside sediment cores and learn how the different sediment layers help us understand these processes. Visit our Web site for more information: http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/gc-subsidence/.

Watching Hurricanes Hear how LIDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) is used to detect shoreline changes after hurricanes and how impacts from hurricanes can be forecasted in advance. View before and after photo pairs on-line at http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/hurricanes/ to see examples of dune erosion, dune over-wash, and seawall failure from past hurricanes.

Bird's Eye View: Using Laser Lidar to Map Coral Reefs Learn how scientists map and study coral reefs from the sky! Using laser scanning, scientists are able to map coral reefs quickly over large regions. When the lidar penetrates the water and reflects back to the plane the depth of the seafloor is recorded. Is the lidar's accuracy affected by clear or turbulent seas? In addition to airborne and underwater imaging, biologists count and identify fish and coral species on reefs. For more information about lidar visit http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/lidar/.

Microfossils and Ocean Surface Temperatures Take a look at the tiny microfossils through a microscope and try to image being that small. Learn whether microfossils live in warm or cold ocean waters.

South Florida Information Access (SOFIA) Web site The SOFIA Web site contains information about current USGS activities in south Florida, including the Everglades and Florida Bay. On this site you can find publications, current projects, data, and other related information about this ecosystem. The kids' pages on SOFIA help teach kids about South Florida's ecosystems, its history, and critters. Print out coloring pages, play games, and take a virtual tour all over south Florida including Everglades National Park, Big Cypress National Preserve, and the Florida Keys. You'll see mangroves, alligators, deer, birds of all kinds, and a few other surprises! Web sites: SOFIA, SOFIA Kids Pages, South Florida Ecosystem History Kids Pages.

Gulf sturgeon Rub your fingers along the armored plates and through the whiskers of a stuffed Gulf sturgeon. Several live Gulf sturgeons will also be on display. Learn about the vacuum-like-mouth that allows a sturgeon to suck food out of the mud and listen to the sounds sturgeon make as they leap out of the river. The migration cycle of sturgeon from the river to the Gulf of Mexico is also interesting. Ask why the Gulf sturgeon is an indicator species for the health of the Suwannee River. For more information, visit: http://cars.er.usgs.gov/basis/Marine_Study/2022/2022.html and http://cars.er.usgs.gov/basis/Marine_Study/2008/2008.html.

Florida Manatee Have you ever touched a manatee bone? At the USGS you can touch a manatee's skull and run your fingers along its jaw and teeth. Rib and spinal cord bones will also be on display. Manatee tracking equipment involving satellites in space will be discussed too. Test your skill with a game to match boat scar patterns on photos of manatees. For more information, visit: http://cars.er.usgs.gov/Manatees/manatees.html.

Real-time Water Data Did you know that from your desk you can monitor the effects of our recent hurricanes? In the eastern U.S. are we experiencing above-average flows? Learn how the USGS operates a network of more than 8,000 stream gages throughout the country and provides this real-time information to the National Weather Service where it is used for flood forecasting and to notify emergency managers. Field personnel collect data, or the gages relay it through telephones or satellites to offices where it is processed automatically in near real time. In many cases, the data are available online within minutes. The USGS WaterWatch Web site allows you to see what is happening to streams in your local area and show you the places most affected by heavy rains expected from these storms. From the Web site http://water.usgs.gov/waterwatch/, click on your state to select a gauging station on a local stream.

Making Waves Have you ever wondered how waves are created? USGS scientists study how waves are generated in the deep ocean and move towards the beach. The waves shoal and refract due to the bathymetry and ultimately break at the shore. In the surf zone the waves move sand to form sandbars and drive longshore currents.

Water Quality Sampling Vehicle Have you ever wondered how scientists test and monitor water quality around Florida? Do you know how to read a water meter or its importance? At the open house scientists will answer these questions and you can tour the USGS water quality vehicle! Learn how scientists operate their equipment and run tests while in the "field."

Why Do Tampa Bay Sediments Stink? Have you ever wondered why sediments and sands in Tampa Bay smell like rotten eggs? A microbial ecologist at the USGS asked the same question. Learn how bacteria in the sediments make that terrible smell and how bacteria influence geochemical cycles in Tampa Bay sediment systems.

Bacteria at the Beach Did you know germs are found everywhere, even at the beach? Not all bacteria are bad, but they are very small. Find out some of the cool things bacteria do to help us and how microbiologists test marine water and sand to make sure the beaches are safe.

A Marsh is like a Sponge A popular cartoon character helps USGS scientist give students a tour of tidal wetlands. Join us for some squishy fun. You will learn how marshes absorb and release water and air, and how tidal marshes help to absorb wave energy. You will learn how the tidal wetlands contribute to the estuary food web and some animals that call the marshlands their home.

Mississippi Mud Using a core extruder, you can help slice a sediment core into equal sections, and then squeeze the sections dry. Learn how the water samples from the different sections are then analyzed and compared. For more information, visit: http://gulfsci.usgs.gov/missriv/index.html.

GPS in Tampa Bay Let USGS scientists show you how we use the Global Positioning System (GPS) to accurately map the sea floor. Learn to use a GPS and how it comes in handy in some sticky situations!

The National Map Have you ever drawn or used a map? Let scientists at the USGS teach you how to make a digital map using The National Atlas and learn how to read map symbols. Did you know some maps lead nowhere? Learn how that is possible. We have several map puzzles to challenge you too! For more information, visit The National Map.

Groundwater Model Have you ever wondered where our drinking water comes from or where the water goes after a storm? Do you know what karst is? How are sinkholes and springs similar and how are they different? What does all this mean for west-central Florida's ground-water resources? The USGS has a working groundwater model that illustrates how ground water moves beneath our feet. Using this model you can see (1) how surface pollutants can contaminant our drinking water in aquifers (2) how saltwater intrusion occurs, (3) the effects of prolonged drought conditions.