USGS Resources for Students

Whether you're in kindergarten or graduate school, USGS offers learning and work opportunities, programs, and internships for students of all ages.

The links below will guide you through the programs available. Also included are links to cool pictures and other fun and games.

K-12 | Scholarships & Internships | Amazing Images | Fun and Games |

K-12 resources:

America's Wetland
America's Wetland is a public interest campaign organized to raise awareness of the impact of Louisiana's wetland loss and increase support for efforts to conserve and save coastal Louisiana.

Ask-A-Geologist
Do you have a question about volcanoes, earthquakes, mountains, rocks, maps, ground water, lakes or rivers? Visit this site to ask a real geologist your earth science questions!

Ask Doctor Global Change
Ask a real scientist questions about global change research.

Astro Kids
USGS Astrogeology Research Program's web page just for kids! Visit this site for planet and moon facts, activities and coloring pages, fun projects or to browse the solar system.

BirdSleuth
Students learn to identify birds and partner with scientists to collecting meaningful data! Students engage in the process of science by carefully observing birds, asking and answering their own questions based on observations and data, and publishing their original research.

Coastal Science & Research News from Across USGS (Sound Waves)
Visit this site for information about coastal science, including hurricane and tsunami updates. You can also sign up to receive monthly email updates on the latest coastal science news.

Earthquakes for Kids
A great USGS site where you can find puzzles, Science Fair project ideas, online activities, learning tools, images, cool facts and more earthquake-related links.

Earth Science Week
A national and international event organized to help the public gain a better understanding and appreciation for the Earth Sciences and to encourage stewardship of the Earth. This site offers information about activities in your area, career information and how to earn an ESW Activity Patch.

Encyclopedia Smithsonian
This website offers answers to your questions about topics from A to Z.

Exploratorium
The Exploratorium is a non-profit science museum in San Francisco, and on this website you will find information about the 1989 earthquake "Loma Prieta," ideas for hands-on lessons about earthquakes from The Learning Studio and other useful links related to earthquakes.

First Gov for Kids
The U.S. government interagency Kid's Portal provides links to federal kids' sites along with some of the best kids' sites from other organizations, all grouped by subject.

Give Water A Hand
Give Water A Hand is a national watershed education programdesigned to involve young people in local environmental service projects. Here you'll find instructions on how your class can complete a community service project to protect and improve water resources.

National Geographic Kids
You'll find activities, homework help, games, photos, maps and more!

NBII Children's Butterfly Site
All about butterflies! Visit this site to learn about the butterfly's life cycle and behavior and to find butterfly photographs, coloring pages, links to other websites with information about butterflies and answers to common questions.

Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Educational Information for Students and Teachers
PWRC conducts research related to birds, amphibians and reptiles, ecology, wetlands, contaminants, wildlife monitoring, populations and biodiversity. Their website contains biological information about wildlife, including species identification tools and tutorials, as well as educational handouts and research methods. Also included is a link to Ask-A-Biologist where you may ask any question within the disciplines listed above.

Science in Your State
Just click on your state from the map and get real-time information about stream flows, groundwater, geology, recreation or find state USGS Science Centers.

Science in Your Watershed - USGS
This site offers a substantial inventory of educational resources focused on water education, watershed education and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) education.

Urban Bird Studies
Private citizens, including K-12 students, gather data on urban birds and scientists at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology use the data to answer scientific questions about urban birds. Anyone interested in birds can participate!

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Student's Page
Explore and learn about wildlife and their habitats and how you can help conserve, protect and enhance them! Also find many other exciting links for more information and ideas.

USGS Education
Activities, news and educational tolls related to the USGS science disciplines (biology, geology, geography, geospatial information and water).

USGS TerraWeb for Kids
Here you'll find 3D pictures, cool facts about terrestrial remote sensing and fun activities. You can also ask a real scientist any question you might have about remote sensing, images, satellites, how computers are used for remote sensing or anything else related to earth sciences.

USGS-BRD Kids Corner
The website for the USGS Biological Resources Division offers quizzes, coloring pages, puzzles, stories, fun projects, games and more!

USGS-BRD Learning Room
The USGS Biological Resources Division's Learning Room provides kids with homework help, information about biology and helpful links.

USGS South Florida Ecosystem History Project, Kids Corner
Find information about the south Florida ecosystem, what USGS scientists are studying and how they are helping to preserve this endangered ecosystem.

USGS Water Science for Schools
Here you'll find a picture gallery, an activity center and a list of other water-related links for additional information about water, water use, the water cycle and more.

Wandering Wildlife
Brought to you by the USGS Alaska Science Center, you can choose between six different species to watch as scientists track animals movement with satellite and radio telemetry across the Arctic.

Water Resources Information for Students and Teachers
Includes links to information on topics such as groundwater, real-time water data around the country, local water information, watersheds and aquifers.

Volcano World
Here you'll find information about current and past eruptions around the world and answers to any volcano question you might have.

Scholarships & Internships:

American Water Works Association (AWWA) Student Center
Here you can find an internship and browse career resources and scholarships within the water and water science professions.

AWWA Scholarship Opportunities
The American Water Works Association (AWWA) provides information on this site about scholarship opportunities in the areas of water supply and treatment, aquatic chemistry and environmental chemistry.

Digital Library for Earth System Education
Visit this site to browse a list of scholarship opportunities.

Earthwatch Institute, Student Opportunities
Earthwatch is a non-profit organization that promotes scientific field research and education. Here you'll find information about scholarships and volunteer activities for high school students.

EDMAP - University Geologic Mapping Component
The National Geologic Mapping Program (NCGMP) allocates funds to colleges and universities in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. An annual competitive grant process supports undergraduate and graduate students in a one-year mentored geologic mapping project that focuses on a specific geographic area.

Federal Funding Opportunities
This website allows you to find and apply for competitive grant opportunities from all federal grant-making agencies.

Mendenhall Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program
Visit this site to find out about this fellowship program intended for research within the scope of the USGS science disciplines.

NIWR-USGS Student Internship Program
This program is a collaborative effort between the National Institutes for Water Resources and USGS. It provides undergraduate and graduate students with career enhancing field and laboratory research experience through participation in USGS activities as interns.

Student Conservation Association
SCA provides students with conservation service internships and volunteer opportunities nationwide on our public lands.

USGS - BRD Volunteer Opportunity
Volunteers are collecting data to help assess purple loosestrife (an invasive plant species) in their regions. Your class can volunteer to help!

USGS/ECO Partnership Program for Student Internships
The Environmental Careers Organization is a non-profit organization that provides paid environmental internships for bachelor's, master's and doctoral students, as well as recent graduates.

U.S. Government Volunteer Opportunities
A catalog of volunteer opportunities and events within the federal government that is searchable by location, area of interest or by position.

USGS Student Research Opportunities
Research and volunteer opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students interested in geophysics and novel applications of geophysical methods for ground-water investigations.

USGS Employment Website
Here you'll find information about student employment, volunteer opportunities and current openings at USGS.

Amazing Images:

3D Photo Tours of National Parks
This site provides 3D photo tours featuring the geology and natural history of our national parks. Photo tours can be viewed in 3D (with 3D glasses) or as standard images.

NBII Digital Image Library
National Biological Informational Infrastructure (NBII) maintains a library of digital images representing wildlife, nature and environmental issues.

New York Wild WebCams
Exciting recorded and live footage of wildlife! For example, watch the progress of an osprey's nest from hatching to fledging!

Picturing Science - USGS Online Science tours
Fun, photographic tours of natural landscapes and wildlife.

USGS Earth Shots
Very detailed satellite images of local and global importance to environmental change, including informational articles explaining change in specific areas.

USGS-BRD Photo Gallery
The Biological Resources Discipline provides an array of nature-inspired photographs.

USGS Maps and Images
This site provides an array of planetary maps, including GIS maps, topographic maps, interactive maps and satellite images.

Your Sky
This is an interactive planetarium where you can produce maps of the sky for any time and date, viewpoint and observing location. Just choose a nearby city and any point in time, past or future, and see a map of the sky!

Fun and Games:

For Younger Kids:

Astro Kids
USGS Astrogeology Research Program's web page just for kids! Visit this site for planet and moon facts, activities and coloring pages, fun projects or to browse the solar system.

Classroom FeederWatch
FeederWatch is an annual winter-long survey of birds that visit feeders in North America. Help scientists track broad-scale movements of winter bird populations and long-term trends in bird distribution and abundance. Students can learn how science and scientists work, and in the process become scientists themselves!

For Older Kids (and adults):

National Atlas
This site is your one-stop-shop if you're looking for maps and geographic information about America. Dynamic maps are innovative, useful, understandable and interactive.

Project FeederWatch
Project FeederWatch is an annual winter-long survey of birds that visit feeders in North America. Participants collect data on birds, assisting scientists that track broad-scale movements of winter bird populations and long-term trends in bird distribution and abundance. Anyone with an interest in birds can participate!