USGS Water Resources of Massachusetts and Rhode Island

2004 Rhode Island Earth Day Festival

	Rhode Island celebrates Earth Day 2004 at the Roger Williams Park Zoo, Providence, Rhode Island
	April 17, 2004: Rhode Island Celebrates Earth Day 2004 USGS Rhode Island Office staff member Emily Wild and USGS Volunteers for Science, Kate Giorgi and Melanie Cooke participated in the 2004 Earth Day celebration at the Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence, Rhode Island. Hundreds of general interest publications describing USGS maps, hydrologic data collection and analysis, geology, biological resources, and product information were disseminated to the public. About 400 educational posters were distributed to students, teachers, and parents. Over 200 folder packets were distributed describing the USGS activities in Rhode Island, and other areas in New England.
	The staff members gave educational demonstrations of how to read maps and the type of information that maps provide by explaining the topographic and surficial geology maps and using a 3-dimensional relief model. The public were inquiring about the USGS stream-gaging network in Rhode and the recent flooding of the Pawtuxet and Blackstone Rivers and Rhode Island, the ground-water data collection in southern Rhode Island, and the historical earthquakes in the area, including the Rhode Island earthquake in October 2003.