What interests you in the exciting and ever-changing world of science? Where do your interests lie and what subjects would you like to explore in greater detail? What application of scientific thought or research do you believe can help solve some of the challenges of today’s complex world? What kind of technology fascinates you? What future uses do you see for an improved version of existing technology? And where in the world of science might YOU fit in? Could a career in one of the sciences or in applied sciences await you? Think about it, write about it.

The DuPont Challenge^© Science Essay Competition gives you an opportunity to put your thoughts on paper—not only expressing yourself, but sharing your ideas with others. The only limits—besides the contest’s 1,000-word limit—are your own enthusiasm, your research, and your interest in studying and presenting a fascinating aspect of science or technology.

Prepare a Winning Essay
Research and Writing Tips

See a detailed list of Student Awards

Prepare a Winning Essay

How can you increase your chances of writing a winning essay? There are several things to consider before you begin:

• Choose a topic that truly interests you. Any piece of writing will have more energy, more clarity, more of a feeling of a person behind the writing—if that person really cares about the topic.
  
  
• Have a point and develop it in a clear, organized way. Essays can either be expository (explaining a concept, theory, experiment, etc.) or persuasive (arguing for an explanation, approach, or course of action), but all of them need to have a point, illustrate it with good evidence from a variety of sources, and develop it in a logical way. Don’t assume the reader knows as much about your subject as you do—in fact, don’t assume the reader knows anything about it at all! Think, “If I knew nothing about this, or even why it is important, what would I need to read in order to understand?” Answer that question for yourself. Then, that is what you should write.
  
  
• Show why your subject matters. The essay readers will be interested in why your subject is important to “the real world”—today’s world, or tomorrow’s. It is part of your challenge to address this issue directly.
  
  
• Write more than one draft. Some successful writers have said that grinding out the first draft is the difficult part of writing—and then revising it is the “fun” part. Revision is fun because it is the part of the writing process in which you turn your raw material into something that truly communicates. When you revise, make sure you catch all those errors in grammar, punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and so on that we all make in first drafts. Also, look with a critical eye at the organization of your essay: Is the information presented in a clear order? Do transitions help the argument to flow smoothly?
  
  
• Use the help your teacher can offer. No one is a good editor for his or her own writing. We know too well what we were “trying to say.” Your teacher can read your work at any stage and offer useful comments that will sharpen your essay and make it more effective. Your teacher can also suggest research sources that may help you to back up your points more effectively.

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Research and Writing Tips

Perhaps the most important first step you will want to take is to narrow your topic sufficiently so that it can be covered in 700-1,000 words. Once you get writing, you will discover that is fewer words than it might seem to be. And if you choose too broad a topic, your treatment of it will probably come across as superficial and general. The essay readers will think you just skimmed the surface of your subject, and you will lose points for that.

One way to narrow your topic is to phrase it in your mind as scientists often phrase problems they confront—as a question. Say you are interested in air pollution. You might start with a question like,
“How can we reduce air pollution in the United States?”

There’s no way that you will be able to answer that question intelligently in 1,000 words. So narrow it down to
“How can we come up with energy sources that will reduce air pollution?”

Then narrow it again, to something like
“What kinds of energy create the least pollution?”

Then, you might narrow it to
“What role can the use of solar energy play in reducing air pollution in the United States?”

Now, that may STILL be too broad—but it is getting closer. And the process of narrowing-down will also help you zero in on what you really want to write about and what the focus of your research should be.

Speaking of research, writers today have more material close at hand than ever before. Using search words to cruise the Internet for relevant information has revolutionized nonfiction writing. But it also has created new dangers, because it is still true that you can’t believe everything you read. When gathering information, stick with reputable sources.

• Sites that have the suffixes gov. (government) or edu. (educational) are most often most trustworthy.
• The national organization of the branch of science that is relevant to your topic should be dependable.
• Online encyclopedias are sometimes dependable.

With some sources, on the other hand, you should be careful with the information you’re getting:

• Posts or blogs by individuals, particularly if they are not experts who can demonstrate their credentials, are very often undependable, and good to stay away from.
• Don’t use information from any site that is trying to sell anything.

In general, make sure that any fact you use in your argument is verifiable by at least two or three sources—just as scientists make sure the results of experiments can be independently duplicated before considering them to be valid.

Now, a word about style—writing style. This is to be a “formal” essay, not a personal one, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t let your personality shine through. You have enthusiasm for your topic; let the reader see it. It’s all right to use a little humor, too. It’s a good idea to give your essay immediacy by using brief quotations from experts. And it’s OK—in fact, it’s a plus—to use figures of speech such as similes, metaphors, personification, and alliteration. You may associate those kinds of things more with papers for English class than with science essays, but in fact they enliven any kind of writing. Look at this paragraph from an essay by the late science writer Lewis Thomas:

Ants are so much like human beings as to be an embarrassment. They farm fungi, raise aphids as livestock, launch armies into war, use chemical sprays to alarm and confuse enemies, capture slaves, engage in child labor, exchange information ceaselessly. They do everything but watch television.

That is an extended example of personification, comparing ants to people—and isn’t it fun to read? And doesn’t it also provide useful information about ants? And doesn’t it make you want to read more? You may not have the experience as a writer that Lewis Thomas had, but you can give your writing flair, too.

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