Science Essay Contest: High School

+ Deadline is  November 1, 2025

Entry Guidelines

  • The SACP High School Essay Contest is open to all students in grades 10 through 12 in our 8 state region, which includes PA, WV, OH, VA, DE, MD, NY and NJ.
  • All information requested on the entry form must be included.
  • The essay should have no more than 2500 characters. The essay is to be in prose (no poetry please), and be the independent work of the student. Any essay containing plagiarized material will result in rejection of the essay.
  • To be fair to all contestants, the use of artificial intelligence software, including ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, or similar tools, is not permitted. Any essay found to contain AI-generated material will result in rejection of the essay.
  • Student essays must be submitted by a faculty member of the student’s school.
  • No individual school may submit more than two essays in the high school contest.
  • Failure to comply with these instructions may result in a scoring penalty or rejection of the essay.

Essay Topics:

Select ONE topic for submission. Cite all references in MLA format. 

1) Think about your daily routine—from the moment you wake up to when you go to bed. Describe how chemistry plays a role in your day. Include specific examples and explain the science behind them. How might your day be different without modern chemistry?

2) Cooking is full of chemical reactions! Choose a favorite food or recipe and explain what chemical changes occur during its preparation (e.g., caramelization, fermentation, emulsification). How does understanding chemistry help make the dish better?

Judging Guidelines

Judging will be based on the following criteria:
 + Content (40%)
 + Creativity (20%)
 + Composition (30%)
 + Following Directions (10%)

Awards

1st Place: $300
2nd Place: $200
3rd Place: $100
Honorable Mentions (10 each): $50

Student home address(Required)
 
 
 
List all resources used in MLA format. When Internet resources are cited, they should also utilize the MLA format. Simply listing a search engine is not an acceptable citation.
I hereby certify that the above statements are true and correct to the best of my knowledge. I understand that a false statement may disqualify me.(Required)