Science Essay Contest: High School

+ Deadline is  November 1, 2026

Entry Guidelines

  • The 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) Can We Tech Our Way Out of Climate Change?
Write an evidence-based essay evaluating whether technological innovation can meaningfully slow, stop, or even reverse climate change.
Some things to consider and help get you started with this prompt: Compare several technological approaches and evaluate their potential, limitations, environmental costs, scalability, and unintended consequences. Every technology has tradeoffs. Building solar panels, batteries, data centers, and carbon-removal systems requires energy and raw materials. AI itself can consume significant amounts of electricity and water. What should be considered moving towards a greener future?

2) Space Garbage: Who Owns the Mess and Who Has to Clean It Up?
Write an evidence-based essay examining who should be responsible for managing and removing space debris.
Some things to consider and help get you started with this prompt: Earth’s orbit is becoming increasingly crowded with satellites, discarded rocket parts, and fragments created by collisions. These objects can travel at extremely high speeds and threaten spacecraft, astronauts, and valuable satellite systems. Who should pay to remove it? Could attempting to capture debris accidentally create more debris? Should countries or private companies be allowed to remove objects that belong to someone else?

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)