General Description and awards :

The DuPont Challenge Science Essay Competition invites students to write a 700 to 1,000 word essay that discusses a scientific discovery, theory, event, or technology application in which the writer finds particular interest. As one of the leading student science and technology prize programs, the DuPont Challenge has recognized thousands of winners for over twenty years. Students currently enrolled between grades 7 and 12 who attend public or non-public schools in the United States, Canada, and their territories are eligible to enter the competition. The maximum prize is $ 3,000.

Rules:

http://www.glcomm.com/dupont/rules.htm (this page was used as the source for information on Scholar Holler about the Dupont Challenge Science Essay Competition).

Tips for success:

Prize-winning essays emerge from the mind of an enthusiastic writer. For this reason, you ought to devote a reasonable portion of your time toward finding a topic that interests you greatly. Subject areas include (but are not limited to) the following:

Anthropology, Archaeology, Astronomy, Biology, Biochemistry, Biomedical Sciences, Biotechnology, Chemistry, Engineering, Environmental Sciences, Food & Nutrition, Genetics, Geology, Geophysics, Mathematics, Medicine, Paleontology, Physics, etc.

Prize-winning essays also show the following attributes (according to DuPont judges):
> Creativity, originality, style, and readability
> Appropriate choice of subject matter
> Thorough research using a variety of resources
> Thoughtful consideration of how the topic affects you and others
> Clear, well-organized writing that is free of spelling, grammatical, and usage errors

To focus an essay topic and discussion, try the following tips:

> Students should describe how the topic captured their interest-and its importance to science, technology, society, and the future. What particular facts and or theories of the topic bring excitement and further curiosity? Writers should make sure to describe in detail what captures your interest - give specific examples. Before writing, students should take time to consider how the topic has influenced science, technology, society, and the future. Once again, provide details that the reader can relate to or research themselves.

> Students provide background information about the topic. If it concerns a new development, then the essay should mention what was known about it previously and how scientists are exploring the topic at present. Background information helps bring an educated reader into territory where the author can discuss more detailed and advanced ideas. To this end, the background information should only include information directly relevant (i.e. not distracting) to the topic and also any information that helps to analyze how the topic is important to science, technology, society, etc.

> Students should show how the topic touches other areas of science and technology that might contribute to an increased understanding of the topic. Once again, showing how the topic relates to other areas of science and technology (e.g. similarities or differences) will strengthen your analysis of how your topic is a part of science as a whole - beyond just a particular branch.

> Students should include alternative views about the topic or development (if there are any) along with their own point of view. Viewpoints could deal with the pure science behind the discovery or also the impact the topic (e.g. the ethical viewpoint, the political viewpoint, etc.). Researching the topic thoroughly will help to expose the student to different viewpoints.