2024 Writing Contest: The Secret Life of Everyday Items

The 2024 EngineerGirl Writing Contest invited students to write a piece exploring the lifecycle of everyday items and the types of engineering involved along the way.

Read the Winning Essays!

Grade Level Specifications   |   Deadline   |   Judging & Prizes

There are many steps in the process of transforming things from raw materials into consumer products. Many of the processes are represented by whole industries, and that means lots of people are involved every step of the way. Your submission will focus on the engineers present in this lifecycle.

In thinking about your submission, consider made objects that you’ve used before or that you use every day, but don’t choose foods or plants.

To Enter the Contest

Elementary School (grades 3-5)

Select an item that interests or fascinates you, then think about the following:

• What materials is the object made of? Where did these materials originate? (i.e., wood came from trees, metals came from mining, etc.) This will be the beginning of the object’s life story.
• How do you use the object? Is this the object’s intended use? This will be the end of the object’s life story.
• Now, think about what happened to the object to get it from its beginning to its end. Think about the different kinds of engineers involved and their specific contributions. Consider the stories of all those engineers. How did it arrive at the first engineer’s desk? What work did that engineer accomplish to change the object? How did that engineer pass it on?

Think about the above questions to create your object's story. From a consistent perspective, write a piece exploring the lifecycle of your chosen object. Your chosen perspective could be the first-person point-of-view of the object or the engineers, or it could be in third person (a narrator). Make sure to feature at least three engineering disciplines. Your submission must be no longer than 800 words.

Middle School (grades 6-8)

Select an item that interests or fascinates you, then think about the following:

• What materials is the object made of? Where did these materials originate? (i.e., wood came from trees, metals came from mining, etc.) This will be the beginning of the object’s life story.
• How do you use the object? Is this the object’s intended use? This will be the middle of the object’s life story.
• What will you do when you’re done using the object? (Donate, recycle, etc.) This will be the end of your object’s story.
• Now think about what happened to the object to get it from its beginning to its middle to its end. Think about the different kinds of engineers involved and their specific contributions. Consider the stories of all those engineers. How did it arrive at the first engineer's desk? What work did that engineer accomplish to change the object? How did that engineer pass it on?

Think about the above questions to create your object's story. From a consistent perspective, write a piece exploring the lifecycle of your chosen object. Your chosen perspective could be the first-person point-of-view of the object or the engineers, or it could be in third person (a narrator). Make sure to feature at least three engineering disciplines. Your submission must be no longer than 1,000 words.

You may also include a reference list of up to 5 resources, but this is not required. Each resource should be listed using the APA citation style. The reference list does not count toward your essay's word count.

High School (grades 9-12)

Select an item that interests or fascinates you, then think about the following:

• What materials is the object made of? Where did these materials originate? (i.e., wood came from trees, metals came from mining, etc.) This will be the beginning of the object's life story.
• How do you use the object? Is this the object's intended use? This will be the middle of the object's life story.
• What will you do when you're done using the object? (Donate, recycle, etc.) Where does the object end up? This will be the end of your object's story.
• Now think about how the object got from its beginning to its middle to its end. Think about the different kinds of engineers involved and their specific contributions. Think about the object's path through the supply chain.
• Who was involved in the creation, transportation, and distribution of the object? How many of these individuals were engineers?
• Thinking specifically of the engineers involved, what portions of the object's life story are a result of their work? What did this work look like?
• How do you think the pandemic-related disruptions to the supply chain affected the object's lifecycle?

Think about the above questions to create your object's story. From a consistent perspective, write a piece exploring the lifecycle of your chosen object. Your chosen perspective could be the first-person point-of-view of the object or the engineers, or it could be in third person (a narrator). Make sure to feature at least three engineering disciplines. Your submission must be no longer than 1,200 words.

You may also include a reference list of up to 8 resources, but this is not required. Each resource should be listed using the APA citation style. The reference list does not count toward your essay's word count.

More tips on how to write a winning entry can be found in the complete rules & regulations.

Entries can be submitted via the
Online Submission Form*

by February 1, 2024 at 11:59pm EST.

 

* Those with unreliable or slow internet connections may request a fill-in PDF Form that can be completed offline and submitted via email. These forms must also be received via email prior to the deadline above.