The deadline for this contest has passed. See the winners.
Shopping at your local supermarket is a different experience today than it was even 50 years ago. Today the food we eat comes from around the world and is often already prepared in a wonderful variety of ways. Engineers are actively involved in every step of the process—they design the specialized machines used to plant and harvest crops and develop unique manufacturing processes to prepare, package, and transport foods in safe and secure ways. Consider these popular foods:
Grades 3-5: (No more than 500 words) Choose one of the foods from the list and explain how it is produced, from the planting and harvesting of raw material to being ready to eat. Describe how engineers are involved in different steps of the process. Grades 6-8: (No more than 750 words) Choose one of the foods from the list and explain how it is produced, from the planting and harvesting of raw material to being ready to eat. Choose a technology critical to one or more steps in the process and explain how it works. Describe how different types of engineers (e.g. civil, mechanical, electrical, etc.) might have contributed to the design of the technology as well as key elements of that design. Grades 9-12: (No more than 1500 words) Choose one of the foods from the list and explain how it is produced, from the planting and harvesting of raw material to being ready to eat. Choose a technology critical to one or more steps in that process and explain how it works. Describe how different types of engineers (e.g. civil, mechanical, electrical, etc.) might have contributed to the design of the technology as well as key elements of that design. Talk about what engineers are currently doing to improve this technology. Be sure to include your references.
The contest is open to individual girls and boys in each of three categories (Choose your category by grade-level unless you are unsure of your grade):
If you are a prior winner and have received a cash prize from EngineerGirl! in any of the above grade categories, you may not enter again in the same age group.
Thank you for your interest in the essay contest. The online submission has been closed.
Entries must be received by 6:00 p.m. (EST) on March 1, 2012.
All winning entries will be published on the EngineerGirl! website. (Please review our publication agreement before you submit your essay. All finalists will be asked to fill out and return the publication agreement in order to advance to the final round of judging.) In addition, all winners will receive the prizes listed below:
You may want to look at some of these recommended links to begin thinking about how engineers are related to the food we eat. If you are a teacher, this page also includes some great resources for the classroom.
This year's contest is made possible by the generous support of Lockheed Martin Corporation.