Examples of science essays from Science Magazine Online.

What is an Essay? An essay is a short, written communication of your ideas about a certain topic. Its purpose is to provide the reader with key information in a limited number of words. An essay must be at least three paragraphs in length, but never longer than two pages. Anything longer than two pages must be treated as a "research paper".

Parts of an Essay Essays are arranged in the following basic form. The introduction and conclusion should never be more than one paragraph in length. The body may be more than one paragraph.   1. Introduction: The introduction sets up the essay and gives the reader an impression about the importance of the research topic. All introductions must include two things. Thesis statement: This is a single sentence at the beginning of the introduction that tells the reader what the essay is about. Background information: Enough background must be included to insure the reader understands the essay topic and its applications. 2. Body: This is the heart of the essay. Research information and personal thoughts are communicated in these paragraphs. The number of paragraphs in the body is determined by the depth of the research. A paragraph is included for each subtopic. Begin each new paragraph with a topic sentence, which introduces the subject of the paragraph. The purpose of an essay is to communicate your own thoughts, not copy them from someone else. 3. Conclusion: The conclusion makes your personal position clear on the research topic and the reasons for that position. Do not introduce new material in the conclusion, but it is important that the most important information from the body is summarized. The conclusion should relate to the introduction.