AAPT High School Physics Photo Contest: A Complete Guide

The AAPT High School Physics Photo Contest is an international competition that challenges students to demonstrate their understanding of physics through an original photo and a short written explanation. For students interested in physics, engineering, or STEM-focused college programs, this provides a direct way to demonstrate scientific thinking beyond tests and grades.

This guide explains how the AAPT Photo Contest works, how to enter, and how to boost your chances of winning.

• What Is the AAPT High School Physics Photo Contest?
• AAPT High School Physics Photo Contest Awards and Prizes
• How to Qualify for the AAPT High School Physics Photo Contest
• How to Get into the AAPT High School Physics Photo Contest
• How to Win the AAPT High School Physics Photo Contest
• AAPT High School Physics Photo Contest Previous Winners
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Takeaways

What Is the AAPT High School Physics Photo Contest?

The AAPT High School Physics Photo Contest is an international competition open to students in grades 9–12, or equivalent international levels.

You submit one original color or black-and-white photograph that illustrates a physics concept, along with a brief written explanation showing your understanding of the underlying principles. The goal is to capture a strong image with minimal editing and explain the physics clearly in 250 words or fewer. Each entry is placed into one of two categories:

• Natural. Phenomena that occur on their own and can be observed without special setup.
• Contrived. Phenomena you intentionally create or arrange through experiments or controlled setups.

Both categories are judged by the same criteria: photo quality, clarity of explanation, and depth of physics understanding.

Organized by the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT), the contest attracts over 1,000 student entries each year. Submissions typically open in the spring, from March 1 to May 15, after which physics teachers review all entries and select the Top 100 photos for final judging at AAPT’s annual Summer Meeting.

For the 2025 AAPT Physics Photo Contest, the Top 100 photos were judged at the 2025 AAPT Summer Meeting in Washington, DC, held August 2–6, 2025. The 2026 iteration is expected to follow the same structure, with spring submissions and final judging at the 2026 AAPT Summer Meeting, with dates and location announced by AAPT.

AAPT High School Physics Photo Contest Awards and Prizes

If your entry places in the AAPT High School Physics Photo Contest, you can earn formal recognition for both your physics understanding and scientific communication skills. Awards are given separately in the Natural and Contrived categories, so you are evaluated within the context of your chosen type of phenomenon.

You may receive awards such as First Place with $100 and a certificate, Second Place with $75 and a certificate, or Third Place with $50 and a certificate.

If your photo places in the top three, your teacher is also recognized. Teachers of 1st-, 2nd-, and 3rd-place students receive a $100 Vernier Software & Technology gift certificate and a certificate of recognition, reflecting the instructional value of the work.

Beyond placement awards, many students earn Honorable Mentions for specific strengths such as expert-like reasoning, clarity of writing, strong procedures, aesthetic quality, or originality.

How to Qualify for the AAPT High School Physics Photo Contest

Below are the list of contest details and submission rules you should know for the AAPT High School Physics Photo Contest:

Eligibility

You may participate if you are a high school student in grades 9–12, or the equivalent international grade level. Each student may submit only one photo, and all work must be individual. Group entries are not allowed.

You must participate through a registered school and teacher, since independent entries are not accepted. Each school may submit up to 15 total entries per year, so some schools may set internal deadlines or selection processes.

Required documents

Once your eligibility is confirmed, you must complete a full submission that includes:

• One original photograph taken by you that clearly shows a physics concept
• A title that identifies the focus of your photo
• A physics explanation of 250 words or fewer that explains what is happening and why
• A signed Entry Agreement confirming authorship and rule compliance (a parent or guardian must sign if you are under 18)

Photos must be taken by the student and uploaded as high-resolution JPEG or PNG files under 50 MB. Missing materials or unsigned forms will make your entry ineligible.

Contest fees

Entry fees are paid during school registration, not by individual students:

• $10 per photo for non-AAPT members
• $5 per photo for AAPT members

You do not pay any additional fees once your school submits your entry.

Registration deadlines

For the 2025 contest, the registration deadlines were:

• March 3–May 15 for the Teacher and school registration
• May 29 (by midnight) for student photo upload deadline

The 2026 AAPT Physics Photo Contest is expected to follow the same timeline, with teacher registration closing in mid-May and student submissions due by late May. Because teacher registration must happen before students can upload entries, it’s important to coordinate with your teacher early.

How to Get into the AAPT High School Physics Photo Contest

Getting into the AAPT High School Physics Photo Contest requires early planning, coordination with your teacher, and a clear understanding of how the submission process works. The steps below explain what to do at each stage:

Step 1: Confirm school participation and secure your spot.

Start by speaking with your physics teacher as early as possible. Ask whether your school will participate and how many students can submit entries. Because each school is limited to 15 submissions, some teachers may set internal deadlines or require preliminary review.

Step 2: Prepare and submit a physics-based photo with a clear scientific explanation.

Choose a physics concept you can capture visually, decide whether it fits the Natural or Contrived category, take a clear photo that illustrates the phenomenon, and write a concise explanation that accurately describes the physics behind it. Each part of this process is explained in detail in the next section.

Step 3: Complete teacher registration requirements.

Confirm that your teacher has registered your school and submitted your name and email address. This step is required for you to receive access to the student submission portal. Without it, you cannot upload your materials.

Step 4: Submit your materials carefully and on time.

Once you receive the email invitation, upload your photo, essay, and a signed Entry Agreement. Double-check file formats, resolution, word count, and required signatures. All materials must be submitted by May 29 (by midnight), when the portal closes automatically.

How to Win the AAPT High School Physics Photo Contest

Winning the AAPT High School Physics Photo Contest depends on clearly understanding and explaining the physics behind your photo. Judges focus on your reasoning as much as the image itself. The sections below outline what strong entries do well and share examples from past winners.

1. Choose the right category.

Before you take your photo, decide which category your idea fits. Natural entries show physics that happens naturally, while Contrived entries show physics you intentionally create or arrange.

Winning entries make this choice clear. For example, “Comet’s Ghost Tail” won in the Natural category because the student observed a real astronomical event. “Mermaid in the Dark — Rainbow Smoke” won in the Contrived category because the student designed an experiment to make light visible.

Tip: If you had to build or arrange anything to see the effect, it belongs in Contrived.

2. Focus on physics more than the photo.

A simple photo with clear physics usually scores higher than a flashy image with weak explanation. Judges care just as much about what you explain as what you photograph. For example, a clear photo of a straw bending in water can be very strong if the explanation clearly discusses refraction and changes in light speed, even if the image itself looks simple.

Tip: If you can explain the physics in one or two clear sentences, your idea is probably strong.

3. Explain the physics clearly (like a scientist).

Strong entries explain why the phenomenon happens. Judges look for correct physics terms and clear cause-and-effect reasoning. Based on winning entries, strong essays often include terms like:

• Refraction, reflection, dispersion, interference
• Wavelength, refractive index, scattering, orbital plane
• Energy transfer, force, pressure, or wave motion

For example, in “Comet’s Ghost Tail,” the essay explains that the “anti-tail” appears because Earth crosses the comet’s orbital plane, causing dust to reflect sunlight in a way that creates an optical illusion. Terms like dust particles, sunlight reflection, and observer perspective are clearly used.

In “Mermaid in the Dark — Rainbow Smoke,” the essay explains dispersion (different wavelengths bending differently) and Mie scattering (smoke particles scattering light), showing how invisible light paths become visible.

Tip: Include at least one sentence that explains what would change if something were different, such as the angle of light or the medium it passes through.

4. Keep editing minimal and honest.

You may adjust brightness, contrast, or sharpness to improve clarity, but you should not add or change anything that affects the physics. For example, using a long exposure to capture a comet’s tail or adjusting contrast to make wave patterns clearer is fine. Adding colors or effects that weren’t actually there is not.

Tip: If the physics looks “better” only after heavy editing, the image is probably not suitable.

5. Write a clear, focused essay.

Your essay must be 250 words or fewer, so every sentence should matter. Winning essays usually follow a simple structure:

• Name the physics concept. What is happening?
• Explain why it happens. What causes it?
• Connect the explanation to the photo. Where can we see this in the image?

Here is a sample structure inspired by winning entries:

Caustic Light from a Crystal

Sunlight passing through a faceted crystal traces a bright, curved filament of light. The form belongs to a caustic: a concentration of refracted rays shaped by the geometry of a transparent object. Long before the phenomenon carried a formal name, such patterns drew the attention of natural philosophers who treated light as both mathematical problem and aesthetic event.

As light enters the crystal, each facet redirects the rays according to principles articulated in the seventeenth century, when figures such as Descartes and Huygens sought lawful descriptions for refraction. The crystal’s irregular symmetry causes these paths to compress rather than disperse uniformly. Rays accumulate along a narrow trajectory, generating the luminous, threadlike curve visible in the image. The brightest sections mark regions of highest ray density, a visual confirmation of ideas that once existed only as diagrams and equations.

The crisp edges of the curve reflect the precise refraction imposed by flat crystal faces, while the surrounding haze emerges from rays that diverge after interacting with gentler contours. Eighteenth-century studies of caustics, especially those pursued within geometric optics, treated such curves as idealized constructions. Here they appear as material fact, sensitive to the slightest shift in angle or light source.

The image stands in quiet continuity with this history. It shows how transparent, faceted forms reorganize light, translating abstract optical laws into fleeting structures of intensity. What earlier thinkers traced with compass and ink now unfolds effortlessly on a wall, brief and exact, as light completes its passage through glass.

AAPT High School Physics Photo Contest Previous Winners

Each year, the AAPT Photo Contest winners reflect a wide range of physics topics, from optics and waves to electromagnetism and fluid dynamics. From more than a thousand submissions worldwide, judges select 100 photos.

From those Top 100 entries, students earn 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place and Honorable Mentions for specific strengths such as reasoning, writing, originality, and experimental design.

Natural Category Winners

These students earned top recognition for outstanding observation, physics understanding, and clear scientific explanation of naturally occurring phenomena.

Contrived Category Winners

These students were recognized for exceptional experimental design, physics insight, and the ability to make complex physical principles visually clear.

To view the complete list of all Top 100 winners, visit the 2025 High School Physics Photo Contest Gallery – Top 100 Photos on the AAPT website.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Is the AAPT High School Physics Photo Contest prestigious?

Yes. The AAPT High School Physics Photo Contest is widely respected in physics education circles. Being selected among the Top 100 photos internationally means your work stood out for both physics understanding and scientific explanation.

2. Does the AAPT Photo Contest help with college admissions?

Yes—when explained clearly in your activities list or essays. At AdmissionSight, we view the AAPT Photo Contest as a high-impact academic extracurricular. Recognition such as Top 100 placement, category awards, or Honorable Mentions can strengthen applications for physics, engineering, and research-focused majors.

3. How competitive is the AAPT Physics Photo Contest?

The contest is highly competitive. Each year, more than 1,000 students worldwide submit entries, and only 100 photos are selected for final judging at the AAPT Summer Meeting.

4. Can international students participate?

Yes. The AAPT Physics Photo Contest is an international competition and is open to students worldwide, as long as you meet the grade-level requirements and participate through a registered school and teacher.

Takeaways

• The AAPT High School Physics Photo Contest rewards students who observe real-world phenomena and explain the physics behind them clearly and accurately.
• Reaching the Top 100 demonstrates strong analytical reasoning, creativity, and college-level scientific communication.
• Entries are judged on the clarity of the physics explanation, the accuracy of the scientific reasoning, and how effectively the photo illustrates the chosen concept.
• Successful submissions focus on a single, well-defined phenomenon—such as refraction, caustics, diffraction, motion, or forces—and present it visually in a way that supports concise, correct scientific explanation.
• Our Academic and Extracurricular Profile Evaluation & Roadmap can help students position achievements like the AAPT Photo Contest strategically so admissions officers understand their rigor and significance.