130 Original Informative Essay Topics to Spice Up Your Paper

At EssayWriters, we routinely handle hundreds of informative essays. And there is one thing our affordable essay writers often get asked to do: help our customers choose a good topic for their informative essay.

Understandably, the thought of picking a topic can easily prompt choice paralysis. You might have a vague idea of the central subject but be clueless about how to turn it into a good topic.

If that hits close to home, you’ve come to the right place. Below, we’ll break down what makes good topics for this particular essay type — and list 130 ideas to kickstart your brainstorming.

As its name suggests, an informative essay aims to provide information on a specific topic, be it a historical event, process, or phenomenon. Unlike a persuasive or argumentative essay, this essay type doesn’t seek to sway the reader’s opinion; it’s meant only to educate.

That’s one of the reasons why picking a topic for an informative essay is a bit tricky. It can’t be biased or subjective, so topics like “the best way to fight climate change” won’t fly here. Your choice of topic will also determine how easy you’ll find researching and writing the essay itself.

So, you’re sold on the idea that choosing a good topic is crucial. But what does that mean, exactly?

The best way to answer this question is by listing what makes certain topics suitable for an information essay. In a nutshell, a good topic is:

- Relevant. Your topic shouldn’t be too basic or outdated for your class and academic level. Double-check the topic against the scope expected of you, too.

- Researchable. Can you find enough reliable sources to cite in your essay? If not, look for a different topic!

- Interesting. This goes both ways: the topic should stir your own curiosity (trust us, it’ll make the whole writing process a lot easier) and engage your audience.

- Objective. As we mentioned above, your informative essay can’t take sides or argue for a specific thesis statement. So, your topic should be neutral and unbiased, much like for an analytical essay.

- Specific enough. A good topic is neither too narrow nor too broad. It should fit neatly into the essay length you’re supposed to write. For example, “social media” as a subject is too broad. You can narrow it down to something like “Social media impact on U.S. teenagers’ mental health.

So, now you know what makes a good topic for this kind of essay and why your choice matters. But what if all you can think of are abstract, general concepts like “vaccine misinformation” or “AI”? Here’s how to shape them into a good topic with a metaphorical chisel.

You might be tempted to start narrowing down the first general idea that comes to your mind. Hold your horses! There’s no guarantee it’ll be the best one to focus on.

Instead, start by brainstorming as many broad topics for informative essays as you can think of. If you don’t know where to start, ask yourself:

• What material that we’ve discussed in class made me want to learn more?
• What piques my interest outside the classroom (e.g., when I’m browsing the web)?

At this step, there are no bad ideas. Jot down every single one of them as they come. Then, review them and remove some until you have your shortlist.

Yes, you may have a blank check when it comes to informational topics to write about. But more often than not, the assignment sets some limits on the scope of topics you can investigate. So, always consider what your instructor expects to read about.

In addition to that, take your academic level into account, too. A college-level informative essay won’t be held to the same standards as a middle school one. So, make sure your topic matches the level of knowledge expected of you at this particular juncture in your academic journey.

We can’t stress this enough: a good informative essay topic must have enough reliable information for you to rely on. So, check out your list, pick up to three concepts that stir your curiosity the most, and do a cursory research for each of them.

Doing a bit of research on a topic can also give you an idea of how you could narrow it down. For example, if you look up “AI in the workplace” and see that there are a lot of sources on AI’s impact on employee productivity, you can choose to focus on that particular aspect.

Good news: you’re at the finish line! It’s time to pick and refine your topic. Settle on one of your options and make it more specific (if you haven’t yet). Here’s how you can do it:

• Focus on the impact of your subject on a specific process or population
• Break down and compare existing definitions for a particular phenomenon
• Discuss the role of your subject in a specific domain
• Consider the origins or consequences of a specific phenomenon or historical event
• Concentrate on a specific location or country
• Compare and contrast two subjects (e.g., solar panels vs wind turbines)

Ready to start brainstorming your next informative essay topic? Great! To help you out, we’ve prepared this list of 70 ideas for informative essays, grouped into four categories. Feel free to develop them into your own topics through brainstorming, or pick one as-is and start writing.

Don’t feel like spending tons of time researching a topic? These 20 ideas won’t take much to write about — but they’ll still make for an interesting read:

1. How is coffee made?
2. How does a piano turn a pressed key into a sound?
3. What is a Ponzi scheme, and what are the signs of one?
4. How do you grow your own crystals?
5. What are the different types of intelligence?
6. How is emerald formed?
7. What is Daylight Saving Time, and why was it introduced?
8. Why do some oysters have pearls inside them, and others don’t?
9. Who invented Monopoly, and what was its original purpose?
10. Which brain regions are engaged in memory formation?
11. Why is gold more expensive than silver?
12. What are quantum computers?
13. What is code switching, and why do humans do it?
14. What is under Antarctica’s ice?
15. How do solar power plants work?
16. Why are certain medications distributed only under a prescription?
17. What was the most powerful volcanic eruption, and how did it impact the weather?
18. Why do different languages use different alphabets?
19. What are the limitations of lab rat testing?
20. How did denim become a staple of popular wear?

Who said informative essays can’t be fun? Yes, that’s right: you can always turn the whole assignment into an entertaining read with these 20 ideas.

1. How are Olympic curling stones made?
2. What are the different species of the kiwi fruit?
3. What is the most expensive paint, and how is it made?
4. What is the difference between champagne and sparkling wine?
5. How do bugs use tools?
6. How do we know if birds are smart?
7. How do specific words become swearwords?
8. How did TikTok become so popular?
9. What is the world’s rarest cheese, and what makes it so unique?
10. What happens if you eat gold?
11. How different is life on the ISS compared to life on Earth?
12. Can a virus survive in open space?
13. How do supercomputers work?
14. What happens to objects that end up in a black hole?
15. How can bismuth be used in tech?
16. How are spacesuits made?
17. How did homing pigeons know where to go and how to return?
18. Why do horses need horseshoes?
19. Do we have the technology needed to send a crewed mission to Mars?
20. How did the white wedding dress become the de facto standard for brides?

Looking for a topic that piques your curiosity? We can’t guarantee the following 15 ideas will (that depends on your personal interests!), but we think they’re a good place to start:

1. How does social media decide which content you see in the feed?
2. How does sound travel over telephone lines?
3. Does the impact of regular exercise last after you give up?
4. What does it take to immigrate to your country “the right way”?
5. Why does Bitcoin cost so much (and keep getting more expensive)?
6. How does AI improve limb prosthetics’ responsiveness and mobility?
7. What does it take to have a robot do a somersault?
8. Why do some diabetics need insulin and others don’t?
9. How do autonomous cars perceive the world around them?
10. Why do U.S. farmers grow so much corn?
11. How did humans evolve to see color?
12. What is the Kardashev scale, and where does humanity score on it now?
13. How does a human organ transplant work?
14. How do animals adapt to living in close proximity to humans?
15. What will happen to the ISS after it reaches the end of its life?

Headlines can also inspire an informative essay. Here are our 15 topic ideas that draw on current events, both directly and indirectly:

1. What ethics rules are Supreme Court justices bound by?
2. How does vaccine misinformation impact vaccination rates?
3. How do U.S. communities and states respond to ICE deployments?
4. What happens to the collected biometric data once a company like 23AndMe goes bankrupt?
5. How has generative AI impacted white-collar jobs so far?
6. Are jokes protected by the First Amendment?
7. How does lean staffing impact employee productivity and mental health?
8. How can foreign nations interfere with democratic elections in other countries?
9. What is Project 2025, and how many of its provisions have been implemented by the second Trump administration?
10. How did the United States “lose oil” in Venezuela under Chavez?
11. What is habeas corpus, and why is it important for civil rights?
12. In what ways are authoritarianism and dictatorship similar and different?
13. What is the role of circular trading in the AI investment boom?
14. How do the U.S. freedom-of-speech protections compare to those of other developed countries?
15. How does overtourism impact local housing and job markets?

If you’ve opened this blog post looking for topic ideas in specific domains, we have you covered, too. Enjoy our list of 60 informative essay topics across subjects like technology, education, and more.

Fascinated by the miracles of modern life brought to you by technological progress and scientific thinking? If so, these 15 topics will probably fire up your neurons:

1. How has technology influenced literature?
2. What are data broker companies, and how do they gain access to your data?
3. What are third-party cookies, and what purposes do they serve?
4. What are the limitations of 3D printing?
5. How does frequent use of AI chatbots impact users’ mental health?
6. What are the advantages and downsides of owning an electric vehicle?
7. What are the alternatives to lithium-ion batteries, and what are their comparative pros and cons?
8. How is the generated renewable energy stored for later use?
9. What are smart cities, and what technologies are used to power them?
10. What are synthesis, distillation, and recrystallization, and how do they differ?
11. How does a nuclear power plant turn a nuclear chain reaction into electricity?
12. What technologies and equipment do researchers use to study space?
13. Why do research papers get retracted? Provide examples.
14. Why do studies have to go through peer review to be considered reliable?
15. Why do we consider science “self-correcting”? Cite mechanisms that illustrate it.

Curious about the ins and outs of educational processes or eager to provide your audience with information they can use in building their careers? Check out our shortlist of 15 topics on education and career:

1. How can gamification improve learning outcomes?
2. How can AR/VR be used to teach students in specific domains (e.g., urban planning)?
3. What causes disparities in academic performance in high school?
4. What factors lead college students to abandon their studies?
5. How does student debt impact the net worth of individuals later in life?
6. What are the main sources of stress among college students?
7. How do automated job application systems filter and rank resumes?
8. How important are soft skills for employers in a specific industry (e.g., tech)?
9. What legal protections exist to protect job seekers against discrimination?
10. How does remote or hybrid work impact employee well-being?
11. What are the benefits and downsides of taking up an unpaid internship?
12. What soft skills does homework help develop?
13. What types of financial aid are available to future college students?
14. What are the main teaching methods, and how do they compare?
15. What is the experiential approach to learning, and what are its main elements?

In this domain, writing an informative essay without crossing into the persuasive or argumentative territory is tough. But it’s not impossible. Here are 15 topics to help you focus on educating your audience:

1. What is the “unitary executive theory”?
2. How does a president choose who to pardon?
3. What is the “monopoly on violence”? Compare different definitions.
4. Why do prisons exist, and what purpose do they serve?
5. What are the benefits and downsides of nuclear energy?
6. What are the main types of democracy?
7. What drivers exacerbate political polarization in the United States?
8. What happens to the trash deposited into the recycling bin?
9. How do laws affect public health (for better or for worse)?
10. How does the WHO shape national epidemic and pandemic responses?
11. How does living near a Superfund site affect community health?
12. What contributes to stability within a country, and what factors cause instability?
13. How does state propaganda work, and what determines its effectiveness?
14. How did climate change denial take root?
15. How are coastal cities around the world preparing to face the rising sea levels?

Finally, the world of business and economics also doesn’t lack subject matter for another informative essay. These 15 ideas can be a good place to start brainstorming yours:

1. How do mass layoffs in tech impact the job market?
2. How is unemployment measured in a given economy?
3. What caused the great inflation of 2021, and how was it handled by the Fed?
4. How is intellectual property protected by law?
5. What are the fixed and variable costs of a cruise ship business?
6. What is agentic commerce, and how does it impact shopping experiences?
7. Does Amazon use anticompetitive practices on its marketplace?
8. What is the brain economy?
9. What is the target operating model, and what role does it play in digital transformation projects?
10. What causes tech startups to fail most often?
11. How can tariffs protect the country’s competitive advantage in specific industries?
12. How does the state of internet infrastructure impact economic growth?
13. What factors determine the company’s valuation in the stock market?
14. What are the different types of investment assets? Compare their risk and ROI.
15. What are the main factors driving consumers’ purchasing decisions?

Here they are, our 130 topics to write an informative essay on. We won’t mind if you use them as they are. That said, we’d advise you to treat them as your starting point, instead — you’re hardly the only one visiting this page to get ideas, after all!

So, grab several ideas that caught your attention, explore their core concepts, and turn them into a topic that’s truly yours. Double-check that topic to make sure it’s relevant, unopinionated, and specific enough.

Struggling to zero in on your informative essay topic? Scared to get it wrong? Or just find the whole informative writing process an ordeal? EssayWriters’ experts are at your service. We can help you out with any part of your writing process; just tell us what you need done!