act prep science credited to: kristine fisher act prep science test 35 minutes 40 questions 7...

ACT Prep Science

Credited to: Kristine Fisher

ACT Prep Science TestACT Prep Science Test

35 minutes40 questions7 passages

The science test is a test of your science reasoning skills.

All of the information you need to answer the questions correctly is provided in the passages



The Questions–The questions cover:

• Biology

• Earth & Space Sciences

• Chemistry

• Physics•All four areas are represented

•At least one passage and no more than two passage represent each content area


15 questions - data representation18 questions – research summaries 7 questions – conflicting viewpoints


20 questions - analysis13 questions – generalization 7 questions – understanding

THE QUESTIONS DO NOT GET HARDER AS YOU PROGRESS THROUGH THE TEST


• The ACT science test emphasizes scientific reasoning skills rather than recall of scientific content, mathematical skill, or reading ability


Unlike the math test you will not be required to remember formulas, definitions, etc.

You are tested on your ability to examine information using text, chart, graphs and tables.

ACT Prep ScienceACT Prep Science

Things to do: Read carefully Underline Make notes in your booklet Draw conclusions as you are reading Make sure you understand the question

ACT Prep ScienceACT Prep ScienceThings to do:

Draw lines or in some way indicate which charts/graphs/experiments go together

Refer – don’t try to remember Look for patterns and trends in data Look for words that are italicized, bold,

underlined or capitalized – they will ask a question relating to this word


Things to do:

Look at the answer choices before answering questions

Unlike math or English where you should try to determine the answer before looking at the answer choices

For science, where you will be analyzing information displayed in charts and graphs it is beneficial to narrow down the amount of information you need to study by looking at the answer choices


Don’t… Get bogged down in details Worry about understanding everything Confuse charts and graphs Try to remember every detail


Reading Tables and GraphsDetermine what is being representedWhat do the columns and rows representNote units of measurementLook for trends in the data


ExperimentsRemember how experiments workUsually there is a control group plus

experimental group or groupsIn well-designed experiments, the only

difference between groups will be a variation of the factors being tested

Look for differences - variationsWhat do the results show?

ACT Prep ScienceACT Prep ScienceConflicting Viewpoints

One passage will be conflicting viewpointsA lot of reading – usually takes a little longerTry to determine each scientists point of viewWhat do they agree on? Disagree? Reminder – refer don’t rememberUnderlineYou will not have to determine if a viewpoint is

correct instead you will be asked to identify similarities and differences among viewpoints


TIMINGAgain – passages are not arranged in order of

difficultyThe most difficult passage for you may be the

easiest for someone elseTry to spend 5 minutes on each passageAbout 30 seconds per question


Don’t leave any questions unansweredNo penalty for wrong answers – only

credit for correct answersGUESS if you don’t know the right

answers – 25% chance of getting the right answer


If you are not done with passage one after 5 minutes - don’t worry but if you are still in passage one after 15 minutes have passed you will need to work more quickly


Don’t spend time agonizing over a questionsAvoid thinking long and hard about answer

choicesIf you are stuck – make your best guess and

move on


Don’t panic if you can’t finish all passagesTry to do well on at least 5 passages


If you have less than 3 minutes remaining for an entire passage

skip the pre-readinglook for questions that refer to a specific experiment/graph etcRefer to the cited location

MAKE SURE YOU FILL-IN AN ANSWER FOR EVERY QUESTION

act prep science credited to: kristine fisher act prep science test 35 minutes 40 questions 7...

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