mr. arsenie, march 12 and 19, 2011 act prep- science
TRANSCRIPT
Mr. Arsenie, March 12 and 19, 2011Mr. Arsenie, March 12 and 19, 2011
ACT Prep- Science
After eating a donut, on the After eating a donut, on the blank sheet of paper I gave blank sheet of paper I gave you, answer the following :you, answer the following :
1. What do you hope to accomplish these two Saturdays by being here?
2. What does the ACT Science section test you on?
3. What is your favorite breakfast food?
4. What is the most disgusting food served at Schurz?
Why are we here?Why are we here?
Important to know what your being assessed on!!!
High stakes test for yourself and the school.Having an army of methods for attacking
each question will raise your grade!You obviously care about your test and
what it will do for you!
Objectives: by the time we Objectives: by the time we finish ACT prep…finish ACT prep…
You should know…– How the science test is broken down– The 3 types of questions– Several science test strategies
Agenda – March 12, 2011Agenda – March 12, 2011
Intro to ACT Science TESTVocabulary strategiesReview Strategies for taking testPractice with partner feedback/review and looking at
areas of improvementMore Practice Practice Practice (timed)- 2 tests
Next week: Online/Paper Timed Tests!!!
Notes:Notes:
Setup Cornell FormatTitle: “ACT Prep Day 1”If its yellow right it to the leftRed, write it on the rightAny other color, don’t write it
How much time?How much time?35 minutes40 questions w/ 7 passages
35 mins/40 questions = 52.5 sec per question
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
No specific content!
What is the TEST?What is the TEST?
What is on it?What is on it?
–The questions cover:• Biology• Earth & Space sciences• Chemistry• Physics
•All four areas of science are represented
•At least one passage and no more than two passage represent each content area
ONLY 3 types of questionsONLY 3 types of questions
15 questions - data representation18 questions – research summaries 7 questions – conflicting viewpoints
Only 3 general skillsOnly 3 general skills
20 questions - analysis13 questions – generalization 7 questions – understanding
THE QUESTIONS DO NOT GET HARDER AS YOU PROGRESS THROUGH THE TEST
AGAIN…AGAIN…
• The ACT Science test emphasizes scientific reasoning skills rather than recall of scientific content, mathematical skill, or reading ability
To be clear…To be clear…
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.
Simple strategies…Simple strategies…
Things to do: Read carefully, context clues are awesome! Underline words, identify vocabulary Make notes in your booklet Draw conclusions as you are reading- think! Make sure you understand the questionConnect with the test
VOCABULARY PRACTICE VOCABULARY PRACTICE
Do you know what prenatal means?What is I said… A pregnant woman,
must take prenatal vitamins starting with the second trimester of pregnancy all the way up to birth!
Now, do you know what prenatal means?
What does pre- mean? READ CONTEXT CLUES and break
down words to what you know!
DO…DO…
Draw lines or in some way indicate which charts/graphs/experiments go together
Refer, go back – 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
Main thing…Main thing…
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
DO NOTDO NOT
Get bogged down in details Worry about understanding everything Confuse charts and graphs
If it says, “see figure 12” make sure
you are looking at the chart that is
labeled “figure 12”
Try to remember every detail
Open ACT Prep Books to Pg 33Open ACT Prep Books to Pg 33
Research Summary Passages:Remember 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?
Data Representation PassagesDetermine what is being representedWhat do the columns and rows representNote units of measurementLook for trends in the data
Open ACT Prep Books to Pg 36Open ACT Prep Books to Pg 36
Conflicting ViewpointsOne passage will be conflicting viewpointsA lot of reading – usually takes a little longerTry to determine each scientists point of viewWhat to they agree on? Disagree?UnderlineYou will not have to determine if a viewpoint is
correct instead you will be asked to identify similarities and differences among viewpoints
Open ACT Prep Books to Pg 42Open ACT Prep Books to Pg 42
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 let 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
Last advice…Last advice…Don’t spend time agonizing over a questionsAvoid thinking long and hard about answer choicesIf you are stuck – make your best guess and move onDon’t panic if you can’t finish all passagesTry to do well on at least 5 passages
Running out of time…Running out of time…
If you have less than 3 minutes remaining for an entire passage
1. skip the pre-reading2. look for questions that refer to a specific
experiment/graph etc3. Refer to the cited location directly
MAKE SURE YOU TRY TO ANSWER EVERY QUESTION
Practice makes perfect…Practice makes perfect…