1. ACT Prep Science
Credited to: Kristine Fisher

2. ACT Prep Science Test
35 minutes
40 questions
7 passages

3. ACT Prep Science Test
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

4. The Questions ACT Prep Science Test 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

5. ACT Prep Science Test 15 questions - data representation
18 questions – research summaries
7 questions – conflicting viewpoints

6. ACT Prep Science Test 20 questions - analysis
13 questions – generalization
7 questions – understanding
THE QUESTIONS DO NOT GET HARDER AS YOU PROGRESS THROUGH THE TEST

7. ACT Prep Science Test
The ACT science test emphasizes scientific reasoning skills rather than recall of scientific content, mathematical skill, or reading ability

8. ACT Prep Science Test
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.

9. ACT 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

10. ACT Prep Science Things 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

11. ACT Prep Science 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

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

13. ACT Prep Science Reading Tables and Graphs
Determine what is being represented
What do the columns and rows represent
Note units of measurement
Look for trends in the data

14. ACT Prep Science Experiments Remember how experiments work
Usually there is a control group plus experimental group or groups
In well-designed experiments, the only difference between groups will be a variation of the factors being tested
Look for differences - variations
What do the results show?

15. ACT Prep Science Conflicting Viewpoints
One passage will be conflicting viewpoints
A lot of reading – usually takes a little longer
Try to determine each scientists point of view
What do they agree on? Disagree?
Reminder – refer don’t remember
Underline
You will not have to determine if a viewpoint is correct instead you will be asked to identify similarities and differences among viewpoints

16. ACT Prep Science TIMING
Again – passages are not arranged in order of difficulty
The most difficult passage for you may be the easiest for someone else
Try to spend 5 minutes on each passage
About 30 seconds per question

17. ACT Prep Science Don’t leave any questions unanswered
No penalty for wrong answers – only credit for correct answers
GUESS if you don’t know the right answers – 25% chance of getting the right answer

18. ACT Prep Science
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

19. ACT Prep Science Don’t spend time agonizing over a questions
Avoid thinking long and hard about answer choices
If you are stuck – make your best guess and move on

20. ACT Prep Science Don’t panic if you can’t finish all passages
Try to do well on at least 5 passages

21. ACT Prep Science
If you have less than 3 minutes remaining for an entire passage
skip the pre-reading
look for questions that refer to a specific experiment/graph etc
Refer to the cited location
MAKE SURE YOU FILL-IN AN ANSWER FOR EVERY QUESTION