SCIENCE AND REASONING The ACT

What to Know  Science sections tests your ability to apply new information.  It DOES NOT test your previous knowledge  40 questions in 35 minutes. Less than 1 minute per- question. Just long enough on each passage to find the information and don’t get distracted by unnecessary details.

More of What to Know  You will learn how to recognize and approach the different passages.  Tables and graphs play a very important role.

The Test  3 Charts and Graphs passages – 5 questions each (Data Representation)  3 Experiments– 6 questions each (Research Summaries)  1 Conflicting View Point (Fighting Scientists)- 7questions

Types of Questions  Look It Up (Understanding)  These questions test your ability to paraphrase specific parts of the passage. Similar to the Reading Test.  Why? (Analysis)  These questions call for deeper understanding of the information in the passage. You might be asked to put tow thoughts together and figure out why something happened, or predict what’s going to happen.  What If? (Generalization)  Requires you to look at “the bigger picture.” For example you might have to predict the result of an experiment.

Method  Read the passage and take notes as you go.  Examine each figure marking key information.  Attack the questions, identifying where in the passage you’ll find the answer.

Experiment Passages  First- Determine The Purpose  What were they studying?  What are the researchers testing?  What are they trying to find out?

Experiments  Second- Determine The Method  How did they study it?  How researchers set up the experiment?  What have they kept constant?  What have they changed?

Experiments  Third-Determine the Results  What did they find?  Usually presented in the form of a graph or chart.

Chart and Graph Interpretation -4 questions to ask yourself-  1st question-  What does the figure represent?  What are the variables?

Chart and Graph Interpretation  Question 2-  What are the units of measurement?  WARNING: Sometimes the ACT test writers will attempt to trick you by giving you the answer choices in the wrong units. You may have to convert between units. For example, a passage discuss the rate of a machine in miles per hour, the answer choices may be given in miles per minute.

Chart and Graph Interpretation  Question 3  Where is the information I need? Is it in the graph, is it the variable, is it in the passage??

Chart and Graph Interpretation  Question 4  What is the pattern in that information?

Fighting Scientists  1 passage with 7 questions.  Contains two or three conflicting views on a scientific phenomenon.

Strategy  Make a Map  First, determine which scientists’ hypothesis is being discussed and what that hypothesis is.

Strategy  One Side at a Time  In order to compare and contrast multiple hypothesis, you need to understand each viewpoint and how it agrees and disagrees with the others.

Strategy  The Other Side  After you have read the first view point move on to the second. Main idea How this hypothesis disagrees from the first How this hypothesis agrees with the first

Example  Hypot 2 believes a meteorite struck Earth and wiped our the dinosaurs  Differ- Hypot. 1believes the extinction was gradual and Hypot. 2 believes it was sudden  Agree- Both hypotheses mention the food chain

Strategy  Final Step-Compare and Contrast  With a clear understanding of each hypothesis’s main point, how the two differ, and how they agree answer the questions.