1. IT’S REALLY A READING TEST
SCIENCE REASONING
IT’S REALLY A READING TEST

2. GENERAL TEST STRATEGIES
SCAN THE PASSAGE FIRST
READ THE PASSAGE AGAIN
ANSWER FIRST QUESTION IN GROUP
SKIP THE HARD QUESTIONS
READ ALL OF THE CHOICES
ESTIMATE NUMERICAL ANSWERS
PACE YOURSELF
ANSWER EVERY QUESTION

3. REASONING SKILLS DATA REPRESENTATION RESEARCH SUMMARIES
CONFLICTING VIEWPOINTS – DUELING SCIENTISTS

4. GRAPHIC DATA QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF
WHAT ARE THE UNITS OF MEASURE?
WHAT ARE THE VALUES OF THE VARIABLES?
ARE THERE ANY TRENDS?
ARE THERE ANY CORRELATIONS?

5. TYPES OF DATA REPRESENTATION QUESTIONS
INTERPRETATION
COMPARISON
MAKING PREDICTIONS
DRAWING CONCLUSIONS

6. INTERPRETATION QUESTIONS
QUESTIONS ABOUT ONE SPECIFIC PIECE OF INFORMATION
TEND TO BE EASY

7. COMPARISON QUESTIONS
MAKE A STATEMENT ABOUT THE RELATIVE MAGNITUDE OF TWO OR MORE DATA POINTS
MAKE A STATEMENT ABOUT RELATIVE CHANGE IN MAGNITUDE OF TWO OR MORE DATA POINTS
FIND THE DATA FIRST, THEN COMPARE THEM

8. MAKING PREDICTIONS QUESTIONS
REQUIRE TRUE UNDERSTANDING
INTERPOLATE
EXTRAPOLATE
SCATTER PLOT EXTRAPOLATION

9. DRAWING CONCLUSIONS QUESTIONS
TAKE ALL AVAILABLE FACTS INTO ACCOUNT AND MAKE A DECISION OR STATEMENT
IN SCIENCE WE TAKE THE INFO, SUM IT UP, MAKE A PREDICTION OR JUDGMENT

10. RESEARCH SUMMARIES
TWO OR MORE EXPERIMENT DESCRIPTIONS, STATEMENT OF RESULTS
ANSWER FIVE OR SIX QUESTIONS BASED ON RESULTS

11. RESEARCH SUMMARY QUESTION TACTICS
UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEM
UNDERSTAND THE DESIGN
IDENTIFY THE VARIABLES
IDENTIFY THE CONTROLS
STUDY THE RESULTS
LOOK FOR FLAWS IN THE EXPERIMENT

12. CONFLICTING VIEWPOINTS QUESTIONS
TWO-SIDED ARGUMENTS/DEBATES
ANALYZE THE ARGUMENTS AND INFORMATION
IDENTIFY THE NATURE OF THE DISAGREEMENT
WHY/HOW DID EACH ARRIVE AT HIS OPINION
IDENTIFY FORMS OF EVIDENCE THAT MAY RESOLVE THE CONFLICT
NO ONE CARES WHO IS RIGHT – YOU ARE ADDRESSING THE VALIDITY OF THE ARGUMENT

13. CONFLICTING VIEWPOINTS QUESTION TACTICS
WHAT IS THE BASIC QUESTION AT ISSUE?
WHAT IS THE POSITION OF EACH OF THE SCIENTISTS ON THE QUESTION?
WHAT EVIDENCE DOES SCIENTIST 1 BRING TO JUSTIFY HIS POSITION?
WHAT EVIDENCE DOES SCIENTIST 2 BRING TO SUPPORT HIS POSITION?
WHAT FLAWS DOES SCIENTIST 2 FIND IN SCIENTIST 1’S POSITION?
WHAT FLAWS DOES SCIENTIST 1 FIND IN SCIENTIST 2’S POSITION?