1. Getting to know the Act
3/16/15
College 101

2. Goals for this evening
Brief history & overview of college entrance exams
Exam section layout and timing
ACT exam
Section information
Section strategies
Section example
ACT Accommodations

3. ACT and the SAT (old vs. new)
SAT (previous)
Aptitude Test
Predict future behavior such as potential college freshman academic success
SAT (current) & ACT
Achievement Test
Assess Present academic skill levels
SAT formerly known as Scholastic Aptitude Test, changed to Scholastic Assessment Test, now known simply as SAT. ACT formerly known as American College Testing Exam now known simply as ACT

4. SAT vs. act

5. SAT vs. act

6. ACT vs. SAT Testing details
230 minutes
(180 minutes)
205 minutes
(175 minutes)

7. ACT English information
75 multiple choice questions
45 minutes (36 seconds per question)
Questions given in conjunction with a passage
Sentence structure
Grammar and usage
Punctuation
Rhetorical skills

8. ACT English Strategies
The English section tests not only obscure grammar rules but also punctuation errors as well
In a series of 3 or more items, put a comma before the “and”
Shorter sentences are preferred to longer sentences

9. English problem example
1. Choose the best answer
NO CHANGE
waiting, by the back door,
waiting by the back door,
waiting by the back door
Choose the best answer
E. NO CHANGE
F. would sit
G. sitting
H. sat

10. ACT math information ACT math 60 multiple choice questions
60 minutes (1 minute per question)
Arithmetic, Algebra 1, geometry, algebra II and Trigonometry
7th to 11th grade math questions
Only four Trig problems
(but two can be done without having learned trig)
It’s the wording in the question that makes this section difficult

11. ACT math Strategies ACT math Know how to estimate
This will improve your efficiency and score!
Learn how to use a calculator
Graphing functions and matrix problems
Eliminate wrong answers
Read the question carefully
ACT predicts where students will misread questions – you can count on that answer being one of your choices

12. ACT math talk Plain English Math equivalent
More than, increased by, added to combined with, total of, sum of
Decreased by, diminished by, reduced by, difference between, taken away from, less than, fewer than
Of, times, product of
Ratio of, per, out of, quotient
Is, are, was, were, becomes, results in
How much, how many, what, what number
Add (+)
Subtract (-)
Multiply
Divide
Equals (=)
The unknown, usually a variable (x,y)

13. Math problem example

14. 10 minute break After completing English & Math (105 minutes)
70 minutes remaining (100 minutes with writing option)

15. ACT reading information
40 multiple choice questions
35 minutes (about minutes per passage)
There are 4 types of passages on the act
Prose fiction: Most interesting to read, often hardest questions (most time-consuming!)
Social sciences: politics, history
Humanities: arts culture
Natural science: typically the easiest!!

16. ACT reading Strategies
Don’t take the test in the order presented – do the easiest section for you first, because you know you’ll get those right. Save hardest for last
Timing is everything – pace yourself
Skim – don’t read
Pay attention to distractors - distractors are designed to break your concentration, throw you off track & distract your way of thinking
Translate the question – what are they really asking

17. Reading problem example
The Men of Brewster Place
    Clifford Jackson, or Abshu, as he preferred to be
known in the streets, had committed himself several
years ago to use his talents as a playwright to broaden
the horizons for the young, gifted, and black—which
5 was how he saw every child milling around that dark
street. As head of the community center he went after
every existing grant on the city and state level to bring
them puppet shows with the message to avoid drugs
and stay in school; and plays in the park such as actors
10 rapping their way through Shakespeare's A Midsummer
Night's Dream. Abshu believed there was something in
Shakespeare for everyone, even the young of Brewster
Place, and if he broadened their horizons just a little
bit, there might be enough room for some of them to
15 slip through and see what the world had waiting. No, it
would not be a perfect world, but definitely one with
more room than they had now.
    The kids who hung around the community center
liked Abshu, because he never preached and it was
20 clear that when they spoke he listened; so he could zero
in on the kid who had a real problem. It might be an
1. The point of view from which the passage is told can be best described as that of:
a man looking back on the best years of his life as director of a community center in a strife-ridden neighborhood
a narrator describing his experiences as they happen, starting with childhood and continuing through his adult years as an advocate for troubled children
an unidentified narrator describing a man who devoted his life to neighborhood children years after his own difficult childhood.
An admiring relative of a man whose generosity with children was widely respected in the neighborhood where he turned around a declining community center

18. ACT science information
40 multiple choice questions
35 minutes (about 1 minute per question)
Instead of calling it science reasoning, think of it as technical reading

19. ACT science Strategies
Basic understanding of the scientific method will help you
Not much science knowledge is needed
Read and understand charts and graphs
Opposites – when 2 answer choices are direct opposites, one will almost always be the correct answer.

20. Science problem example
Passage I
    Unmanned spacecraft taking images of Jupiter's moon Europa have found its surface to be very smooth with few meteorite craters. Europa's surface ice shows evidence of being continually resmoothed and reshaped. Cracks, dark bands, and pressure ridges (created when water or slush is squeezed up between 2 slabs of ice) are commonly seen in images of the surface. Two scientists express their views as to whether the presence of a deep ocean beneath the surface is responsible for Europa's surface features. Scientist 1
A deep ocean of liquid water exists on Europa. Jupiter's gravitational field produces tides within Europa that can cause heating of the subsurface to a point where liquid water can exist. The numerous cracks and dark bands in the surface ice closely resemble the appearance of thawing ice covering the polar oceans on Earth. Only a substantial amount of circulating liquid water can crack and rotate such large slabs of ice. The few meteorite craters that exist are shallow and have been smoothed by liquid water that oozed up into the crater from the subsurface and then quickly froze.     Jupiter's magnetic field, sweeping past Europa, would interact with the salty, deep ocean and produce a second magnetic field around Europa. The spacecraft has found evidence of this second magnetic field.
Scientist 2     No deep, liquid water ocean exists on Europa. The heat generated by gravitational tides is quickly lost to space because of Europa's small size, as shown by its very low surface temperature (–160°C). Many of the features on Europa's surface resemble features created by flowing glaciers on Earth. Large amounts of liquid water are not required for the creation of these features. If a thin layer of ice below the surface is much warmer than the surface ice, it may be able to flow and cause cracking and movement of the surface ice. Few meteorite craters are observed because of Europa's very thin atmosphere; surface ice continually sublimes (changes from solid to gas) into this atmosphere, quickly eroding and removing any craters that may have formed.
Science problem example
1. Which of the following best describes how the 2 scientists explain how craters are removed from Europa’s surface:
Scientist 1: Sublimation Scientist 2: Filled in by water
Scientist 1: Filled in by water Scientist 2: Sublimation
Scientist 1: Worn smooth by wind Scientist 2: Sublimation
Scientist 1: Worn smooth by wind Scientist 2: Filled in by water

21. 30 minutes remaining with writing option
Break / Dismissal
30 minutes remaining with writing option

22. ACT writing information
30 minutes to respond to a writing prompt
Evaluate and analyze the perspectives
State and develop your own perspective
Explain the relationship between your perspective and those given

23. Writing prompt example
Intelligent Machines
 Many of the goods and services we depend on daily are now supplied by intelligent, automated machines rather than human beings. Robots build cars and other goods on assembly lines, where once there were human workers. Many of our phone conversations are now conducted not with people but with sophisticated technologies. We can now buy goods at a variety of stores without the help of a human cashier. Automation is generally seen as a sign of progress, but what is lost when we replace humans with machines? Given the accelerating variety and prevalence of intelligent machines, it is worth examining the implications and meaning of their presence in our lives. 
Perspective One
What we lose with the replacement of people by machines is some part of our own humanity. Even our mundane daily encounters no longer require us basic courtesy, respect, and tolerance for other people.
Perspective Two
Machines are good at low-skill, repetitive jobs, and at high-speed, extremely precise jobs. In both cases they work better than humans. This efficiency leads to a more prosperous and progressive world for everyone.
Perspective Three
Intelligent machines challenge our long-standing ideas about what humans are or can be. This is good because it pushes both humans and machines toward new, unimagined possibilities.

24. Strategies for success
Prepare a positive mind & Body for test day
Stick to your normal routine
Get a good night’s sleep on at least 2 days prior to the test
Eat a balance of protein & carbohydrates that will maintain your energy
No penalty for wrong answers
An educated guess is always best
If you have no idea – pick a specific letter and use that letter every time

25. Strategies for success
Practice, practice, practice
Increase confidence & decrease test anxiety by becoming familiar w/ the test
Increase overall speed and accuracy
Register for the test
Test prep
Planning
College planning
Financial aid
College and career readiness

26. ACT Accommodations Register 1st, request accommodations 2nd Two types
Extended time – national testing
Up to 5 or 6 hours to work at own pace
Special testing at school
Designed for examinees whose disabilities require accommodations that cannot be provided at a test center
Braille, testing over multiple days, scribe or computer for writing test, more than 50% extended

27. Registration Deadline
ACT Testing dates
Test Date
Registration Deadline
(Late Fee Required)
* September 12, 2015
Aug 7, 2015
8/8 – 8/21
October 24, 2015
Sept 18, 2015
9/19 – 10/2
December 12, 2015
Nov 6, 2015
11/7 – 11/20
February 6, 2016
Jan 8, 2016
1/9 – 1/15
* April 9, 2016
March 4, 2016
3/5 – 3/18
June 11, 2016
May 6, 2016
5/7 – 5/20
LHS – September & April
Upcoming ACT (June 11, 2016) – Long Reach & Wildlake HS in Columbia or Seneca Valley in Germantown.

28. Questions