1. SCIENCE ACT STRATEGIES Strategy 1: Know the Test
FORMAT
35 Minutes – 40 Questions
Measures interpretation, analysis, evaluation, and problem-solving skills associated with science.
Several passages.
Multiple choice questions.
4 answer choices

2. SCIENCE ACT STRATEGIES Strategy 1: Know the Test (cont.)
FORMAT (cont.)
Scientific information appears in one of three formats.
1. Data Representation (30 -40%): requires
you to understand, evaluate, and interpret
information presented in graphic or tabular
form.
2. Research Summaries (45-55%): understand,
evaluate, analyze and interpret the design, execution,
and results of one or more experiments.
3. Conflicting Viewpoints (15-20%): evaluate several
alternative theories, hypotheses, or viewpoints on a
specific observable phenomenon.

3. SCIENCE ACT STRATEGIES Strategy 1: Know the Test (cont.)
CONTENT
Test parallels the content of course commonly taught 7 – 12 grade and in entry-level college courses.
Content areas:
- Biology: botany, cell biology, ecology, evolution,
genetics, microbiology, zoology.
- Chemistry: acids and bases, biochemistry, kinetics
and equilibria, nuclear chemistry, organic chemistry,
properties of matter, thermo-chemistry.

4. SCIENCE ACT STRATEGIES Strategy 1: Know the Test (cont.)
CONTENT (cont.)
- Earth/space sciences: astronomy,
environmental science, geology, meteorology,
oceanography.
- Physics: electromagnetism, fluids, mechanics,
optics, thermodynamics, solids.
Advanced knowledge in these areas is not required.
Test stresses science skills and practices over recall of scientific content.

5. SCIENCE ACT STRATEGIES Strategy 1: Know the Test (cont.)
CONTENT (cont.)
Reporting Categories:
Interpretation of Data (45-55%)
Scientific Investigation (20-30%)
Evaluation of Models, Inferences, and Experimental results (25-35%)

6. SCIENCE ACT STRATEGIES Strategy 2: Know the Directions
Always memorize the directions.
Questions are very similar, in their essence, to reading comprehension questions.

7. SCIENCE ACT STRATEGIES
Strategy 3: ACT Method
Read the passage carefully before you begin answering a question.
Examine any tables, graphs, or figures.
Make notes about important ideas in your test booklet.
Note the different viewpoints in passages.
Make notes summarizing each viewpoint next to that section in the test booklet.

8. SCIENCE ACT STRATEGIES Strategy 3: ACT Method (cont.)
Develop a problem-solving method.
1. Restate the problem in your own words.
2. Decide what information is needed to solve
the problem.
3. Extract the needed information from the
passage. Information may include data
concepts, or even conclusions you’ve been
able to draw from the information
provided.

9. SCIENCE ACT STRATEGIES Strategy 3: ACT Method (cont.)
4. Consider any additional scientific knowledge (terms or concepts) you may have. 5. Organize the information and use reason to arrive at the answer. 6. Compare your answer to the answer choices and choose the option you think is correct.

10. SCIENCE ACT STRATEGIES Strategy 3: ACT Method (cont.)
Pace yourself. Plan on about 5 minutes per passage and the accompanying questions.
Practice interpreting graphs, tables, and diagrams.
Pay attention to any and all text in graphs, tables, or diagrams.
Develop an understanding of scientific investigations.
Carefully analyze conflicting viewpoints.

11. SCIENCE ACT STRATEGIES Strategy 4: Kaplan Method
Test of your scientific reasoning ability, not a test of your knowledge of scientific content.
Questions are not ordered by difficulty.
Plan to spend no more than 6 minutes per passage.
Try to finish reading and marking in 2 minutes.
Never spend more than a minute on a question.
Be organized in your approach. Try to work on the passages and questions in the order they appear.

12. SCIENCE ACT STRATEGIES Strategy 4: Kaplan Method (cont.)
Mark up the passages. Underline key portions of the text and take brief notes.
Don’t be afraid to guess. It’s usually better to make a random guess than to leave it blank and expect to come back later.
If you get stuck:
- Make a prediction first.
- Eliminate answers that contradict the passage.
- Don’t overthink it.

13. SCIENCE ACT STRATEGIES Strategy 4: Kaplan Method (cont.)
Step 1: Actively read the passage. Underline keywords. Underline key phrases. Underline the purpose and/or hypothesis. Identify key components of the experiments. Look for similarities and differences among experiments.
Step 2: Examine the figures provided. Locate variables in the figures. Identify trends and patterns. Look for relationships among variables.
Step 3: Find support for the answer in the passage. Identify keywords in the question stem. Locate the corresponding date in the passage. Make a prediction and match it to the correct answer.

14. SCIENCE ACT STRATEGIES Strategy 4: Kaplan Method (cont.)
Conflicting Viewpoints
Step 1: Read the introductory paragraph(s) and the 1st viewpoint, then search for questions that ask only about the 1st viewpoint and answer them.
Step 2: Read the 2nd viewpoint, then search for questions that ask only about the 2nd viewpoint and answer them. If there are additional viewpoints, repeat this process with each of them.
Step 3: Answer questions that ask about multiple viewpoints and any other remaining questions.

15. SCIENCE ACT STRATEGIES Strategy 5: Peterson’s Method
Look over books and notes from the natural science classes you have taken throughout high school.
Data Representation questions:
- Read the introductory and surrounding
paragraphs to determine the questions the
data is supposed to answer.
- Recognize patterns and trends in data sets.

16. SCIENCE ACT STRATEGIES Strategy 5: Peterson’s Method (cont.)
- If you come across a challenging term and have no idea what it means, read the full passage and see if it provides you with any hints. - Don’t spend too much time on information within a passage that does not enhance your understanding of the data provided. - Don’t assume you know a result and skip over looking at the data. - A figure might include extra information you don’t need to answer the questions.

17. SCIENCE ACT STRATEGIES Strategy 5: Peterson’s Method (cont.)
Research Summaries questions:
- Identify the scientific question or purpose of
the experiment first.
- Don’t skim passages to simply look for key
words you see in the questions – you will
miss a lot of important details.
- Consider only what is in front of you in the
given passage as true.

18. SCIENCE ACT STRATEGIES Strategy 5: Peterson’s Method (cont.)
Conflicting Viewpoint Questions:
- Avoid focusing on too many details during
the first read-through.
- Identify the topic.
- Identify the basic hypothesis or theories of
the scientists.
- Identify the relevant data used to support
each of the two viewpoints.
- Look for commonalities.
- Take notes in the margins as you read.

19. SCIENCE ACT STRATEGIES Strategy 6: Princeton Review Method
Look for trends within figures and relationships between figures and viewpoints.
Order your passages. Look for Now passages which feature small graphs and tables, easy-to-spot consistent trends, numbers instead of words or symbols, and short answers.
Pace yourself.
Use Process of Elimination.

20. SCIENCE ACT STRATEGIES Strategy 6: Princeton Review Method (cont.)
Three rules of scientific reasoning:
1. Make no assumptions.
2. Change one variable at a time.
3. Keep all other variables the same.
A hypothesis is a theory that needs proof to become a conclusion.
All Charts and Graphs passages and most Experiments passages come with figures.

21. SCIENCE ACT STRATEGIES Strategy 6: Princeton Review Method (cont.)
Three step Basic Approach on passages with figures.
Step 1: Work the figures. Look at the trends
and patterns in the figure to identify the
relationship between the variables. Mark
trends with arrows.
Step 2: Work the questions. Do the
straightforward questions that involve looking up a
trend or value on the figure. Read if and only when
you can’t answer the question from the figures.

22. SCIENCE ACT STRATEGIES Strategy 6: Princeton Review Method (cont.)
Step 3: Work the answers. For tougher
questions Process of Elimination should help
you eliminate at least one wrong answer if not
three.
Pace yourself.
In fighting scientist passages, don’t pick a side.
Evaluate and compare the arguments presented, not decide which one is correct.

23. SCIENCE ACT STRATEGIES SCIENCE ACT STRATEGIES
Tips
SCIENCE ACT STRATEGIES
Get textbooks and skim through the material.
Look at chapter reviews at the end of each chapter.
Read the glossary at the end of the book.
Familiarize yourself with words and concepts again.
Read newspaper and magazine articles referring to scientific research.
Don’t panic if you read the names of chemicals you don’t understand. This section is based on reading comprehension, and you don’t need to know all of the chemistry, biology, and physics.
Science questions will never ask you to make inferences
far beyond what is given. Analyze the data, but DO NOT make unjustified conclusions.
Read all the intros as they will give you background for
the rest of the passages.

24. SCIENCE ACT STRATEGIES
Tips (cont.)
If you get stuck on a problem, see what answer choices you can eliminate. The more you eliminate, the closer you are to the correct answer.
Learn to recognize patterns in data, and you’ll be able to answer most ACT Science questions. Look for extremes, critical points and variations.
The words not and except will show up in question stems and missing them is an easy way to get a question wrong. Pay attention to these words and circle them when you see them.
Only go back to the passage once when trying to answer a question. Going back another time will cause you to waste time and lose points.

25. SCIENCE ACT STRATEGIES
Tips (cont.)
Questions are to test understanding of science method, not scientific content.
Understand scientific terms and concepts.
Map the passage.
Scan the figures.
Find support for the answers in the passage.
Determine the main point or object of the experiment.