Over my 12 years as a test prep master, many a student has come through my door to drastically raise their ACT scores. And most of them—even the ones who already kick butt in their high school science courses—have no idea what they’re doing when they first encounter the test’s Science section!
And no wonder: because the ACT’s Science section is NOT asking you to critically think or even to recall topics from your beloved Bio or Physics class. Instead, you’re being asked to pick out relevant data from a slew of charts, graphs, tables and diagrams…many of them pertaining to science topics you’ve never studied before!
What You Need to “Learn” for the ACT Science Section Is…Strategy!
The Science Section of the ACT is basically evaluating you on speed, which makes it different from the English and Math sections of the exam. The questions themselves are not all that hard. In fact, you barely need to know any science at all to get them right! (Yes, you could brush up on some science vocab, but you don’t have to!) Your main task is to get through them all in the VERY short amount of time you have, unscathed.
Thus, for this section (and for the ACT’s Reading section), it’s your ability to constantly use strategies to maneuver through each passage that will bring you from a so-so score…to a FANTASTIC one.
ACT Science: What You Need To Know
So, you’re probably wondering: “Kristina, if you say the ACT’s Science section isn’t what I was expecting—in that it doesn’t actually test my science knowledge at all!—what can I practice that will somehow get me that perfect score of a 36?” And to this I reply: in the sections that follow, I’ll give you each and every one of the strategies and concepts you’ll need to learn to master this section. But first, you need to understand the section’s basic organization.
1. How the ACT Science Section is Structured
The ACT Science section tests your ability to quickly and accurately answer questions on a variety of science passages and interpret data quickly. And let me repeat that a third time: QUICKLY! The section comprises 40 multiple choice questions that you get 35 minutes to complete (unless you’ve been granted extended time). The section is broken down into six passages, each with 6-7 questions. No passage is supposed to be harder than another, and the difficulty level of the questions is random. There are three types of passages: 2 “Chart and Graph” passages (with 6 questions each), 3 “Experiments” passages (with 7 questions apiece) and one “Fighting Scientist” passage (also with 7 questions). These passage types can come in any order! Your job is to answer each passage in an average of 5 minutes 50 seconds, so you get through all passages in 35 minutes. (Multiply that time by 1.5 if you get extended time, etc.)
2. Guessing on the ACT Science Section
If you have trouble completing all 6 passages in the 35 minutes you’re allotted for regular time test takers—and again, you’d be in the majority if that’s you!—you’ll need a guessing strategy. Never fear: here’s the best ACT guessing strategy there is.
The Most Important Tricks to Save Time and Stay Calm on the ACT Science Section
3) Understand the Main Goal of the ACT Science Section
It may surprise you, but you don’t need to study your science textbooks to ace the ACT’s Science section. Why? Because you’re not required to actually know any content! The test gives you pretty much everything you need to get 95% of the questions right. That said, many of my students initially fall into the trap of “trying to understand” everything in the passage…which wastes valuable time for them. If you can get out of your own way and learn to merely “locate” the answer—not “figure out” or “derive” or even “understand”!—you’ll be well on your way to ACT Science section mastery!
4) Learn “The Castle Method” for a High Score on the ACT Science
So, if you only need to “locate” the correct answer and stop thinking so hard, you’re going to need a foolproof method to not get lost in the weeds of extraneous information contained in all those charts, graphs and tables! As for how to cut through the chaff, Ivy Lounge has got you covered: I explained the basics of my favorite proprietary strategy for doing so in my post on “The Castle Method.”
How to Do Well on the “Charts and Graphs” Passages of the ACT Science
“Charts and Graphs” passages—or Data Interpretation passages—are worth 12 of the 40 questions in the ACT’s Science Section. Furthermore, they’re the easiest to master…IF you understand how they’re laid out and how to interpret them.
5) How to Approach a “Charts and Graphs” Passage
Did you think you’d answer all ACT Science passages the same way? Not if I have anything to do with it! For Data Interpretation passages, I find it most beneficial to immediately skip to the questions and start answering, reading only as I have to.
6) Interpret Charts, Graphs and Tables on the Science Part of the ACT
Of course, this only works if you understand how to correctly glean all the necessary insights from the infographics that are included in the passage! That’s why I teach all of my students the five key places to look in an infographic to understand what a chart or graph is even telling you! When you learn to read charts and graphs, it’s like becoming fluent in a second language…and picks up an awful lot of points for you in the ACT Science section!
7) The Right Way to Answer “Find It,” Interpolation, and Extrapolation Questions
You’ll also need to know how to immediately figure out if the question is asking you to merely locate a data point, guess values between known data points, or guess values beyond what the graph is telling you…if you want to get all the questions in these passages right.
How to Do “Experiments” Passages in the ACT’s Science Section
“Experiments” passages—or Experimental Design passages—are worth 21 of the 40 questions in the ACT’s Science Section…which is over HALF the questions! And they’re pretty intuitive to answer…IF you understand how they’re laid out and how to interpret them.
8) How to Recognize and Begin an “Experiments” Passage
For Experimental Design passages, as for “Charts and Graphs” Passages, I find it most effective to immediately skip to the questions and start answering, reading the passage itself only as I have to.
9) What Is Experimental Design on the ACT?
Again, this only works out for you IF you understand what the different parts of a clinically sound science experiment even are! What’s a “control,” an “independent variable,” “dependent variables,” and the general scientific method? Can you truly “prove” anything from an experiment in the first place? You’ll need to know the ins and outs of why scientists design experiments the way they do, and what it all means, in order to nab all the points in these passages. Your ACT Science score depends upon it!
10) How to Identify and Answer ACT Science “Fork” Questions
A common question type in Experimental Design passages—and in the other passages as well—is what I’ve dubbed the “Fork” Question. If you learn how to master these questions, you’ll find that the answer choices actually lead you to the correct answer! Talk about a time-saver!
Get the Right Answers for the “Fighting Scientists” Passage
The “Fighting Scientists” passage—or Conflicting Scientific Viewpoints passage—is worth only 7 of the 40 questions in the ACT’s Science Section. And yes, for most students, this one passage is the most time-consuming of the lot! The thing is, if you want a top score, you NEED those 7 questions (or at least most of them)!
11) How to Recognize and Start the “Fighting Scientists” Part of the ACT Science
Unlike Experimental Design and Data Interpretation passages, you actually need to read this passage first before answering its questions. (And thus, you’ll need to recognize it right away as the “Fighting Scientists” passage first.) However, some ways to read the passage and take notes are better than others. You’ll need to make sure you read the passage in such a way that you remember the key differences between the various perspectives, so you don’t waste time rereading later when you shouldn’t have to.
12) “Which Scientist, If Any?” Questions on the ACT
A common question type in Conflicting Scientific Viewpoints passages is what I call the “Which Scientist, If Any?” question. If you learn how to maneuver these questions, you can get them right without reading and rereading the different scientific perspectives…and hopefully finish the ACT Science section in time!
13) How to Practice Strategies for Science Questions on the ACT
Now that you know how to recognize and answer the ACT Science’s various passage types and question types, you have to practice, so that you do each strategy automatically when you see it on the test—and begin to become “fluent” in the language of data interpretation and experimental design! And there is (of course!) a METHOD for this.
Think of this like learning the choreography to dance in a tango performance. First, you might need to learn how to master certain steps and moves, like a pivot or a front-cross step. (This is the equivalent of learning to master each question type.) Then, you might learn some short dance sequences that combine many of these moves in a precise order. (This is akin to learning how to do each passage type.) At first, you just work on connecting the different moves into the sequence, but soon, you’ll need to practice doing so in time with the music. Once these sequences are second nature and you’re up to speed, you’ll then need to practice the whole first dance number. (This is like doing a whole Science Section, timed.) And then, you’ll advance to the whole performance of four or five songs (practice tests), then dress rehearsals with full costume and makeup (mock tests). And then, of course, there’s the opening night performance (Test Day).
Obviously, trying to give a dress rehearsal before learning the basic jumps and sequences makes no sense…about as much sense as banging out ACT practice test after ACT practice test without mastering the question type strategies and the passage strategies or becoming familiar with the “language” of data ;)
Sound Like a Lot?
I’ve been teaching my proprietary ACT Science tricks and strategies and getting fantastic scores (and college acceptances!) for my students for years now. But just a few months back, I finally recorded all of it in an online video course, so that you can ace the ACT’s Science section…and bring up your Composite Score!
The Ultimate ACT Science Guide offers you 27 lessons via >3.5 hours of video, and it’s as close as you can get to working with me…well, without actually paying for my one-on-one lessons! You can go at your own pace from the comfort of your home, at a fraction of the price of being my private client.
Alternatively, if you want to be taught by the guru herself, you can find out how private tutoring with me works—and if I have availability—by contacting me here.
