ACT/MME Science Test

Use this power point for information

on how to prepare for the science
portion of the ACT.
 The Questions are set up as
Science Reasoning questions.
 There are 35 question and you will
be given 40 minutes to answer them!
 There are 3 types of questions and
they all use something called
“Passages”.
 You will need to - Practice practice
practice!
 Time Management
(pace yourself)

 As mentioned there are 40 questions

that you must answer in 35 minutes
on this section. Sure, that’s less than
a minute per question, but since it
should only take you about 25
seconds or so to answer each one at
the very longest, you’ll have plenty
of time to finish. Don’t sweat it.
 More Overview
 Just like the other sections, the ACT Science
section can earn you between 1 and 36 points.
The average is about a 20, but you’ll have to do
much better than that if you’d like to hit up a top
university for admissions acceptance – more like
between a 30 and 34.
 You’ll be tested in various content areas. Don’t
worry, though. You don’t have to have some sort
of degree in any of them; the ACT is just looking
for basic background knowledge of this stuff.
Remember, the test is about scientific reasoning,
so even if you don’t remember many content
details, you’ll still probably be able to figure out
the answers to many of the questions.
 Question Format
(passages)
 All the questions on the Science
Reasoning Test will contain some
sort of data given to you in graphs,
charts, tables or simply in
paragraphs, along with an
explanation of what to do with the
data. The questions are broken down
into 7 different “passages”:
 Question Format

 3 Data Representation – called passages with 5

questions each: Tests knowledge of graphs, scatter plots,
and interpretation of info in tables, diagrams, and figures.  

 3 Research Summaries - passages with 6 questions each:

Tests your ability to interpret results from given
experiments.
 
 1 Conflicting Viewpoints - passage with 7 questions:
Gives you two or three different viewpoints on some sort of
observable phenomenon and asks you to understand
differences and similarities in the hypotheses.
 Question Type 1
Data Representation
Simply means graphs, tables
and other graphical forms.
The questions that follow
tests your ability to:
 Data Representation
 Read and understand scatter plots,
graphs, tables diagrams, charts,
figures, etc.
 Compare and interpret information
presented in those forms.
 Draw conclusions from the data
provided.
 Make predictions about the data.
 Develop a hypothesis based on the
 Question type 2
Research Summaries
Are descriptions or results of
one or more related
experiments.
The questions that follow test
your abilities to:
 Understand the design of an
experiment
 Summarize results
 Interpret experimental results
 Draw conclusions about the
information provided
 Make predictions about the research
results
 Develop hypothesis based on the
research
 Question Type 3
Conflicting View Points
These contain two or more related
hypotheses or ideas that are
inconsistent with one another.
The questions that follow
conflicting viewpoints test your
ability to:
 Read and understand several related
but inconsistent hypotheses

 Recognize different view point

 Understand, analyze, and compare

alternate viewpoints

 Draw conclusions about the

information provided
 Break Down
(Approximately)

 38% Data Representation

 45% Research Summaries

 17% Conflicting View Points

 More Tips
 Obviously, you want this score to be
fantastic, so your overall ACT score
will be, too. Here are some helpful
hints to get your closer to that 36
and farther away from that 0.
Read the questions before you
read the passage.
Other people may will tell you to
read the passage first, but that
information is incorrect. If you
read the questions before you
read the text, you’ll know what to
look for as you slog through the
material. If you read the passage
first, you’re going to end up re-
reading anyway once you’ve read
the questions. Trust me on this
one.
 Mark up the text!
Physically underline, cross-out,
and circle things that stand out
to you as you read. Some of the
text is going to be pretty heavy,
so you’ll want to dissect it as you
go to make the most sense of it.
 Paraphrase the questions. Before you
read the answers, put those questions into
words you would use if you can’t
understand what they’re asking.
 Cover the answers. Keep your hand over
the answers while you read the question.
Then, make a wild stab at answering
before you uncover your choices. You may
just find a paraphrase of your own answer
in one of the choices, and odds are, it’s
the right choice.