Sounds scary, right? Reasoning and Science all in one ACT section? Before you run screaming for the nearest bridge, consider reading the following explanation about what you’re really going to encounter on the ACT Science Reasoning section.
ACT Science Reasoning Basics
If you’ve read ACT 101, you know that 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.
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 the following 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 in these fields:
- Biology: biology, botany, zoology, microbiology, ecology, genetics, and evolution
- Chemistry: atomic theory, inorganic chemical reactions, chemical bonding, reaction rates, solutions, equilibriums, gas laws, electrochemistry, organic chemistry, biochemistry, and properties and states of matter
- Physics: mechanics, energy, thermodynamics, electromagnetism, fluids, solids, and light waves
- Earth Sciences: geology, meteorology, oceanography, astronomy, and environmental sciences
ACT Science Question Format
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:
- 3 Data Representation passages with 5 questions each: Tests knowledge of graphs, scatterplots, 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.
ACT Scores and the Science Section
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 sites 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.
There it is – the ACT Science Reasoning section in brief. Good luck!
