My students often ask me how to do well on the science section of the ACT. They are intimidated by this section for several reasons: there are usually words that the student doesn’t recognize or know how to pronounce, they worry that they have not had enough education in science, and they are unsure of their ability to interpret the charts and graphs, among other reasons. I’ll address some of the major concerns one by one. I hope that with this post I can ease your fears about the ACT’s Science Test so that you can go into it knowing that you can not only do well on it, but you can ace it!
1. “The test uses unfamiliar and big words, and I don’t even know how to pronounce them.”
What? You don’t remember that heliconia metallica is a plant and not a legendary rock band? This is a totally natural concern. When you’re reading on your own, whether for school or for your own enjoyment, and you come across an unfamiliar word, it slows you down because you’ll usually want to stop to look up the meaning of the word. You might even be the type of reader who wants to know how to pronounce every word you read. That’s totally normal because many of us have an “inner monologue” while we’re reading, and if that voice stumbles over the pronunciation of a big word, it’s difficult to move on in the passage.
But here’s a little secret: You don’t need to pronounce a word in order to use it in the ACT Science Test. When I tell most of my students this piece of information, they get an “I should have thought of that” look on their faces. They love it! Let’s think about it. You’re not taking the test out loud. Nobody knows––or cares––whether you know what every word in the passage means! It just doesn’t matter. You might see the same word in the questions as you stumbled over in the text; that is okay. You still don’t need to know what it means or how to say it aloud. That’s actually better. Just do the same thing we all did when we were first learning how to read and put words together. Rather than thinking about how to pronounce or spell the word, just look for where you’ve seen it before. Match it up with where it is in the passage and that will usually direct you to the answer to the question. Don’t dwell on the words, and don’t worry about how to say them.
2. “I am not very good at Science, so I don’t think I’ll do well on the ACT Science Test.”
So you don’t know all the elements on the periodic table or which genes are recessive and which are dominant. Welcome to the Almost-Everybody Club. The good news is that this also doesn’t matter! Let’s think about what we’re talking about. When a student says they’re “not good at science,” they usually mean they haven’t gotten the best grades in (or maybe did not enjoy) their Biology, Chemistry, or Earth Science classes. Those classes usually include a lot of information to remember and a lot of facts to learn. Trust me, I know what a pain it is to try to remember which traits in monkeys are dominant and which are recessive, and I know how hard it is to memorize the different parts of the periodic table. Remembering how to calculate equilibrium constants in chemical equations is difficult, I know.
The good news, though, is this: You need no “science knowledge” to do well on the ACT Science Test. None at all. I promise!
You do, however, need to know how to interpret facts that are presented to you. This test presents charts, tables, illustrations, and graphs and asks the student to answer questions based on the information in those graphics and accompanying paragraphs. But that’s just what many scientists do, at least after they’ve conducted their experiments. They simply look at the data they’ve collected and organized, and they interpret it into information that will help to either prove or disprove their hypothesis.
In the ACT Science Test, the “science-y” part has already been done for us; all that’s left is to answer some questions about what the information means!
3. “How am I supposed to learn the information and answer the questions in the 35 minutes they give me to do the test?”
I mentioned earlier that it’s not easy to learn complex science concepts. Scientists study for years, sometimes decades, to perfect their ability to learn these ideas.
Let me calm your fear here. Trust me when I tell you that nobody expects you to learn it in the 35 minutes the ACT gives you to complete the 40 questions on the science test. Here’s my tip for this concern: Do not try to “learn” the information. I’m serious. After you finish the ACT and turn in the test book, nobody is going to stop you and quiz you on the information presented in the passages you just looked at. This test is not meant to see how fast you can learn and regurgitate information. The ACT science test is a test of how well you can interpret data that is right in front of you. You need no more information than what’s in the test booklet, and you are not responsible for any of this specific information after you leave the testing room. Another helpful aspect of the ACT science test is that most of the questions include wording that tells you where to look for the answer. They will start with “According to Figure 2 . . .” or “What would Scientist 2 say about . . .” and then ask the question. Use these clues to see where to find the answer to that question. This could mean that you will be able to answer several of the questions before even reading any of the passage text!
Mark’s Summary
There are a couple of sections of the ACT that require knowledge before you take them. For the English Test, it helps to know spelling, grammar, punctuation, and word choice. For the Math Test, you need to know many concepts from algebra, geometry, and pre-calculus. The Science Test is different. You don’t need prior knowledge about the subject on which you’ll be answering questions. Some of the words they use are big and unfamiliar, but that’s okay; you don’t need to know how to pronounce them to match a word from a question to the same word in the text passage. The ACT Science Test is not about your prior knowledge of science. The answers are all in the passages, graphs, charts, and other graphics on the page in front of you. The test measures your ability to determine meaning from facts that are presented to you.
Just like any test section, though, you can get better with practice. There are free resources and practice tests here, and of course, you can get personalized, one-on-one lessons with me! Contact me today to check my availability.