<p>So it seems like most people either find the science section of the act to be extremely easy or extremely hard. Sadly, I'm part of the latter group. I've only taken the act once and a 25 on science was my worst score. I would really like to get my composite to 32, but I'm afraid that science will drag it down again :(</p>
<p>So far I've taken 3 prac science section test from the Princeton Review book and have scored a 22, 25, and 27. I feel like it will be impossible for me to score 30 or higher on the science; it's just too confusing to me and I always run out of time. Does anybody have any good tips for the science section?</p>
<p>search button, look through a few pages of this forum… its tiring having to type help out every time someone comes in and makes a new thread. Especially since this is your first post and i doubt you looked around.</p>
<p>The science section is my worst as well. That said, so far on practice tests I can usually swing a 32. My advice is: don’t read the passages! Usually they have one that is speaker 1 and speaker 2 and their contrasting opinions. I start with that one to get it out of the way while I’m still calm. After that, read the passages only when the question can’t be answered by simply looking at the graphs. Don’t bother trying to actually understand the experiments, unless the question requires it. Most of the time, you can just look directly at the graphs and the answer is right there.</p>
<p>Don’t read the passages? I read the passages once or twice before I start with the questions. I did a practice test yesterday and got one wrong with a 35…I ended up with around 9 minutes left.</p>
<p>Hmm. Awesome that reading them works for you! I just assumed because OP reported feeling confused and running out of time, that he/she was getting bogged down in the text. Just my opinion though, different things work for different people.</p>
<p>@cowking15: thanks for the warm welcome, lol jk. I actually did look around and the majority of the info I found was not that helpful, so I asked myself in hopes that I would get lucky and hear a new strategy or new take on the science section.</p>
<p>@aarush: I think starting with the contrasting opinions section might actually be a pretty good idea because those tend to be the easiest questions and like you said, you’re still calm at the start of the test.</p>
<p>@Totalderiv: Yeah, well different strokes for different folks, right? x) Nice job on the 35, but reading through the passages just doesn’t work for me because I’m basically just reading through the sections as quick as I can without really understanding what’s going on, so in the end it just becomes a waste of time for me.</p>
<p>Okay well, I have a very good method for you. When encountering the sciences section:</p>
<p>1) DO NOT PANIC!!
2) First read the main passage and identify the purpose; underline it.
3) After that if the passage is the scientist viewpoint- read the passage on scientist/research 1;bracket main points and then answer questions on scientist one’s viewpoint and then do the same for scientist two.
4) If the passage is an experiment passage, then read experiment one: bracket the method and put a star next to the results, which may be graphs or tables.
5) ALL THE ANSWERS ARE IN THE PASSAGE! So don’t think too much and don’t look too far. If the question for example asks you to identify a third way a scientist may experiment to find results, they are asking you about some thing that is not too far from the experiments already shown or given to you.
6) Most of the time if they ask you to derive information it will be very basic things related to biology for ex: CO2;O;N;ATP;Respiration,Energy <<< They love questions like those so be aware of some basic biology concepts
7) And finally be confident! Half of the test is the energy and effort you put in and the other half is the confidence you exude. </p>
<p>Well good luck and I sure hope I helped!! :)</p>
<p>^ there is usually one question out of the 35 that is an outside knowledge question that is not in the passages. They’re usually pretty simple though</p>