On the ACT science test, I can get a 33 or 34 if it is untimed, but when I do time it, I get a very average score like a 24. II know people say to go straight to the questions, but I don’t understand how you all do this. For example, in my Red book, there’s a question that states something like, “Which of the following is the most likely explanation for the difference in the depth of the bog water table in the 2 years?” I don’t understand how to answer this by looking at a graph. It isn’t asking for numbers… so does that mean I should read the info before the graphs? I need help badly on this section! If you have any other tips for the test, please include that as well. Would really appreciate advice from someone who isn’t a natural genius and got a 36 on the first try. Lol.
I was basically in the same situation as you, then I learned a method so now I score usually in the range of 32-35.
Do the 3 passages with 5 questions each first - I just go straight to the questions since they are just reading graphs
Try to spend less than 4 minutes on these 3 passages so that you will get these done in 12 minutes
Then do the 3 passages with 6 questions each - These passages actually require you to read some of the passage - I usually just skim the passage to find the main ideas and quickly underline any sig. info
Try to spend around 5 minutes on these passages, so you’ll get 6 passages done in around 27 minutes.
Do the conflicting viewpoints passage (7 Q’s) last. You really need to read the entire passage otherwise you’ll just get confused. If you follow this pace, you’ll have 8 minutes to do this passage which is more than enough (usually a good pace is 6 min for this passage so you’ll have 2 extra min. of buffer time)
Obviously, if you get stuck on a question, don’t waste time and fill in your best guess, circle the question, then come back to it once you finish the rest of the test.
The ACT science isn’t so much of knowing science as it is how to read graphs. The first time I took the ACT, I read the data provided, and THEN I read the questions. That is the WRONG way to go about the Science portion: I wasn’t able to finish. I got a 27 (Science).
The best way to complete the science portion is to read each question individually. By this, I mean read the question first, and then go to the data. Find the data that supports a certain answer, pick the answer, and move on.
The problem with reading the data first is that you can’t remember the data when you move on to the questions. Thus, you have to go back to the data again to answer the question; you’re going over the data twice (or usually more). When you read the questions first, though, you only need to go through the data once, thus minimizing the amount of time you spend.
With that method (questions first), I raised my Science to a 34.