Hello! I am a rising senior struggling with the science act portion. I am scoring in the high 30’s for English and reading, and low 30’s for math.
However- I am stuck in the 25-27 range on the science. I just cannot seem to understand how to solve certain problems. Some are common sense (such as reading the graph, etc). Others I cannot figure out despite looking everywhere in the passage. I have been using the Real act book and real act practice tests only to practice.
Is anyone who is able to perform well on the science section willing to give any tips? Thank you in advance!
There are some science questions that require outside knowledge. There is a passage I used years ago from an ancient test where you had to remember that frogs were amphibians. Others will require that you have a basic working knowledge of science equipment (buret, bunsen burner, etc.) Another required that you understood the structure of our solar system to compare it to a sample solar system.
I scored a 22 on the Science portion my first time through so I feel your pain. That section has pages loaded with information and it’s terrible if I’m honest… have you searched strategies for the science portion? I’ve read that there are italicized portions in the sentences on each page and that they usually give you clues to what you will need to interpret. Good luck 
The science section is like the bane of the ACT for many testers. It’s tricky, it’s the last section of the test (so you are tired) and sometimes you find that the pacing you set for yourself in practice can’t be replicated on the real test because they have thrown in some questions with more choices than you are used to, etc.
My daughter took two ACT’s her sophomore year (April, and again in June). On her first test she scored a 26 on the science despite hitting scores of 30+ in practice. On the June she raised it up 9 points to hit a 35. It was all about prepping specifically for Science using “high performer” materials such as Barron’s ACT 36 (she really liked that book) and accessing additional science questions from Princeton Review’s 1296 ACT Practice Questions. I’m sure there are other books out there too that are helpful (these two got decent reviews at the time). She had blown through the Red Book from her prep already which explains the need for additional materials. She also got the answers to her old ACT and examined each incorrect one to see what went wrong. Finally, she played with a couple different strategies, one of which was to see if she could answer the questions w/o reading the passage. I think that one worked very well for her. There are other strategies as well you could try. This article explains them in detail: http://blog.prepscholar.com/the-best-strategies-for-reading-act-science-passages
Not all strategies work for everyone or for every question so make sure to experiment a bit in practice.
The science section isn’t so much about science as it is science reasoning (data interpretation, etc.) so a good strategy for how to approach the passages is key. The more you practice that section, the better you’ll get. And if you are topping out with one strategy, try another and see if you can make improvements that way.
Take a science section test and time yourself so that you are taking it under real conditions. If possible, make it for a time when you are fatigued - nighttime if you are morning person or vice versa if you are very alert at night - so you get to practice how you’ll feel at the end of the ACT! Or take the full ACT practice test so that you are doing science at the very end in practice. I recall scouring the 'net to find additional practice tests for my daughter. Fortunately there were some out there. ACT itself is the best source.
Finally, keep in mind that ACT can throw in some surprises so be prepared for anything. the April 2015 science section had some additional choices on the science section that a lot of kids simply weren’t expecting. My D3 went into the June test expecting science to be tough - and she came out with a great score.
Good luck to you!