How to Read the ACT Science Test
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Introduction to the Science Test
Summary
The most effective way to handle ACT Science is to read strategically rather than thoroughly, using a specific order that helps you find only the information needed to answer each question quickly and accurately. This approach works for nearly all passage types, with the major exception of the conflicting viewpoints passage, which requires full reading.
- ACT Science includes a large amount of information that is never needed for the questions, so success depends on resisting the urge to read everything and instead aiming for a quick orientation to the scientific situation.
- Start by skimming for the gist in 15 to 30 seconds, focusing especially on the beginning and end of the text and on figures, charts, and graphs to identify the experiment, topic, or variables being tested.
- Read the question next and mark key scientific terms, including study names, numbers, variables, and exactly what the question asks you to find, because these terms direct you to the right data.
- Check the answer choices before searching the passage, since they often reveal the type of pattern or trend you need to identify, such as increase, decrease, or a mixed change.
- Go directly to charts, graphs, figures, and then figure keys to locate those key terms; most questions can be answered from labels and visual data without reading the full passage.
- If the visuals do not provide enough information, skim the passage for the missing key terms and read only the relevant lines, then double-check the question to avoid simple mistakes like using the wrong study, chart, or direction of change.
- Use this sequence for almost every ACT Science passage, but fully read conflicting viewpoints passages because the questions depend on understanding and comparing the different perspectives in the text.
Chapters
00:00
Why Selective Reading Matters on ACT Science
01:09
Step 1: Orient Yourself Quickly to the Passage
03:45
Steps 2 and 3: Use Questions and Answer Choices to Identify Key Terms
06:20
Steps 4 Through 6: Find the Answer in Figures, Keys, and Only Then the Passage
09:36
Step 7 and the Major Exception: Double-Check and Handle Conflicting Viewpoints Differently