ACT Science: The Question Types There are 40 questions on the ACT science section. Within these 40 questions, the same 4 question types repeat consistently. This worksheet describes the question types, presents strategies to tackle each one, and tells you where these question types appeared on the tests you took. If you feel good about these question types, you are well on your way to success on the ACT science section. Note: the official ACT tests referred to in this PDF are the free ACT on the ACT website; ACT 1, 2, and 3 found in all versions of The Real ACT Prep Guide; and ACT 4 and 5 found only in the 2011 release of The Real ACT Prep Guide. Contents Question Type #1: The Straight-From-the-Chart Question... 2 Question Type #2: The Spot-the-Trend Question... 3 Question Type #3: The Analyze-the-Experiment Question... 5 Question Type #4: The Scientific Theories Question... 6 1
Question Type #1: The Straight-From-the-Chart Question Good news! Straight from the chart questions make up approximately 1/3 of questions on the science section. They ask you to identify information that can simply be read straight off a graph or table. To easily answer these questions, take some time to examine the graphs or charts first. Ask yourself: 1. What is the title of this graph? 2. What is being plotted on each axis? 3. What does each row or column of each table represent? 4. What units of measurement are being used? If you take time to think about the charts or graphs, you will know where to look for answers. Here s an example straight-from-the-chart question: Which number describes the approximate altitude of the HXLV after 50 seconds? A. 60,000 ft. B. 75,000 ft. C. 85,000 ft. D. 200,000 ft. 2
Hopefully, you picked answer choice A. As long as you look at the graph carefully, you can see that the HXLV line crosses the 50 second line at an altitude of about 60,000 ft. On the tests you took, the following questions were straight from the chart questions: Free ACT (2012-2013), questions 1, 2, 7, 8, 13, 16, 18, 19, 23, 36, 38, 39 ACT Test 1, questions 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 18, 19, 20, 23, 26, 35 ACT Test 2, questions 1, 2, 13, 14, 15, 18, 37, 38, 39, 40 ACT Test 3, questions 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 10, 17, 20, 30, 36, 37, 39 ACT Test 4, questions 1, 2, 4, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 19, 22, 30, 37, 39 ACT Test 5, questions 1, 4, 7, 13, 17, 18, 23, 24, 30, 34, 35, 39 Free ACT (2011-2012, see retired tests), questions 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 12, 17, 19, 22, 25, 28, 29, 30 Question Type #2: The Spot-the-Trend Question These make up approximately 1/3 of the questions on the science section Spot-the-trend questions ask you to identify a pattern or trend on a graph or chart. To easily answer these questions, take time to examine the graphs or charts before you head to the questions. In addition to the questions above, ask yourself: 1. In a table, do the numbers in a column steadily get bigger or smaller, or do they jump around? 2. On a graph, look for the same type of patterns. Where are the highest points and where are the lowest? 3. As one variable increases, does the other variable increase as well? Or does it decrease? Or is there no clear relationship between them? Here is an example using the previous chart: 3
At 350,000 feet, a typical Pegasus will probably have been in the air for how long? A) 70 seconds B) 80 seconds C) 90 seconds D) More than 90 seconds Hopefully, you chose answer choice D. This question is testing to see if you can predict what will happen off the graph based on the pattern occurring on the graph. Since the Pegasus line is increasing steeply with the passage of time, one can predict that at 350,000 feet, more than 90 seconds will have passed. On the tests you took, the following questions fell into the spot-the-trend category: Free ACT (2012-2013), questions 6, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 20, 31, 32, 33, 37, 40 ACT Test 1, questions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 13, 15, 16, 17, 21, 22, 24, 25, 27, 36, 37, 39 ACT Test 2, questions 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 36 ACT Test 3, questions 5, 7, 8, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 21, 22, 32, 34, 40 ACT Test 4, questions 6, 7, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 32, 34, 36, 40 ACT Test 5, questions 2, 3, 5, 12, 14, 16, 20, 25, 27, 29, 31, 32, 37, 38 Free ACT (2011-2012, see retired tests), questions 3, 8, 9, 10, 13, 15, 21, 23, 24, 27 4
Question Type #3: The Analyze-the-Experiment Question These questions ask about how and why a scientist designed an experiment. To get these points, you ll have to understand why the experiments are set up the way they are. You ll also have to understand how the experiments relate to each other and why certain variables are manipulated while others stay the same. Below are some examples of questions asking you to analyze the experiment. There s no passage that accompanies them, but we think you ll get the idea: In experiment 1, why did the scientist wait 5 minutes after placing the test tube into the heated chamber before measuring the test tube s temperature? In study 2, why did the scientist change the amount of exhaust emitted by tube 3? If the test tube in experiment 2 was contaminated with nonreactive impurities, how would this affect the experiment s results? As you can see, this question type requires you to understand the method behind the experiments. To tackle this question type, remember that: An experiment can only focus on one factor at a time. To study the effect of any one factor, all of the other factors must be held constant. For example, if you want to study the effects of heat on the growth of bean plants, you need to make sure that all other variables affecting the plants light, water, soil quality, etc. are the same for all the plants involved. Only the heat levels will change. Experiments will often include a control group that is not exposed to a critical part of the experiment. Ask yourself: 1. Why did the scientist set up this experiment the way s/he did? 2. What is the factor being tested and what are the factors that are held constant? 3. Was there a control for this experiment and if so, what was it? On the tests you took, the following questions fell into this category: Free ACT (2012-2013), questions 3, 4, 12, 17, 21, 22, 34, 35 ACT Test 1, questions 38, 40 ACT Test 2, questions 7, 9, 11, 17, 24, 27, 28 ACT Test 3, questions 12, 19, 31, 33, 35, 38 ACT Test 4, questions 5, 9, 14, 16, 33, 35 ACT Test 5, questions 15, 19, 21, 26, 28, 33, 36, 40 5
Free ACT (2011-2012, see retired tests), questions 11, 14, 16, 26, 32 Question Type #4: The Scientific Theories Question These questions require you to understand, evaluate, and compare theories. Some will ask why a scientist offers certain evidence or will ask you to support or refute a hypothesis. Others will ask you to identify a hypothesis or to identify on which points scientists agree or disagree. Scientific theory questions occur primarily in conflicting viewpoints passages. Below are some examples of questions testing scientific theories. There s no passage that accompanies them, but we think you ll get the idea: Which of the following evidence would disprove Scientist 1 s hypothesis? Scientist 1 and Scientist 2 both agree with the assertion that.. To tackle these questions, use the tips for reading conflicting viewpoints passages. If you tackle the scientists theories one at a time--instead of reading both at once before heading to the questions you will have an easier time picking out the correct answers. On the tests you took, the following questions fell into this category: Free ACT (2012-2013), questions 5, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 ACT Test 1, questions 6, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34 ACT Test 2, questions 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 ACT Test 3, questions 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 ACT Test 4, questions 3, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 ACT Test 5, questions 6, 8, 9, 11 Free ACT (2011-2012, see retired tests), questions 31, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40 6