High School Academics

1. The Way to Happy
ACT Land
• When taking the dreaded ACT there are two ways
to think about it, the right way and the wrong way.

2. Which Way to Go
• The Wrong Way:
- A negative attitude
- Would a, should a,
could a
- Memorize the charts
and graphs
- Read word for word

3. Science Reasoning
» There are
ways to do
well on the
science
reasoning
portion of
the ACT
even if
science is
not your
strong suit!

4. Don’t Get Stuck On
Science• Ignore big scientific
names like Agnatha.
The information in
the reading will tell
you it’s a type of
fish, that’s all you
need to know.
• Read difficult science
passages the same
way you’d read easy
ones. Read for the
structure of the
passage, and don’t
get stuck on the

5. Use Kaplan’s
four-step
method for
data analysis
when you
have a table.
 What’s represented
in the table?
 What do the rows
and columns
represent?
 What are the units?
 What are the
patterns in the data?

6. When Scientists Disagree
• Decide what the
scientists are trying
to explain.
• Circle each of their
hypothesis’s and put
them in your own
words
• Decide the strengths
and weaknesses of
each scientist’s
viewpoints.

7. How Experiments Work
• Experiments have three
components:
–1) Purpose
–2) Method
–3) Results

8. The Three Components
• The purpose: Scientists perform experiments to test their
theories about the cause-and-effect relationships a work in
a system.
• The method: One parameter of a system, the controlled
variable, is varied while everything else is held constant
and the system is observed
• The results: Scientists formulate general conclusions based
on the specific results of experiments.

9. Deciphering data and perceiving
Patterns
Glance at the
graphs,tables,and
diagrams on your fist
read through and
determine what is
represented.
Do not waste time with
analyzing data before
you’re sure you need it to
answer the questions.
Don’t try to memorize
the information in the
graphs, tables, and
Diagrams.
Refer back to find
specific information you
need when you are
answering the questions.

10. Data Representation
• Skip over complicated terms when reading
the passage for the first time.
• Scientific terms will be defined if you need
them to answer questions.
• If you don’t understand a passage, answer
as many questions as you can with the
information in the graphs, tables, and
diagrams that accompany the passage

11. Data Representation
• Although ACT Science Reasoning passages
cover difficult material, many of the
questions can be answered with just a
cursory understanding of the passage.
• You don’t get more points for answering
hard questions on the ACT, so do the
passages and questions that are easier first
and, then go back and work on the hard
ones.

12. Don’t let the graphs confuse you!
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
1st
Qtr
2nd
Qtr
3rd
Qtr
4th
Qtr
East
West
North
• Don’t be confused but
all the graphs and
scientific terminology.
• If you skip over the
terms, or use common
sense to substitute a
word, you may find it
easier and less
confusing.

13. Practice Quizzes!
• If you have access to the ACT Trainer,
worksheets, science books, or graphs you
may want to study or look over those to see
what the science test may contain.
• Learning to read graphs may help you to
answer the questions easily and more
efficiently.

14. Practice Quizzes Two!
• You may also want to quiz yourself to see
what areas you want to work on before you
take the actual ACT.
• Getting an ACT packet and taking the
Science practice quiz, as well as the others,
may help you in the long run to do a better
job on the actual ACT.

15. Tips on Improving Your Score.
1.) Don’t be fooled by
terminology.
2.) Don’t let the data on
the graphs confuse you.
3.) Make sure you look at
the proper graph for that
particular question.
4.)Check the graphs for
patterns, such as increase
or decrease in data.