ACT Science strategies

1.Don't read the passage first

On the five figure passages, go straight to the questions. Each one usually points you at a figure or a table. Read just the axis labels, the units, and the key. Then answer.

Only read the intro paragraph when a question actually needs it. Most students who run out of time on Science spent it reading text nobody asked about.

No figure answers it? It's a recall question. Answer from what you know and move on — don't hunt the page. Current forms have a few of these (roughly 2–4), with no figure.

2.Units are the answer key

A question says "at 15 minutes" or "in mg/L." Find the axis or column with those exact units. That is the figure you need, and usually the only one.

Everything else on the page is there to slow you down.

3.Read the direction before you read the numbers

First row to last row in a table, left to right on a graph: is it going up, going down, or up then down? Half the questions only ask that.

"As temperature increased, the mass…" is a direction question wearing a science costume.

On experiment passages, ask what changed between Experiment 1 and 2. That is usually the question.

4.Do the argument passage last

One passage is different from the others. No big figure, just two or three scientists disagreeing. It is the slowest passage on the section.

Every other passage is "read the chart, answer." Get those points first, then give the argument passage whatever time is left.

5.How to pace ACT Science

Six passages in 40 minutes is under seven minutes each. Look at the clock once: three of six passages by 20 min. If the argument passage is still ahead, three is on pace. Behind? Speed up now, not with four minutes left.