THE ACT SCIENCE TEST
For many students, the Science test is the most difficult. Whether the subject matter alone intimidates or
the time crunch stresses, the Science test can be difficult to finish. In this chapter, you’ll learn how to
order the passages and apply a basic approach that makes the most of the time you have.
FUN FACTS ABOUT THE SCIENCE TEST
The Science test consists of 7 passages and 40 questions that you must answer in 35 minutes.
This is not a test of science content, but of science reasoning. ACT describes the necessary skills required
for the natural sciences as “interpretation, analysis, evaluation, reasoning, and problem solving.”
Trends and Relationships
We think all those skills are best understood as identifying trends and relationships. Whether you are
asked to look up a value or synthesize information, it all comes down to the patterns and connections
shown by variables, figures, experiments, and scientists. Look for trends within a figure, and look for
relationships between figures.
Outside Knowledge
For the topics of the passages, ACT will pull from biology, chemistry, physics, and the Earth/space
sciences, such as geology, astronomy, and meteorology. Most of the questions are answered by the
passages and figures provided, but you should also expect two to three questions on outside knowledge.
The Passages
On each ACT, the order of the passages will vary, but the distribution of passage types is always the
same.
Charts and Graphs
ACT calls these “Data Representations.” We call them “Charts and Graphs” because that’s what they’re
all about. They always come with figures. There are three Charts and Graphs passages, each with five
questions.
Experiments
ACT calls these “Research Summaries.” They look a lot like the Charts and Graphs passages because
they usually come with figures. However, they come with more reading because they include the
descriptions of the experiment set up. There are three Experiments passages, each with six questions.
