Science ACT Unit 1

Bell Work

Thinking back to your practice test. What did you learn about the ACT?

What will you do differently next time?

Notes: Unit 1 Lesson B: The Landscape of the Test

Know the Test

Timing and the Science ACT 40 questions related to 7 passages 35 minutes ~ 5 minutes to read passage and answer

5-7 questions!

That sounds impossible!How will you do it?

FYI

First, you need to know the ACT. By the end of this course you will know which questions you can answer easily, which ones require an educated guess, and which ones to skip. You will also know when to read the text in detail, and when to skim the text for correct answers.

Remember each question is worth one point. If you spend 5 minutes on a hard question and run out of time for 5 easy questions, you've just lost 5 points. It's much better to make an educated guess and move on - there's a good chance you'll be right.

Notes: The 3-Step Method for Science Passages

Step 1: Read the introduction what the passage is about defines vocabulary may contain answers

Step 2: Answer the easy questions address one experiment, viewpoint, table or figure

Step 3: Answer the harder questions address more than one experiment, viewpoint, table or figure

Read What You Need

Did you know that you can answer most of the questions for some passages without reading all the text? Most questions can be answered directly from the graphs, or using just one or two sentences from the text.

Use your Pre-Test for Science Reasoning

Examine Passage V of the Practice Test – copy in your notes

Question What data source did you use to find the answer

23

24

25

26

27

28

Discuss with person next to you

1. Did you need to read all of the text in the passage?

2. Did you need to understand the experiments to answer questions about the tables?

3. Which types of questions require you to read the text?

Notes: Finding the Easy Ones

To find an easy question, look for the following:– the title of an experiment, viewpoint, table or

figure– the words "according to the passage"

Go back to the Practice Test. Work independently to find the easy questions and the harder ones.

Use your Pre-Test, work with partnerCopy table in notes

Passage Easy Question # Harder Question #

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

VII

Discuss with someone who has the same birthday month as you

Are the easy questions at the beginning, at the end, or mixed around? How will this help you fine them?

Formative – work with a partner

Handouts

Guided Practice

Shared Practice

KAP WrapSummative Assignment

Write a letter to your teacher, telling her your thoughts about the ACT Science Test. In your letter, be sure to say:

– what areas you are strong in.– what areas you think you need to work on.– what you think you can do to get ready for the test.– how you think your teacher can help you get ready for the

test.

ReKAP – you may use notes

Review the strategies from this unit. Then fill in the blanks with what you have learned.

1. The Science ACT contains ____ questions, which address ____ passages. These questions must be answered in ___ minutes.

2. Easy questions will often contain the name of one _____ , _____ or _____. Easy questions that can be answered by the introduction may contain the words "_____."

3. When approaching a passage, you should read the entire _____, but only read the rest of the text if you need to.

4. Harder questions will ask about ____ .

ReKap continued

True or False

5. Harder questions are worth more points.

6. If you haven't studies a topic in class, you can still do well on that passage.

7. It's better to leave an answer blank than to guess.

8. You need to read every word and understand the data before you can answer the questions.

Class DiscussionStrategy Instruction Eliminating

One of the most powerful strategies you can use on the ACT is Eliminating wrong answers. There is no penalty for guessing, so you want to fill in every bubble and make your guesses count!

A random guess will give you a 25% change of getting the correct answer. If you can eliminate two wrong answers, you can have a 50% chance. And of course if you can eliminate three wrong answers, you've solved the problem.

Try It Out! Pp. 34-5

Test Practice Unit 1

Individual

Formative

15 minutes

16 questions

Star the first 5 questions you answer – are they easy ones?

Circle the last 2 you answer, are they the hardest ones?

Cross off obviously wrong answers to show Elimination Strategy

Test Practice Unit 1 Answers

1 D 9 C2 F 10 J3 D 11 A4 F 12 H5 C 13 B6 H 14 H7 D 15 C8 G 16 J

Summative: KAP Wrap

You now have a good idea about the structure and scoring of the ACT. If you could retake the Practice Test, what would you do differently?