Tag Archives: science

ACT Question of the Day Explained – February 1, 2014 – Science

Today’s ACT question of the day is a repeat of the science question we discussed on January 20.

Since there’s nothing new today, here are some general tips for the ACT science section:

  • Remember the scientific method
  • Read the charts carefully and know which ones correspond to which experiments
  • Keep an eye on the time since you have only 5 minutes per passage

My February 8 test takers: you are officially less than a week away!  Time to review all ACT tips to make sure you’ve got your strategies down and start assembling the items from your test day checklist, either.  Make sure next Thursday and Friday nights are blocked out for sleeping!

ACT Question of the Day Explained – January 20, 2014 – Science

Today’s ACT question of the day is a science question about reading charts.  We have a pretty cool chart this time, though it’s a bit unconventional:

ACT Tree diagram

Image copyright ACT

The question wants to know what we would find at year 80.  We can see that this chart is a sort of timeline, so we need to find where year 80 would fall and then see what trees would be growing. Continue reading →

ACT Question of the Day Explained – January 16, 2014 – Science

Putting the "sigh" in scienceToday’s ACT question of the day is a science question about a bottom-dwelling organism.  (Now you have a new name to call your best friend when s/he makes you mad!  Not responsible if you try that on your parents.)

We have a table that describes the concentrations of certain ions in the sediment at the bottom of an ocean.  Does it matter, for the ACT, if you know what all of those symbols (Fe, O, CO, etc.) stand for?  Do you need to know what pH is?  Nope.  Just make sure you look at the right symbols when it comes time to answer the question.

Speaking of the question, our bottom-dwelling organism is a little picky and it wants a sediment depth that provides the following conditions:

  • a neutral pH (which, according to the given text, is 7)
  • low Fe2+
  • high concentrations of O2

Time to read the chart! Continue reading →