Updated August 21, 2026

Every ACT Science Question Type (With Examples)

Bonus Material: Get our comprehensive list of accepted ACT Score Ranges for 2025

Even though it’s optional now, ACT Science can still be intimidating. Topics cover a huge range of science areas, including ones that most students don’t study in school.

That’s why it’s essential to know what kinds of questions to expect on ACT Science.

Here, you’ll find a breakdown of every single question type you’ll see on the ACT Science section.

Plus, we’ve researched the average ACT score ranges at over 500 colleges and universities, so you can see what score you need to be competitive. Wondering what your ACT goal score should be? Grab the free download below!

Jump to section:
ACT Science in a Nutshell
Reading Graphs and Figures
Working with Data
Understanding Experimental Design
Predicting Experimental Results
Understanding Viewpoints
Comparing Viewpoints
Questions that Require Outside Science Knowledge (Rare!)
Next Steps

ACT Science in a Nutshell

ACT Science is a reading comprehension test.

That’s right – with only a few rare exceptions, you can answer every single question on ACT Science just by carefully reading the passages. You’ll almost never need to know outside science knowledge.

That’s why knowing the question types you’ll see is actually much more helpful than knowing the topics you’ll see on the test.

Before we dive into those, here are the basics on ACT Science:

The ACT Science section is the fourth section of the ACT, and it’s optional
Your ACT Science score is on a scale of 1-36 and does not count towards your composite ACT score (for more info on what that means, see our ACT score calculator)
There are 40 questions on ACT Science, to be completed in 40 minutes
Only 34 of these questions are actually scored. The other 6 are “experimental” questions that won’t affect your score in any way
There are 7 “passages,” each of which contains some text and/or graphics in the form of charts, figures, tables, and/or graphs
The subjects of these passages will always be related to science in some capacity: chemistry, biology, physics, earth science, space science, etc.
There are three kinds of passages: Data Representation, Research Summaries, and Conflicting Viewpoints. Here’s what you need to know about each passage type.
The questions will always boil down to data analysis, figure interpretation, and scientific knowledge
You may not use a calculator

Now, let’s get to the question types.

Reading Graphs and Figures

The most basic ACT Science question simply requires you to read the graphs and figures that accompany a passage.

Based on Figure 1, for spotted piglets, the difference in average body mass between Habitat A and Habitat B was closest to which of the following?

A. 0.0 kg
B. 0.3 kg
C. 0.7 kg
D. 1.2 kg

All you have to do is:

Identify what piece of information you’re looking for
Identify where you’re told to look
Read the figure to find the answer

This type of question will always tell you where to look for the information. If the question directs you to Figure 1, don’t waste your time looking at Figure 2!

Working with Data

A slightly more complex version of data-based questions will add in an extra step that you have to do with the information you’ve extracted. In this example, you first have to get the information from the table, then do some basic math comparing those pieces of information.

Based on Table 2, for spotted piglets, which of the following ratios best represents the average number of times the piglets ate each day in Habitat A compared to the average number of times the piglets ate each day in Habitat B?

A. 1:2
B. 3:5
C. 4:5
D. 5:6

As well as reading graphs and figures, you’ll sometimes be asked to extrapolate data that isn’t in the graph (or to interpolate data that isn’t explicitly marked on the graph).

Sketching directly on the page can be a big help with these questions.

It’s also important to rephrase what the question is actually asking for. For example, this question asks you where the average diameters would be the same.

Consider the 2 trends shown for Mineral T at the temperatures of 200 °C and 400 °C. If these lines continued along the same trend, at which of the following pressures would the average diameter of the Mineral T clusters be the same?

A. P = 10 x 10⁷
B. P = 30 x 10⁷
C. P = 40 x 10⁷
D. P = 50 x 10⁷

Without even looking at the graph, that sounds like you’re most likely looking for the point where the graphs intersect.

Now you have a visual clue to look out for, making it faster and easier to answer the question.

Understanding Experimental Design

Understanding how scientific experiments work is a big part of ACT Science.

You’re likely to see several questions like this one, asking why the scientists took a certain step in their study.

In seawater, compound X is broken down into simpler compounds by thermal energy at temperatures above 50 degrees Fahrenheit. What action was taken in the studies to prevent this process from taking place?

A. Each mixture of compound X and seawater was cooled.
B. Each mixture of compound X and lake water was cooled.
C. Each mixture of compound X and seawater was exposed to light.
D. Each mixture of compound X and lake water was exposed to light.

Note that you don’t need any background knowledge to answer these questions – the setup of the experiment will be fully explained in the passage. All you need to do is understand what part of the experiment served which goal.

In this case – and for many questions like this – you can even make a pretty good guess without reading the passage. If thermal energy – meaning heat – causes this compound to break down, and we want to prevent this from occurring, it makes sense that you’d want to cool the water down.

Predicting Experimental Results

Another common ACT Science question type will give you an existing study and its results, then ask you how these results would change if you changed something about the experiment design.

Based on the results of Experiment 1, if Experiment 2 were repeated except that all the piglets were fed Diet R instead of Diet Q, would the average body mass more likely have been lower or higher for each group?

A. Lower; on average, piglets fed Diet R had an average body mass 20 percentile points greater than those fed Diet Q.
B. Lower; on average, piglets fed Diet R had an average body mass 10 percentile points smaller than those fed Diet Q.
C. Higher; on average, piglets fed Diet R had an average body mass 10 percentile points greater than those fed Diet Q.
D. Higher; on average, piglets fed Diet R had an average body mass 20 percentile points greater than those fed Diet Q.

These are a little more complicated than questions that simply ask you to understand the experiment design. Still, the first step remains the same: understand what’s going on in the study.

Ask yourself:

What happened in the study?
What variable is being changed in this question?
What effect did that variable have in the study or in the introduction?

This question type is one of the most challenging ones on ACT Science. That’s because it requires you to have a good big-picture grasp of the experiment setup and zoom in on the role of just one variable.

For questions like this, it can be super helpful to work with an ACT tutor who can help you learn strategies to save time and use the information you have to get to the information you need. Give us a call for a free consultation on ACT tutoring options, or check out our expert-reviewed ranking of the best ACT tutoring services out there.

Understanding Viewpoints

One of the 7 passages on ACT Science will be about “conflicting viewpoints,” where you’re presented with different opinions on a scientific phenomenon. (Read our in-depth guide to this tricky passage type here.)

You’ll recognize these passages at a glance because of the headings “Scientist 1,” “Theory 2,” etc.

One of the basic question types that goes with this kind of passage just requires you to understand and summarize one of the viewpoints provided.

Based on Scientist 1’s argument, does greater sunlight exposure result in a higher or lower concentration of Compound X in the water?

A. Higher, because electromagnetic energy from sunlight causes Compound X to break down
B. Higher, because electromagnetic energy from sunlight causes Compound X to form
C. Lower, because electromagnetic energy from sunlight causes Compound X to break down
D. Lower, because electromagnetic energy from sunlight causes Compound X to form

Note that you are not being asked whether Scientist 1’s argument is correct! It literally doesn’t matter for the purposes of this question. All you want to do is summarize what Scientist 1 thinks.

The key here is to zoom in on the section of the passage that the question is about. Ignore Scientists 2, 3, and however many others there are for now!

Remember that the first sentence of each viewpoint is often the most important, so start there.

Comparing Viewpoints

As well as understanding individual viewpoints, you’ll sometimes need to compare different viewpoints.

This is a tough question type, but thankfully, it’s also rare: you won’t see more than 3 or so questions of this type on ACT Science, and they’ll all be clustered in the single “conflicting viewpoints” passage.

Which of Students 2 and 3, if either, implied that a higher concentration of Pigment R in the sample will lead to greater absorption of light in the visible wavelength range?

A. Student 2 only
B. Student 3 only
C. Both Student 2 and Student 3
D. Neither Student 2 nor Student 3

To compare viewpoints, you’ll want to:

Summarize each viewpoint by jotting down a short “headline” (hint: the first sentence is usually the most important!)
Test each viewpoint individually. In this example, answer the question for Student 2, then answer it for Student 3. You don’t need to think about both at once!

Questions that Require Outside Science Knowledge (Rare!)

We’ll say it again: ACT Science is a reading comprehension test. Out of 40 questions, you’ll be able to answer 37-39 without any outside science knowledge at all.

But what about those other 1-3?

A very small handful of ACT Science questions require outside knowledge.

This could require you to know basic terms used to describe experimental setup, like “independent/dependent variable”:

Which of the following was an independent variable in Experiment 2?

A. Number of shrimp per tank
B. Diet fed to the shrimp
C. Number of plants per tank
D. pH of each tank

Or it could call on other basic science terminology:

A student claimed that echidnas are ectotherms. Which of the following explains why this claim is incorrect? Echidnas are:

A. mammals primarily generate heat from internal metabolic processes to maintain body temperature.
B. mammals primarily absorb heat from the surrounding environment to maintain body temperature.
C. reptiles primarily generate heat from internal metabolic processes to maintain body temperature.
D. reptiles primarily absorb heat from the surrounding environment to maintain body temperature.

But if you see a question on something you haven’t covered in class, don’t panic.

Even questions that seem to need outside knowledge can often be answered correctly without it.

In the second example above, you might have forgotten what endotherms are. But you’ll still find a lot of information hiding in plain sight in the introduction to the passage:

Passage 1

Short-beaked and long-beaked echidnas (2 species of mammals) behave differently when the species are together in a habitat than when the species are in separate habitats.

Half the answer is right there! Since you know that echidnas are mammals and not reptiles, you can eliminate C and D.

From there, you’ll have a minimum 50% chance of getting the question right. To be sure of picking the right answer, however, you will need to know that mammals generate heat instead of absorbing it. That’s the kind of basic science fact you will need to know, and that’s what will let you pick answer option A here.

Once you’re familiar with these question types, check out our guide to everything you need to know about ACT Science – as well as essential strategies to improve your ACT Science score.

And when you’re ready to practice, here are 9 of the hardest ACT Science questions out there, along with detailed explanations for each one.

Next Steps

Now that you know all the question types on ACT Science, the next thing to do is practice, practice, practice!

Working with a PrepMaven ACT expert can help you do just this! With one-on-one ACT tutoring, you’ll be well on your way to strategically approaching ACT Science and improving your score. Many of our students see their scores go up by several points over a few months of tutoring. Learn more about our options here, and get in touch with our team for a free consultation.

Every ACT Science Question Type (With Examples)

Every ACT Science Question Type (With Examples)

ACT Science in a Nutshell

Reading Graphs and Figures

Working with Data

Understanding Experimental Design

Predicting Experimental Results

Understanding Viewpoints

Comparing Viewpoints

Questions that Require Outside Science Knowledge (Rare!)

Next Steps

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