Updated August 21, 2026
5 Key Strategies for ACT Science “Understanding Viewpoints” Questions
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A lot of students struggle with the Conflicting Viewpoints passage on ACT Science.
But you don’t have to! Based on 20 years of experience tutoring ACT Science, we’ve gathered 5 key strategies that will help you with this passage.
In this post, we’ll explain how to tackle “Understanding Viewpoints” questions, one of the key ACT Science question types on Conflicting Viewpoints passages. (For the other question type, check out our dedicated post on “Comparing Viewpoints” questions.)
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Jump to section:
What’s an “Understanding Viewpoints” question on ACT Science?
Strategy Tip #1: Start with the questions (and answers)
Strategy Tip #2: Mark up the text
Strategy Tip #3: Create a “headline”
Strategy Tip #4: Use the process of elimination
Strategy Tip #5: Ignore the viewpoints that aren’t in the question
Next Steps
What’s an “Understanding Viewpoints” question on ACT Science?
Questions in the Understanding Viewpoints category will ask you to understand a scientific theory or argument, whether the main theory or a detail.
Typical Understanding Viewpoints questions might look like this:
- What is not a reason for this phenomenon, according to Student 1?
- Based on Scientist 2’s argument, which of the following is likely to happen?
Understanding Viewpoints is one of the basic ACT Science question types that goes with Conflicting Viewpoints passages. These questions just require you to understand and summarize one of the viewpoints provided.
If you need a refresher, Conflicting Viewpoints is one of the 3 passage types on the ACT Science section. In this passage type, you’re presented with different opinions on a scientific phenomenon. We have a dedicated guide to Conflicting Viewpoints here.
You’ll see only 1 Conflicting Viewpoints passage across the ACT Science section, and it will have 7 questions – some of which will be on understanding viewpoints.
- The passage will start with an introduction, usually one paragraph.
- There may be a figure or graph accompanying the introduction (but not always).
- Then, you’ll see a number of one-paragraph viewpoints – anywhere from 2 to 4. These will be labeled as “Scientist 1/Scientist 2,” “Student 1/Student 2,” or something similar.
Here’s an example ACT Science question on understanding viewpoints:
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 understand what Scientist 1 thinks.
Now, on to strategies to solve questions like this one.
Strategy Tip #1: Start with the questions (and answers)
A challenge with Conflicting Viewpoints passages is that they throw a ton of information at you. The best way to avoid getting overwhelmed by that is to start with the question.
After your initial skim of the passage, focus on what the question tells you before you dive back into the text.
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
There are two issues at play here:
- Will compound X go up or down due to sunlight exposure?
- Does sunlight cause compound X to form or to break down?
Now you can skim the section on Scientist 1’s argument with these specific questions in mind.
Strategy Tip #2: Mark up the text
Another challenge on Conflicting Viewpoints passages is that it’s easy to get confused by all the different opinions. To avoid that, mark up the text as you skim.
- Circle or underline the main statement of each viewpoint…
- …which you’re most likely to find in the first sentence.
- Note key differences between the theories. Often, the differences between the viewpoints are small and subtle.
- Mark transition words, which can signal crucial connections and contrasts that build up an argument. (Here’s a list of the most common ones on the ACT to look out for).
A note for those taking the computerized ACT. If you’re taking the ACT on a computer, you’ll still be able to mark up the text by using the ACT’s highlight feature!
You won’t quite have the same freedom as you will with a pencil and paper test, but you can still use the built-in tools to mark up the text.
Try this example:
As you marked up the passage, you might have underlined these words and phrases in Theory 1:
- Defence against herbivores
- Facilitating the demise of herbivores
- Mitigate feeding behavior
And you might have marked these words and phrases in Theory 2:
- Shedding of water
- Slow growth rates
- Leaching of minerals
- Weight of the water
- Wet film; pathogens
Now, when you see a question, you’ll be able to zoom in on the answer more quickly.
What is not a reason that plants shed water from their leaves at night, according to Student 2?
A. A wet film can allow pathogens to grow
B. Water prevents the plant from absorbing nutrients
C. The weight of water demands more energy for the plant to support itself
D. Shedding water makes the plants less attractive to herbivores
Glancing at the words and passages you’ve underlined, you’d see that you’ve marked 4 ways that shedding water is good for the plant – including answers A, B, and C, but not answer D. (Theory 2 was about herbivores – not Theory 1!)
This is complicated, so don’t worry if it takes some time to get used to these strategies. The more you practice, the more they’ll become second nature. An experienced ACT Science tutor can also make a big difference.
Strategy Tip #3: Create a “headline”
As you skim each viewpoint in the passage, jot down a few words that sum up the argument before you go on to the next viewpoint.
Think of these as a little newspaper “headline.” When you glance back at each viewpoint, you won’t need to dive into every detail to remember what that person’s main argument was.
For the example above, you might come up with something like this:
Theory 1: FN serves to protect the plant from predators.
Theory 2: FN serves to drain off excess water from the plant’s leaves.
For questions that drill into detail, you would still need to take another look at the passage itself. But for more general questions, your headline could be enough – and that’s a huge time-saver on ACT Science, which has 40 questions to answer in just 40 minutes.
We’ve gathered more time-saving strategies here, as well as in our full guide to the ACT Science section and our guide to getting a perfect ACT score.
Strategy Tip #4: Use the process of elimination
Even on complex Understanding Viewpoints questions, you can save time by crossing off answers even before you jump into the text.
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
You can search for the answers in the text, using your notes and headlines, and that’s fine.
But you can also eliminate some answers just by logic. If compound X breaks down in sunlight, then its concentration will go down, so answer A makes no sense. And if compound X forms in sunlight, its concentration will go up, so you can eliminate answer D too.
If that doesn’t feel intuitive yet, don’t worry. An ACT tutor can help you develop these skills and work towards your goal score. Give us a call to talk about what kind of ACT tutoring would work best for you.
Strategy Tip #5: Ignore the viewpoints that aren’t in the question
This last tip might seem obvious, but it’s one that a lot of students miss!
If the question is about Scientist 1, you can ignore the existence of Scientist 2, and vice versa. In fact, you have to!
What is not a reason that plants shed water from their leaves at night, according to Student 2?
E. A wet film can allow pathogens to grow
F. Water prevents the plant from absorbing nutrients
G. The weight of water demands more energy for the plant to support itself
H. Shedding water makes the plants less attractive to herbivores
Looking back at our passage above, you’ll notice that herbivores don’t make an appearance in Theory 2. They are mentioned in Theory 1 – but for the purposes of this question, we don’t care about Theory 1.
Make sure that you’re looking at the relevant viewpoint and not mixing it up with any other opinions. “Sloppy mistakes” like this are, sadly, an easy way to drop points on ACT Science.
Want more practice? Here are 9 of the hardest ACT Science questions out there, along with detailed explanations for each one. And for even more practice questions, we’ve researched the 11 best ACT Science prep books out there so you don’t have to.
Next Steps
With these 5 strategies, you’ll be in good shape to take on any Understanding Viewpoints question on ACT Science.
The best way to get comfortable with this question type is to practice the strategies we’ve gone through above. 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.
We’ve worked with hundreds of students over more than 2 decades, and students often see their ACT Science scores go up by several points over just a few months of tutoring. Learn more about our options here, and get in touch with our team for a free consultation.
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Ro
Rosamond graduated summa cum laude from Princeton. During college, she worked as a peer tutor for Italian, French, Greek, and academic writing. Since graduation, she’s continued to tutor students of all ages in French, Italian, Latin, English, and math, some of them for several years. She’s currently a graduate student studying the relationship between religion and secular law, and she works as a freelance journalist and translator.