Updated August 21, 2026
5 Key ACT Science Strategies for Data Questions
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ACT Science involves a lot of data. It can be intimidating to look at a page full of graphs and figures and not know where to start.
But it doesn’t have to be. Based on 20 years of experience preparing students for ACT Science, we’ve gathered 5 key strategies that will help you crunch numbers on the ACT.
In this post, we’ll explain how to tackle one of the key ACT Science question types: working with data.
We’ve also pulled together the latest information on the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile ACT scores at hundreds of schools in our ACT Score Ranges resource. It’s free, and you can grab it below!
Jump to section:
What’s a “Working with Data” question on ACT Science?
Strategy Tip #1: Start with the question
Strategy Tip #2: Find the data first – and know what you’re looking for
Strategy Tip #3: For interpolation or extrapolation, rephrase the question to use the data you have
Strategy Tip #4: Focus on relationships between data
Strategy Tip #5: Tackle one data point at a time
Next Steps
What’s a “Working with Data” question on ACT Science?
“Working with Data” is what we call the type of ACT Science question that requires you to make a calculation or reasoning using data from a table, graph, or other figure. (This isn’t an official ACT Science name – it’s our term to help you recognize standard ACT question types so you know what strategies to use for each one. You can see all of the ACT Science question types right here.)
Here’s what typical Working with Data questions could look like on ACT Science:
- Suppose another population of eels had been included in the experiment with an initial allele A frequency of 0.2. At the end of the experiment, what would the allele A frequency of this population most likely be?
- Based on Table 2, in one mol of any type of alkene, the ratio of hydrogen atoms to carbon atoms is always what?
- Suppose that as the stem length increases, the number of leaves decreases. Based on the results of the study, the plants in which group most likely had the smallest number of leaves?
Working with Data is one of two main ACT Science question types that you’ll see in passages about “Data Representation,” which is the official ACT term for one of the 3 ACT Science passage types. In every Data Representation passage, you’ll see:
- An introduction
- A short piece of text
- Data in the form of graphs, tables, drawings, or other figures
We have a strategy guide all about Data Representation passages here.
The questions on Data Representation passages will ask you to either:
- Find a certain piece of data – we go through strategies for this question type in this post.
- Or do something with the data, whether a calculation, interpolation, extrapolation, or reasoning. That’s what we’ll cover in this post!
With all that in mind, let’s dive into some ACT Science strategies to approach this question type.
Strategy Tip #1: Start with the question
Data Representation passages contain – surprise! – a lot of data.
When you look at a passage, you’ll see a short section of text, which is usually very dense and often contains a lot of science jargon. You’ll also see a number of tables, graphs, or other figures.
A lot of students try to understand everything in the text before they look at the questions. But in fact, almost all the questions on Data Representation can be answered without the text.
Take this example:
In Figure 1, 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
This question is 100% about the data – you don’t need the text to answer it, just the graph. The question even tells you exactly where to look for the answer.
That’s why we often recommend that students skip straight to the questions on Data Representation passages. You most likely won’t need information from the passage – and if you hit a question that can’t be answered with the data, you can always read the text later.
If you’re not comfortable with that and want to get oriented first, that’s okay too. Skim the passage and circle or underline key words or phrases as you read – just don’t waste time reading in close detail.
This is one of the biggest time-saving tips on ACT Science. And with 40 questions to answer in just 40 minutes, you want to save as much time as you can, especially if you’re aiming for a competitive or even perfect ACT score.
As you set your ACT goal score, you can find all the schools on your college list in our ACT Score Ranges resource to find out what score will make you a competitive applicant, then use our score calculator to see how you can reach it.
Strategy Tip #2: Find the data first – and know what you’re looking for
To calculate or reason with data, you first need to know exactly what data you need.
Before you dive into the figure or graph, define what data point you’re looking for. The answer choices will often include “trap” answers that you’ll choose if you didn’t read the question closely enough and selected the wrong data point.
The following table lists the number of rosebushes in 2-acre segments of 4 different habitats. Given the composition of Ecosystem Z in Table 1, which habitat is most likely part of Ecosystem Z?
Habitat Number of rosebushes A 28 B 46 C 52 D 56 A. Habitat A
B. Habitat B
C. Habitat C
D. Habitat D
Table 1 Plant Plants per acre in Ecosystem Z Mulberry tree 26 Rosebush 28 Oak tree 23 Beech tree 14
Before getting into the data, think about two things:
- what you’re looking for
- what you already know.
Here, you’re looking for the habitat that matches Ecosystem Z in terms of rosebush density.
From the data given, you know how many plants of each type per acre there are in Ecosystem Z.
Put the two together: there are 28 rosebushes per acre in Ecosystem Z, so in a 2-acre habitat, you’d expect to see 2 • 28 = 56 rosebushes. That matches Habitat D.
There are multiple trap answers here:
- If you forgot that the habitats are 2 acres and you need to multiply, then you’d incorrectly pick A.
- If you were rushing and picked the wrong plant instead of rosebushes, then did everything else correctly, you’d pick answer A, B, or C.
Always ask yourself what you’re looking for before you start answering an ACT Science question.
Strategy Tip #3: For interpolation or extrapolation, rephrase the question to use the data you have
As well as reading graphs and figures, ACT Science will sometimes ask you 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 is often a big help with these questions. (If you’re taking the digital ACT, the testing interface also offers annotation tools.)
It’s also important to rephrase what the question is actually asking for. For example, this question asks you where the average diameters of mineral clusters 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?
F. P = 10 x 107
G. P = 30 x 107
H. P = 40 x 107
J. 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. Just trace along both lines and circle the point where they meet.
The same idea goes for extrapolation based on tables rather than graphs.
Suppose that another alkene, containing 9 carbon atoms per molecule, were included in Table 2. How many hydrogen atoms per molecule would this alkene contain?
A. 11
B. 17
C. 18
D. Cannot be determined from the information given
Let’s translate this question into something that uses the data you have.
- Original: How many hydrogens does a 9-carbon alkene molecule contain?
- Translation: What’s the pattern of hydrogens to carbons in alkene molecules, and how can that predict the number of hydrogens in a new alkene molecule?
This question is asking you to recognize a pattern. In the first molecule, the ratio of hydrogen to carbon is 4:2, or 2:1. In the second molecule, it’s 6:3 – which is also 2:1.
Now that you know the pattern, you can simply apply it to the imaginary 9-carbon molecule. Since there are twice as many hydrogen atoms as carbon atoms per molecule, this molecule must contain 9 • 2 = 18 hydrogens (answer choice C).
For interpolation questions, use the same basic strategies as for extrapolation ones:
- Physically draw on the graph or figure to pinpoint the data you need
- Look out for patterns and trends
- Translate the question in terms of the data you already have.
If this doesn’t feel intuitive yet, don’t worry. An experienced ACT tutor can help you practice these strategies and tailor them to your specific strengths and gaps on ACT Science. Give us a call to talk about the right option for you!
Strategy Tip #4: Focus on relationships between data
A lot of ACT Science questions are about how variables relate to each other.
Your strategy for questions like this is to translate the question into something that uses the data you do have already.
Suppose that as the plant dry mass increases, the root-to-shoot ratio (a measure of root mass relative to shoot mass) decreases. Based on the results of the study, the plants in which group most likely had the lowest root-to-shoot ratio?
A. Group 1
B. Group 2
C. Group 3
D. Group 4
| Table 2 | ||
| Group | Average dry mass (g) | Seedling mortality (%) |
| 1 | 0.20 | 12 |
| 2 | 0.65 | 4 |
| 3 | 0.95 | 2 |
| 4 | 0.60 | 8 |
Close-read the question: what do you want to know, and what do you know?
- You know the average dry mass of each group.
- You want to know which group had the lowest root-to-shoot ratio.
- What’s the relationship? Bigger plant dry mass → lower root-to-shoot ratio.
- So rephrase the question: which group had the biggest plant dry mass?
Now you’ve turned this complicated-sounding question into a basic question about reading Table 2. The biggest average dry plant mass belongs to Group 3, so that’s your answer.
For more ACT Science tips, check out our guide to everything you need to know about ACT Science – as well as essential strategies to improve your ACT Science score.
Strategy Tip #5: Tackle one data point at a time
Some ACT Science questions will ask you to juggle more than one piece of information.
The best strategy for these questions is to tackle one data point at a time.
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?
F. 1:2
G. 3:5
H. 4:5
J. 5:6
Break this question up into steps:
- How many times did the piglets eat per day in Habitat A?
- How many times did the piglets eat per day in Habitat B?
- Now, what’s the ratio of those numbers?
The question sounds convoluted, but once you’ve broken it into steps, it’s actually super simple.
Ready for more practice? Here are 9 of the hardest ACT Science questions out there, along with detailed explanations for each one.
Next Steps
With these strategy tips, you’ll be in good shape to take on any question on ACT Science that involves working with data!
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.