Saturday Standardized: My ACT experience

So, if you remember back to the previous blog post I made, I said I would be talking about the ACT test today. If you do not know what that is, an ACT is a standardized test that some high school students have to take to get into a specific college.

 

This was the case with me. There are four subjects tested in an ACT: Language, math, reading, and science. Each test has a time limit and a certain number of questions. Here is how it was for me:

1. Language test-45 minutes-75 questions
2. Math test    -60 minutes-60 questions
3. Reading test -35 minutes-40 questions
4. Science test -35 minutes-40 questions

Now, Mom says I excel at Language (even though I do not like it) and I have always been
known to read extremely fast; so I was not really worried about those two sections. However, I am not great at science, and math is called the language of science, so I am not good at math, either. ACT has a website at http://www.act.org/, and on this website, the test makers provide sample questions. You can read through the text and answer the questions just like your are taking the test. I completed the "question of the day" for months, and then started taking the sample test questions. I have copied some of the questions off their website to show to you. For example, some of the math questions I could answer looked like this:


A car averages 27 miles per gallon. If gas costs $4.04 per gallon, which of the following is closest to how much the gas would cost for this car to travel 2,727 typical miles?

• $44.44
• $109.08
• $118.80
• $408.04
• $444.40

 Really, a simple math problem requiring only the ability to multiply and divide. As their was the choice to use a calculator during this test, I did to make it easier on me. ;) Another example problems I could answer is this.

What is the value of x  when 2x  + 3 = 3x  – 4 ?

•   -7
• -1/5
• 1
• 1/5
• 7

The above was a simple algebra problem, just the tip of the iceberg really, and that is about how much I learned for algebra. Then, the impossible questions started.

In the figure below, ray EF was constructed starting from rays ED and EG. By using a compass, D and G were marked equidistant from E on rays ED. The compass was then used to locate a point F, distinct from E, so that F is equidistant from D and G. For all constructions defined by the above steps, the measures of ∠DEF and ∠GEF:

• are equal.
• are NOT equal.
• sum to 30º.
• sum to 45º.
• sum to 60º.

   I think this question actually makes slight sense, but I could be completely wrong. This is what 1/3 of the test was comprised of, so I am really not sure how I did. I do know that I must have spent too much time on other questions, because I put the same answer for the last ten questions of the test. They say it is better to put a random answer than to leave the black empty, because then you have the 1 in 5 chance to get it right.
   The language questions were blocks of text with grammar errors underlined in them. 

Click to enlarge.

 The picture above is an example of a test similar to ACT, but I could not get any Language questions off the ACT site. (It looks like they removed language from sample questions.) The reading part of the ACT was multiple  long passages which you needed to read thoroughly in order to answer detailed questions about the stories.

  You cannot see what is going on inside your new-born’s brain. You cannot see the electrical activity as her eyes lock onto yours and, almost instantaneously, a neuron in her retina makes a connection to one in her brain’s visual cortex that will last all her life. The image of your face has become an enduring memory in her mind. And you cannot see the explosive release of a neuro -transmitter—brain chemical—as a neuron from your baby’s ear, carrying the electrically encoded sound of “ma,” connects to a neuron in her auditory cortex. “Ma” has now commandeered a cluster of cells in the infant’s brain that will, as long as the child lives, respond to no other sound.

1. The main point of this passage is to:

• illustrate the importance of genetics in the formation of a baby’s brain.

• illustrate the importance of stimulation and experience in the formation of a baby’s brain.

• indicate the great need for conducting further research on babies’ brains.

• compare the latest research on babies’ brains with similar research conducted fifteen years ago.

Some of the reading questions require you to read the whole passage before answering, other just a sentence.
   Finally, the last test I had to take was the science ACT test. The test was only easier because it had graphs. If you read through the text carefully and looked at the graphs, you might be able to understand what they are saying. However, the main issue with this was time. I must admit that I again guessed on the last 5 to 10 questions of the test. However, looking over it briefly before time was up, I do not think I knew what they were saying whatsoever. Here is an example science passage about which you are supposed to answer a number of question. This is from the ACT website.

   Paper chromatography can be used to identify metal ions in wastewater. A drop of sample solution is placed on filter paper. The bottom of the paper is set in a solvent that travels up the paper (see Figure 1).


    The solvent carries the ions up the paper. Some ions move faster, and therefore farther than others, resulting in a separation as they move up the paper. The paper is dried, then stained, causing the ions to appear as colored spots. Rf values are calculated for each spot:

    Table 1 shows Rf values for 5 ions. Table 2 shows Rf values from 3 samples of wastewater. The same solvent was used for all ions and samples.

Table 1

Ion	Molar mass (g/mole)	Distance traveled (cm)	Rf	Spot color
Nickel(N2+)	58.7	0.8	0.08	pink
Cobalt(Co2+)	58.9	3.5	0.35	brown-black
Copper(Cu2+)	63.5	6.0	0.60	blue
Cadmium(Cd2+)	112.4	7.8	0.78	yellow
Mercury(Hg2+)	200.6	9.5	0.95	brown-black

Table 1 adapted from Thomas McCullough, CSC, and Marissa Curlee, "Qualitative Analysis of Cations Using Paper Chromatography." ©1993 by the American Chemical Society.

Table 2

Sample	Rf	Spot color
1	0.60 0.78	blue yellow
2	0.35 0.95	brown-black brown-black
3	0.08 0.78 0.95	pink yellow brown-black

Note: Samples contain only the metal ions listed in Table 1.

Here is one of the questions on this passage of science.
Based on the information in Table 1, which of the following lists the metal ions in order from the fastest to slowest speed with which they moved up the paper?

•     Hg2+, Cd2+, Cu2+, Co2+, Ni2
•     Cd2+, Cu2+, Co2+, Hg2+, Ni2+
•     Ni2+, Hg2+, Co2+, Cu2+, Cd2+
•     Ni2+, Co2+, Cu2+, Cd2+, Hg2+

So, that is a not-very-brief summary of what I did today from 8:30 to 12:00 o'clock. It gives me a head ache just thinking about it again! Hope this gave you a little insight as to what ACT is and what I like to do in school. There will be more on my study, specifically what I might major in college, on Monday. See you then!