ACT Science Tips

Conflicting Viewpoints Passage

1. Identify the arguing scientists.

There will be only one Conflicting Viewpoints passage on the Science test. The passage features two or more scientists, students, or theories that are in conflict with one another. Unlike other passages, there usually won’t be charts or graphs, and only rarely will there be figures. Students should get their answers from the text, rather than from infographics.

2. Save the arguing scientists for last.

When your students come across the Conflicting Viewpoints passage, they should save it for last. Instruct them to skip all of the questions and come back to it at the very end. This passage is dramatically different from the rest, so it doesn’t make sense to interrupt the flow of the test to tackle the Conflicting Viewpoints questions.

3. Dive into the questions before reading the passage.

Students will need to use the passage to answer the questions, but they should refer to the questions first. They shouldn’t get bogged down trying to do a detailed reading of the Conflicting Viewpoints passage. The passage is usually much more complicated than the questions about the passage, so students usually waste time trying to understand a part of the passage they aren’t expected to understand.

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Conflicting Viewpoints Passage

1. Identify the arguing scientists.

2. Save the arguing scientists for last.

3. Dive into the questions before reading the passage.

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