This blog about ACT and SAT Science is correlated with a prior one dealing with ACT and SAT Math. I, myself, hate being bounced around between links so I thought it best to leave in the overlapping information as you might not be concerned with the math segment, nor read it. I focus here on the science segment. Having tutored dozens of students in ACT Science and, this year, the so-called SAT Science, and evaluating student scores before and after the test, I think it may be helpful to a.) quantify the effectiveness of tutoring for these tests and b.) summarize the differences between the science portions of the tests. There are four parts to the ACT exam, Math, Reading, English, and Science. There are three parts to the SAT exam, Math, Reading, and Writing and Language. (Where is the science, […]

Having tutored dozens of students in ACT and SAT Math and evaluating their scores before and after taking the test, I think it may be helpful to a.) quantify the effectiveness of tutoring for these tests and b.) summarize the differences between the tests. There are four parts to the ACT exam, Math, Reading, English, and Science. There are three parts to the SAT exam, Math, Reading, and Writing and Language. Both the ACT and SAT have optional Essay exams. ACT Math: The ACT Math segment consists of 60 problems with a 60 minute time limit. It is my observation that very few students are seriously hindered from lack of time as most finish with many minutes to spare. The problems, themselves, regard arithmetic, coordinate and plane geometry, intermediate algebra, and trigonometry. There is now no penalty for wrong answers

If you are considering hiking Pike’s Peak and want some practical advice from an adventurous senior-aged amateur hiker, read on.  To begin with, if you are looking for those cautions about “altitude this,” “be careful of that,” “spray on this,” and “rub on that,” read elsewhere.  This is all good practical stuff for those who do not spend their life sweating details. My trip started in early June from Dallas, Texas, a mere 670 feet above sea level.   You have to know that cities in Texas are annotated only by population, never by altitude, because the terrain is ceaselessly horizontal.  I drove to Pike’s Peak in 12 hours and stood at the base camp early evening of the day I left Dallas. The surrounding city is Manitou Springs at 6,360 feet elevation.  Stay in Manitou Springs.  There are many quite suitable motels, certainly if hiking is your

This year I wrote the curriculum for my High School Engineering class.  One of the things I included was an introductory tutorial on C++ programming. Let me say, up front, if you have never programmed in C++, it can be addictive, particularly if you do it on an iPad or smart phone. In the hierarchy of programming, C++ is an intermediate level language.  At the lowest level is assembler programming where you actually input ones and zeros as your code.  (In the early days of intelligence satellites, power and memory were at a premium.  We put almost everything into Assembler code.  Can you imagine?)    At the highest level of programming, you are simply moving objects around and the code is built internally, based on the associations of the objects.  Most 3D printer-application programs work this way by permitting you to

In any physics class, the study of electrostatics always turns into fun.  My students take an entire class period playing with the van de Graaff generator, gleefully shocking themselves, others, and making everyone’s hair stand on end.  Robert van de Graaff built his prototype in 1929 and since then, thousands of students have entered their variants into Science Fairs around the world.  The van de Graaff generates static charges by having a dielectric belt continually rotate around two pulleys.  (A dielectric is any insulator that can be polarized, like polyvinyl, plastic, rubber, silk, nylon, or similar).  Mechanical friction knocks off charges, which are then gathered onto the belt and transferred to a large conducting sphere at the top.  The charges continue to build until their quantity is sufficient that they leap off onto a grounded post, resulting in a dynamic

In teaching Chemistry, students are presented with memorizing the Metals Activity Series.  This a list of metals in order of their reactivity.  The ones at the top, like lithium and potassium are highly reactive, whereas the ones near the bottom, like gold and platinum, are only weakly reactive.  In the past, I wrote a similar blog, but now I add some visual information to make the mnemonic stick in the students’ minds. Why is the Metals Activity Series important?  One of the most difficult problems chemists face is predicting reactions.  Will two things react and, if so, what will be the product(s)?  Centuries ago, alchemists sought to turn lead into gold.  They were not successful, but in attempting a solution they discovered that certain metals were more reactive than others.  Over the years, this information was put into a table. 

  Order from Amazon.com, The Persuasive Wizard: How Technical Experts Sell Their Ideas, for the low price of $12.95.  Now available in Kindle e-book for $7.45.  The Persuasive Wizard is an excellent gift for anyone seeking a better job, a raise in their current job, investment funding, or just needing to persuade others. If you ask young and old drivers to rank the top-10 production dream cars, the Porsche 911 would be on the list, perched near the top.  My particular dream is the Carrera S Coupe.  While I love a convertible, and I have owned several, the summer days of Texas convert most trips into a sweat-soaked, oven-baking experience.  You arrive red as a beet and smelling like the great outdoors.  A coupe with air conditioning for me. What makes the 911 so special?  First of all, the body

Order from Amazon.com, The Persuasive Wizard: How Technical Experts Sell Their Ideas.  Now available in Kindle e-book.  The Persuasive Wizard is a must for anyone wanting a better job, desiring a raise in their current one, seeking investment funding, or just needing to persuade others.  College and High School students find it invaluable as they begin their careers. One great privilege of my being a commissioner for the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) is the opportunity to work with Texas history.  Recently, I viewed firsthand a  daguerreotype of Sam Houston (1793-1863), soldier, American statesman, and early governor of Texas.  In the photo, framed in the typical gold-plated leather case, Houston is wearing a cowboy duster and cravat.  His little daguerreotype is only about 2’’ x 3’’ but you feel this gigantic Texan staring you in the face. On

Order from Amazon.com, The Persuasive Wizard: How Technical Experts Sell Their Ideas.  Now available in Kindle e-book.  The Persuasive Wizard is a must for anyone wanting a better job, desiring a raise in their current one, seeking investment funding, or just needing to persuade others.  College and High School students find it invaluable as they begin their careers. This year, I chose to teach in a private High School. The first week of school has just ended. In this school, all the High School students must bring their own iPads to class.  How did it go? Our basic mechanism for communication is Edmodo, a 2008 social networking invention of Nic Borg and Jeff O’Hara.  These two gentlemen created a software suite with tools for academia.  They claim connectivity with 8.5 million teachers, educators, and students.  Their software permits the teacher to

I hold in my hand the famous Sphecius speciosus, the largest wasp in North America.  It has a claymore for a stinger and, unlike its cousin, the bee, can inflict numerous wounds without self-injury. Now, any ranch hand from west Texas knows what a locust is.  (“West” in Texas means west of Dallas). Texas locusts are fat stubby creatures that fly around like B-52 bombers and land in trees.  They make a continuous buzzing sound by rubbing their wings together.  You catch them by creeping up and clamping those vibrating  propellers between your thumb and forefinger.  When you let them go they chug-chug away at a speed not in excess of five miles per hour.  You can tie a thread around their stubby little heads and make them fly about on a lease.  They give no indication that they like