Material Science Khan Academy

[Lu Rounsaville]

Thisguide will go over what materials Khan Academy offers, why you should consider using them, and exactly which resources will be most helpful and which topics you will need to use additional review materials for so that you can be as well-prepared for the ACT as possible.

In 2015, Khan Academy and the College Board (the organization that designs and administers the SAT, PSAT, and AP exams) announced that they had created a set of free SAT study tools. These resources include quizzes, tests, video tutorials, and personalized practice recommendations. Because these tools were developed in collaboration with the College Board, they are official prep resources and give an accurate representation of what the actual SAT will be like.

First, Khan Academy offers lessons on a wide range of subjects. Their emphasis is on math, but they also have lessons on other subjects the ACT tests, such as parts of speech and grammar. Therefore, you'll be able to find resources for many of the topics the ACT tests on Khan Academy.

The sections below each over a specific section of the ACT: English, Math, Reading, Science, and the optional Writing section. For each section, we'll explain which Khan Academy materials are most useful and if there are any topics you should use additional resources to prepare for.

The ACT English section is 45 minutes long and contains 75 questions. The section includes five essays or passages, each accompanied by a series of questions. ACT English covers two main topics: Usage and Mechanics and Rhetorical Skills. Usage and Mechanics tests your knowledge of grammar, punctuation, usage, and sentence structure, while Rhetorical Skills tests "bigger picture" ideas such as the ideas, style, and organization of each passage. Spelling, vocabulary, and obscure grammar rules are not tested on ACT English.

Within Khan Academy's SAT prep resources, there are two sections that correspond to ACT English: Writing and Language as well as Grammar and Effective Language Use. Writing and Language has three subsections which focus on making revisions to argumentative, informative, and non-fiction narrative passages. Grammar and Effective Language Use has 21 subsections focusing on different grammar and punctuation concepts such as possessive pronouns, modifier placement, and pronoun clarity. These sections will help prepare you for the majority of the ACT English section, particularly the Usage and Mechanics questions.

Beyond the SAT prep resources, Khan Academy also has other grammar videos under "Arts and Humanities." These videos focus on parts of speech, punctuation, and syntax, and they're a good resource to start with if you want to brush up on your grammar before answering practice questions.

The SAT Writing and Language section recently underwent major changes, and, as a result, it is now much more similar to ACT English. Both test sections now use a completely passage-based format, and both test similar grammar rules. Because of this, Khan Academy's SAT prep resources and grammar resources cover most of what you'll need to know for ACT English. However, ACT English does include main-idea questions, which you won't see covered on Khan Academy, so if you want more practice with those, be sure to use other, ACT-specific resources (discussed more at the bottom of this article).

ACT Math is 60 minutes long and contains 60 questions. There are six main topics ACT Math covers. They're listed below, along with the percentage of the section that includes questions on that topic (the total is more than 100% because some questions fit into more than one category).

The SAT Math section emphasizes algebra more than ACT Math does, so Khan Academy's SAT prep resources, specifically the Heart of Algebra and Passport to Advanced Mathematics sections, have a lot of material to help you study algebra. Khan Academy also has additional algebra videos under its Math resources to help you reinforce your algebra knowledge.

For geometry, Khan Academy has geometry videos under its Math resources. These videos cover both coordinate and plane geometry. Within its SAT math resources, the Additional Topics in Math section includes geometry questions.

There are only a handful of trigonometry questions on ACT Math, but you can still prepare for them by reviewing the Additional Topics in Math section under SAT resources and the Trigonometry videos under Khan Academy's Math resources.

There are also two differences to note between SAT Math and ACT Math that you might be confused by if you use the SAT prep resources. First, a calculator is not allowed on part of SAT Math, but you can use a calculator the entire time for ACT Math, so disregard any remarks about not being able to use a calculator. Second, on the SAT, you'll get a formula sheet with relevant math formulas, but you won't receive this on the ACT, so you'll have to put in more of an effort to memorize important formulas.

ACT Reading contains 40 questions that you have 35 minutes to answer. The section contains three single passages and a set of paired passages. The five passages will always come from four topic areas: humanities, literary fiction, natural sciences, and social sciences. You're not expected to have any prior knowledge of the passage topics. The questions in ACT Reading test your skills in understanding main ideas, locating details, and interpreting purpose and voice.

The SAT Reading and ACT Reading sections are quite similar. All the questions are related to passages, the passages come from similar categories, and, for both exams, and both include a set of paired passages. This means you can use all of Khan Academy's SAT Reading resources to help you prepare for ACT Reading. Khan Academy's SAT Reading resources include videos, examples, and practice questions for four types of passages: science, literature, history, and social science.

Using these resources can help you become more comfortable with critically reading different types of passages and answering questions on main ideas, vocabulary-in-context, inferences, and details from the reading. This is also good because Khan Academy doesn't have any general resources on improving critical reading skills, so only their SAT resources are relevant for prepping for ACT Reading.>

The ACT Science section is 35 minutes long and contains 40 questions. Like the Reading section, on ACT Science there will be several passages with questions following each passage. There are seven passages on ACT Science, and these passages could contain graphs, charts, diagrams, experiment summaries, or conflicting viewpoints from multiple scientists. Each passage will be followed by four to seven questions. As opposed to testing specific facts or topics, ACT Science tests your knowledge of scientific skills such as data analysis, hypothesis evaluation, and how to summarize research.

Due to the skills ACT Science tests and because there is no science section on the SAT, Khan Academy's resources don't prepare you for this section of the ACT as well as they do for other sections. Khan Academy does have a science section with videos on numerous scientific subjects, but this isn't much use to you because it mostly covers scientific facts you don't need to know for the ACT. For example, on ACT Science, you don't need to know the steps of cell division (which Khan Academy goes over), but if you're given a passage that explains research on cell division, you'll need to be able to analyze that research and its results (which Khan Academy doesn't focus on).

However, there are some resources you can use to help you prepare for ACT Science. Under Khan Academy's SAT prep resources, questions from SAT Reading and SAT Writing and Language that include graphs or charts are often similar to some questions seen on ACT Science. The SAT has no science section, so questions testing some of the same skills ACT Science tests are spread throughout other sections.

Therefore, if you're studying the SAT Reading or Writing and Language sections and come across a problem with a graph or chart, know that you won't see questions like that on ACT Reading or ACT English, but it can help you prepare for ACT Science.

As mentioned before, this is the section of the ACT you'll need to use the most outside resources to prepare for. You can get some practice by answering SAT questions that include charts, graphs, and data analysis, but to be fully prepared for ACT Science, you'll want to spend time studying resources specifically focused on the topics this section tests. We'll go over some of these resources at the bottom of this guide.

ACT Writing is an optional section where you'll be given 40 minutes to write a persuasive essay. Khan Academy does not have any resources on essay writing, even for the SAT essay (which is different than the ACT essay so it wouldn't help you much anyway). If you choose to take the ACT Writing section, you'll need to use outside resources to prepare for it.

Khan Academy ACT prep will give you the best preparation for the ACT English, Math and Reading sections. You will definitely need supplementary prep materials for ACT Science and, if you choose to take it, ACT Writing. Check out our ultimate guide for ACT Science, as well as these guides on the best way to prepare for ACT Science and the only science you need to know for ACT Science. We also have a complete guide to ACT Writing and tips for how to get a perfect score on your essay.

Another major skill you can't get from Khan Academy is strategies to help you answer ACT questions. The ACT asks similar types of questions on each of its exams, and by knowing different strategies, you can tackle specific problems faster and more easily. To learn these strategies, you'll need to use prep materials specifically designed for the ACT. The ACT prep books mentioned above often include strategies for different ACT problems, and you can also check out all our guides to the best ACT strategies you should know.

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