Reading - the first section
•Know which primary sources make sense for a given type of
story
•Summarizing sentences...be able to choose which is the best
fit for a given story. [I can do this but want more practice]
•Understand what you can logically conclude from a story [I can do this but want more practice]
•Inference and what can be concluded from a given example [I can do this but want more practice]
•Decipher the meaning of a word based on its context in the
sentence (mine were not as easy as the examples, so really think about this
style of question.) [I can do this but want more practice]
•Choosing an appropriate title for a given paragraph (again,
sounds easy, but I had to really think about this one because the answers are
similar)
Math - the second section
(1) calculating percent increase/decrease
(2) Work rate
problem formula.
•Be able to list four numbers in the order requested. These
numbers may include whole numbers, fractions, and decimals in any combination.
Be VERY careful to order them as requested. (ex: greatest to least, least to
greatest) [In the practice tests I keep doing it in opposite order!]
•Roman numerals.
•Familiarize yourself with interpreting information based on
charts. (seems easy, but be sure you read headings and info on the charts, as
there may be very important information)
•Know when you would use a bar chart/circle
graph/histogram/scatter plot/line plot. Ex: if you want to show a change in
something over time, you would use a line plot.
•Know the FOIL method
•Be very, very, very familiar with absolute value and how to
solve equations that include absolute value.
Science - the third section
•Scientific reasoning
•The scientific method (know the steps, in order, and know
examples of each step)
•Understand why an experiment is repeated
•Know the fundamentals of electronegativity
•Understand the various physical states of matter (gas,
liquid, solid) and how a change in state might change pressure/volume/etc.
•Get a feel for the chemical properties of water, along with
the specific values for it (such as specific heat/temp at which it
freezes/boils/etc.)
•Understand what happens during serial dilution and what
values result from it (these are very easy)
•Know the general concepts of natural selection and
adaptation. Make sure you are able to distinguish between the two given an
example.
•Know all of the factors that influence birth/fertility
rates. Be able to decipher if the population will increase or decrease given an
example.
•understand population growth/decline based on rates of
emigration immigration/birth/death.
•Know your biological classifications from general to
specific: Domain, Kingdom, Phylum...etc. Watch these questions, paying attention
to whether they are asking for more specific or more general in the order.
•Know as much as you can possibly learn about Nucleic
Acids/DNA/RNA. Know their make up, how they bond, the nitrogenous bases and how
they pair, which are unique to DNA or RNA, and which are shared by both
DNA/RNA, know which are purines and which are pyrimidines.
•Know what it happening in all of different stages of
translation and transcription. Know where it happens.
•Know the parts of a cells in both eukaryotes and
prokaryotes, and what those parts do. Know if they produce anything or if they
are involved in an immune response...etc.
•Understand the makeup of the cell wall in both plant and
animal cells.
•Always, always, always equate protein with amino acids (the
building block of proteins)
•Understand what chloroplasts do and how they do it.
•Chromosomes, genes, and alleles...know what they are, how
they relate to each other, and how they affect organisms.
•Cell differentiation - know what the meso/endo/ectoderm
become.
•Mitosis/Meiosis - understand all phases (ex: G1, S,
G2...)of each and what is happening in each. (I found videos useful in
this...especially those from Khan Academy) Know what types of cells these
happen to.
•Be sure you understand what a heterotroph and autotroph is
and how they relate to each other in the life cycle.
•Review photosynthesis - review it again - then review it
again. (the entire process) Know what it produces and how that product is used.
•Be very familiar with cellular respiration, why it happens
and what is happening.
•Be able to read a codon chart and decipher the outcome from
a given example (this question was more difficult than the basic charts I
studies. make sure you study both basic and more advanced examples)
•Mutation vs. adaption
•Phenotype/Genotype - what are they and how are they
related?
•Punnet squares and calculating probability given an
example. You will need to make sure you can set these up properly, which
includes knowing the difference between
heterozygous/homozygous/recessive/dominant and how they fit into the equation)
•Kinetic and potential energy. Make sure you can recognize
an example of each. I suggest googling several examples so you can solidify the
difference in your mind. My question was more difficult than the basic, but
easy to understand because I had the concept down pat.
•The dreaded earth science question - is there one? Yes. And
as covered in the manual, mine was about the sun. It was a concept not covered
in the manual, but was easy nonetheless. There were no other earth science
questions on my test. No rocks, clouds, water cycle...etc.
•Understand the purpose of a catalyst
•Know everything there is to know about the periodic table
and the information you can get from it. Atomic number, atomic mass, how many
protons/electrons/neutrons are in a given element. Know how the numbers relate
to each other and how to decipher how many of each is in an element if given a
specific number. (again, Khan Academy was a great resource on this). Also know
the physical and chemical patters withing the table (what the rows mean, what
the columns mean, which elements are more likely to have ionic/covalent bonds).
Lastly, make sure you understand electron configuration.
•Be very familiar with valence electrons and why they are
important
•Enzymes and vitamins - what do they do, where do they come
from, why are they important.
•Understand pH balance/acid/base. Know what a given pH means
(acidic or basic?) and understand what adding something to it may to to the pH
(think about things that may raise or lower the pH of blood, for example)
•Understand bonds - ionic/covalent
•Understand hydrocarbons - saturated/unsaturated
•Make sure you remember how to balance a basic chemical
equation (Khan Academy has an excellent video on this.
•Anatomy/Physiology as follows:
•Know the path of blood through the heart, including valves
and whether the blood is oxygenated)
•Know the make up of the lungs and where oxygen exchange
occurs
•Know the sections of the brain and what each is responsible
for
•Tissue types, where you would find them, and what they do.
Know several examples of each type of tissue.
•Digestive: follow bollus through the digestive system in
its entirety. Know about peristalsis. Know about the digestive enzymes. Know
where protein/carbs/fats are broken down. Know where the bulk of nutrients are
absorbed. Know which division of the nervous system controls it.
•Know the functions of the liver, spleen and pancreas. Know
which systems they belong to (and they may belong to more than one....hint)
•Know what the lymph system does and how it accomplishes it.
Be mindful, also, of what it doesn't do. Just a suggestion.
•Be very familiar with the nervous system and its divisions.
Know what each controls and the branches that make them up.
•Make sure you understand the structure/function of the
kidney...well.
•Anatomical directions (super/inferior,
proximal/distal...etc.) apply to an example.
•Know how the thyroid and parathyroid work together and what
they do separately.
•Immune system - natural vs. artificial/active vs. passive.
Recognize examples of each type. Also know the different cells involved and
what they do.
English - the fourth and final section
•Recognize common possessive nouns.
•Pronoun/Antecedent agreement.
•Dialogue - correct punctuation and usage
•First/second/third person voice and recognizing which from
a sentence or short story.
•Grammar usage for style/clarity
•Using sentence context to decipher the meaning of a word.
•Recognizing a simple vs. complex sentence
•Be able to identify a top and supporting sentence. Know the
difference.
•Know the meaning of common prefixes/suffixes/roots (ex:
uni, ous, endo...etc.)
•Rules of capitalization.
•Correct usage of commas, ellipses, semicolons, colons,
hyphens, and parentheses.
•Correct usage of quotation marks and apostrophes.
•Go over a list of commonly misspelled words. You will have
one on your test. if you get confused, look away from the word and write it
down. If that doesn't help, write it in a sentence.
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