Around nine questions on the TEAS Science section are not about anatomy, biology or chemistry at all. They are about how science works: how an experiment is built, what a result does and does not show, and how to read a table or a graph. You cannot memorise your way through them, which is why people skip them, and skipping them is a mistake because the underlying rules are short.
Variables, which is most of it
- Independent variable. The one the researcher changes.
- Dependent variable. The one measured, which may change as a result.
- Controlled variables. Everything deliberately held constant so the comparison means something.
- Control group. The group that does not get the treatment, which is what makes the treated group interpretable.
A large share of these questions are answered by identifying which is which in a described study. Practise that identification until it is automatic and the section stops being mysterious.
Evidence against conclusion
Given results, you will be asked what they support. The correct answer is almost always the narrower one. If a study shows a correlation in one sample under one set of conditions, the supported conclusion is about that sample under those conditions, not about people in general.
Reading data
Tables and simple graphs. Check the axis labels and the units before you look at the shape of the line; the exam sometimes changes units between the question and the graphic specifically to see whether you looked.
Measurement and tools
Which instrument measures what, which unit belongs to which quantity, and basic precision against accuracy. Precision is how close repeated measurements are to each other; accuracy is how close they are to the true value. A scale that always reads two kilograms heavy is precise and inaccurate.
How to practise
Answer sets of reasoning questions specifically, rather than hoping they turn up inside general science practice. Ten questions on variables and ten on interpreting results is most of what this part of the section asks, and it is an evening.
The rest of the Science section is covered in anatomy and physiology and chemistry.