MEGA MOGEA cheat sheet

Main idea is the central claim the entire passage supports; supporting details answer who, what, when, where, why, and how.

Text structures are cause-effect, compare-contrast, chronological, problem-solution, and description; signal words in the passage reveal which structure is used.

An inference must be supported by explicit text evidence combined with background knowledge; a valid inference is never stated word-for-word in the passage.

Author's purpose falls into four categories: inform or explain, persuade, entertain, and describe; purpose shapes the passage's tone, word choice, and organization.

Point of view: first person uses I and we; second person uses you; third-person limited follows one character's knowledge; third-person omniscient knows all characters.

Figurative language: a simile compares using like or as; a metaphor states one thing is another; personification gives human traits to nonhuman things; hyperbole is deliberate exaggeration.

Fact statements are verifiable with evidence; opinion statements contain value judgments, emotion words, or qualifiers such as should, best, and worst.

Context clue types are definition, synonym, antonym or contrast, example, and inference; the clue usually appears in the same or an adjacent sentence.

A summary states the main idea and key details in the reader's own words while omitting minor examples, repeated information, and personal opinion.

Sentence types: simple has one independent clause; compound joins two independent clauses; complex has one independent clause plus at least one dependent clause; compound-complex has both.

Coordinating conjunctions are for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so; place a comma before one only when it joins two independent clauses.

Subject-verb agreement: ignore prepositional phrases between subject and verb; indefinite pronouns such as everyone, each, and nobody take singular verbs.

A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number, gender, and person; collective nouns take singular verbs in standard American usage.

Comma uses: separate items in a series, set off introductory elements, surround nonessential clauses, and join two independent clauses with a conjunction.

A modifier must sit next to the word it describes; an opening participial phrase must modify the subject of the main clause or it dangles.

Active voice: the subject performs the action. Passive voice: the subject receives the action and typically includes a by-phrase.

Parallel structure requires matching grammatical forms in lists and paired comparisons, for example hiking, swimming, and biking rather than mixing forms.

Revising addresses content, organization, and word choice; editing and proofreading address grammar, punctuation, spelling, and capitalization.

Order of operations: parentheses and brackets, exponents, multiplication and division left to right, then addition and subtraction left to right.

Percent conversions: percent to decimal divide by 100; decimal to percent multiply by 100; percent change equals (new minus old) divided by old, times 100.

Fraction operations: add or subtract with a common denominator; multiply numerators and denominators; divide by multiplying by the reciprocal.

Mean equals the sum divided by the count; median is the middle value of ordered data; mode is the most frequent value; range is maximum minus minimum.

Area formulas: rectangle length times width, triangle one-half base times height, circle pi times radius squared; rectangular prism volume equals length times width times height.

The Pythagorean theorem a squared plus b squared equals c squared applies only to right triangles, where c is the hypotenuse.

Slope equals the change in y divided by the change in x; a positive slope rises left to right, a negative slope falls, and a horizontal line has slope zero.

Exponent rules: multiply like bases by adding exponents, divide by subtracting exponents, raise a power to a power by multiplying exponents, and any nonzero base to the zero power equals 1.

Probability of an event equals favorable outcomes divided by total equally likely outcomes; every probability lies between 0 and 1.

Scientific method sequence: observe and question, form a hypothesis, run a controlled experiment with one variable changed, analyze data, and draw conclusions.

Cell structures: the nucleus controls activities, mitochondria release energy, chloroplasts carry out photosynthesis, and the cell membrane regulates what enters and exits.

States of matter: solids have fixed shape and volume, liquids have fixed volume but flow, gases fill their container; adding heat generally increases particle motion.

Newton's laws: an object stays at rest or in uniform motion unless a net force acts; force equals mass times acceleration; every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

Separation of powers: the legislative branch makes laws, the executive enforces laws, and the judicial branch interprets laws; each branch checks the others.

The Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments and protects freedoms of speech, press, religion, assembly, petition, and the rights of the accused.

Economics: when demand rises and supply is unchanged, price rises; when supply rises and demand is unchanged, price falls.

Geography: latitude lines run east-west and measure north-south position from the equator at zero degrees; longitude lines run north-south and measure east-west position from the prime meridian.

The amendment process requires proposal by two-thirds of Congress or a national convention and ratification by three-fourths of the states.