ok, so here's the shorter version of how i discovered what worked for me
Assuming you get the marker board and marker with eraser on the test.... Go out and purchase one or make one with laminated paper. (don't ask me where you can do that anymore staples or office max maybe)
1. Before the test starts if you have time during your 15 minute setup or time left from sciences you can make a giant square with 16 LARGE circles symmetrically placed like the test has. Make them large so you can erase marks within the circles quickly and easily while minimally destroying the inegrity of the diagram. Look through how the pattern was folded first to mentally get it in your head and make sure you have the RIGHT folds. Then start backwards and put DOTS in the circles marking the punches. The subsequent punches will always be bilaterally symmetrical (like planaria... a little biology tidbit for you) to eachother and visualize it using the marker board. It is essential you draw the circles the right distance apart because they will really help you be able to understand the diagonal folds much better. practice with paper first to really get how some strange folds undo, then use the marker board to tally up the punches and take inventory of what you already did. just imagine the fold lines on the board mark accordingly. then when you're done, match your sheet to the answer choices. Then erase the DOTS in the circle with your fingers quickly so the board remains setup for the next question. This makes sure you don't miss any punches and utilizes the advantage of the marker boards erasability.
i can't help you with the visualization, you have to figure that out on your own with practice, but this may help you get all the punches down on paper and not miss any when you choose and aswer choice. it also helped me add punches over what would be like a mirror image (like an enantiomer, a nonsuperimposabale ochem tidbit). I hope that helps..
Also,
2. When i make the diagram above, on the other side of the sheet i write the numbers 0 through 5 on the other side of the sheet with a line under all of them:
then in cube counting i turn over the sheet and count all cubes in the diagram first very carefully! Then i count the number of all the 0-sided, 1 sided, 2 sided etc.... and mark the number underneath the corresponding x sided number. I add them all up and see if i counted all the squares. It may take a tiny bit longer to count all of them, but i found it necessary for me to do so that i didn't find myself making silly mistakes on something as easy as cube counting. Take inventory and just plug in the answers and get it right! erase the numbers below the line and start again on the new diagram.
15=total
0 1 2 3 4 5 = how many sides
0 2 2 6 2 3 = number of each side totalling 15
hope this helps, it's hard to explain in text, but i'm sure you'll figure it out. if you ahve any other questions, just ask.
