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Three Rock Pools is a free printable Grade 3 science worksheet on using rock-pool counts to argue which sea creatures survive well where, aligned to NGSS performance expectation 3-LS4-3. It prints 7 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two students in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

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Three Rock Pools

3-LS4-3

NameDate

Read the record, then answer the questions.

1.Read the record, then answer the questions.

Three Rock Pools

Counts the class made in three rock pools at low tide: one high on the shore, one in the middle and one near the sea. WHAT WE COUNTED High pool (out of the sea for most of the day): 30 barnacles, 6 limpets, some green seaweed, no starfish, no kelp Middle pool: 12 limpets, 9 sea anemones, 4 crabs, brown seaweed, no kelp Low pool (covered by the sea for all but an hour a day): 5 starfish, 11 sea anemones, 6 crabs, kelp, 3 small fish The high pool's water was the warmest, and its level dropped most in the sun. We counted for ten minutes at each pool.

  1. 1. What claim does this survey support?
  2. 2. Which pool had the most kinds of living thing?
  3. 3. Why count for ten minutes at each pool?
  4. 4. How many starfish were in the low pool?
2.A limpet clamps tight to a rock when the tide goes out. How does that help?
  • A.It keeps it warm
  • B.It stops it drying out until the sea comes back
  • C.It helps it swim
3.A crab from a rock pool is left on dry sand in the hot sun. What will happen?
  • A.It will be fine all day
  • B.It will survive less well, or not at all, unless it gets back to water
  • C.It will grow faster
4.Why does an anglerfish have a glowing lure on its head?
  • A.To attract prey in the dark deep sea, where no sunlight reaches
  • B.To scare the sun away
  • C.To keep itself warm
5.Why are there no coral reefs in polar seas?
  • A.Polar bears eat the coral
  • B.Reef coral needs warm water to survive
  • C.Polar seas are too salty for fish
6.Why does kelp grow only in shallow water?
  • A.It cannot swim
  • B.It is too heavy for deep water
  • C.It needs sunlight, which cannot reach the deep sea
7.Why do some animals in the deep sea have no working eyes?
  • A.There is no light to see by down there
  • B.The water is too salty for eyes
  • C.They are always asleep

LessonPrint · 3-LS4-3 · Set 12 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Three Rock Pools

Set 12. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. Some sea creatures survive well high on the shore, and others only in the pool near the sea. 2. The low pool, near the sea. 3. So each pool was searched for the same time and the counts can be compared. 4. 5 starfish.
  2. 2.It stops it drying out until the sea comes back
  3. 3.It will survive less well, or not at all, unless it gets back to water
  4. 4.To attract prey in the dark deep sea, where no sunlight reaches
  5. 5.Reef coral needs warm water to survive
  6. 6.It needs sunlight, which cannot reach the deep sea
  7. 7.There is no light to see by down there

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to 3-LS4-3 of the Next Generation Science Standards.