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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. Barnacles were most common in the high pool. What does that suggest about them?
  2. 2. Where was the kelp found?
  3. 3. What does this survey not tell you?
  4. 4. Why might starfish survive well in the low pool but not in the high pool?
2.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 keep itself warm
  • C.To scare the sun away
3.A crab from a rock pool is left on dry sand in the hot sun. What will happen?
  • A.It will survive less well, or not at all, unless it gets back to water
  • B.It will be fine all day
  • C.It will grow faster
4.Why do so many kinds of fish live on coral reefs?
  • A.The reef gives them food and places to hide
  • B.Fish cannot live anywhere else
  • C.Reefs are cold and dark
5.How can a seal live in icy seas?
  • A.A thick layer of fat under its skin keeps it warm
  • B.It never gets wet
  • C.It lives on land all year
6.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
7.Why can mussels and barnacles live where the waves crash?
  • A.They swim away from every wave
  • B.Waves cannot reach them
  • C.They are fixed tight to the rocks, and the waves bring them food

LessonPrint · 3-LS4-3 · Set 14 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Three Rock Pools

Set 14. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. Barnacles can survive being out of the sea for most of the day. 2. Only in the low pool. 3. It does not tell you what lives in the pools at high tide. 4. The low pool is covered by the sea nearly all day, while the high pool warms up and its water drops in the sun.
  2. 2.To attract prey in the dark deep sea, where no sunlight reaches
  3. 3.It will survive less well, or not at all, unless it gets back to water
  4. 4.The reef gives them food and places to hide
  5. 5.A thick layer of fat under its skin keeps it warm
  6. 6.There is no light to see by down there
  7. 7.They are fixed tight to the rocks, and the waves bring them food

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