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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.

Set 15 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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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 does this survey not tell you?
  2. 2. Barnacles were most common in the high pool. What does that suggest about them?
  3. 3. Why count for ten minutes at each pool?
  4. 4. Where was the kelp found?
2.Why do so many kinds of fish live on coral reefs?
  • A.Fish cannot live anywhere else
  • B.The reef gives them food and places to hide
  • C.Reefs are cold and dark
3.Why are there no coral reefs in polar seas?
  • A.Reef coral needs warm water to survive
  • B.Polar seas are too salty for fish
  • C.Polar bears eat the coral
4.A limpet clamps tight to a rock when the tide goes out. How does that help?
  • A.It helps it swim
  • B.It keeps it warm
  • C.It stops it drying out until the sea comes back
5.Which ocean habitat could a polar bear survive in?
  • A.The floor of the deep dark sea
  • B.The sea ice of the Arctic
  • C.A warm coral reef
6.How can a seal live in icy seas?
  • A.It lives on land all year
  • B.A thick layer of fat under its skin keeps it warm
  • C.It never gets wet
7.Why can mussels and barnacles live where the waves crash?
  • A.They are fixed tight to the rocks, and the waves bring them food
  • B.They swim away from every wave
  • C.Waves cannot reach them

LessonPrint · 3-LS4-3 · Set 15 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Three Rock Pools

Set 15. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. It does not tell you what lives in the pools at high tide. 2. Barnacles can survive being out of the sea for most of the day. 3. So each pool was searched for the same time and the counts can be compared. 4. Only in the low pool.
  2. 2.The reef gives them food and places to hide
  3. 3.Reef coral needs warm water to survive
  4. 4.It stops it drying out until the sea comes back
  5. 5.The sea ice of the Arctic
  6. 6.A thick layer of fat under its skin keeps it warm
  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.