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

LessonPrint · 3-LS4-3 · Set 17 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Three Rock Pools

Set 17. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. Lower down the shore, near the sea like the low pool. 2. So each pool was searched for the same time and the counts can be compared. 3. Barnacles can survive being out of the sea for most of the day. 4. 5 starfish.
  2. 2.The sea ice of the Arctic
  3. 3.The reef gives them food and places to hide
  4. 4.A thick layer of fat under its skin keeps it warm
  5. 5.Reef coral needs warm water to survive
  6. 6.They are fixed tight to the rocks, and the waves bring them food
  7. 7.It stops it drying out until the sea comes back

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