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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. Why might starfish survive well in the low pool but not in the high pool?
  3. 3. How many starfish were in the low pool?
  4. 4. What claim does this survey support?
2.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
3.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
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.Which ocean habitat could a polar bear survive in?
  • A.A warm coral reef
  • B.The floor of the deep dark sea
  • C.The sea ice of the Arctic
6.What would happen to a kelp forest if the sea became very cloudy?
  • A.The kelp would get less light and grow less well
  • B.The kelp would grow faster
  • C.Nothing would change
7.Why can mussels and barnacles live where the waves crash?
  • A.Waves cannot reach them
  • B.They swim away from every wave
  • C.They are fixed tight to the rocks, and the waves bring them food

LessonPrint · 3-LS4-3 · Set 18 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Three Rock Pools

Set 18. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. Barnacles can survive being out of the sea for most of the day. 2. The low pool is covered by the sea nearly all day, while the high pool warms up and its water drops in the sun. 3. 5 starfish. 4. Some sea creatures survive well high on the shore, and others only in the pool near the sea.
  2. 2.It will survive less well, or not at all, unless it gets back to water
  3. 3.The reef gives them food and places to hide
  4. 4.To attract prey in the dark deep sea, where no sunlight reaches
  5. 5.The sea ice of the Arctic
  6. 6.The kelp would get less light and grow less well
  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.