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

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Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

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. Which pool had the most kinds of living thing?
  3. 3. Why count for ten minutes at each pool?
  4. 4. Why might starfish survive well in the low pool but not in the high pool?
2.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
3.Why are there no coral reefs in polar seas?
  • A.Polar seas are too salty for fish
  • B.Polar bears eat the coral
  • C.Reef coral needs warm water to survive
4.Why do some animals in the deep sea have no working eyes?
  • A.They are always asleep
  • B.There is no light to see by down there
  • C.The water is too salty for eyes
5.What would happen to a kelp forest if the sea became very cloudy?
  • A.Nothing would change
  • B.The kelp would get less light and grow less well
  • C.The kelp would grow faster
6.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
7.Why does kelp grow only in shallow water?
  • A.It needs sunlight, which cannot reach the deep sea
  • B.It is too heavy for deep water
  • C.It cannot swim

LessonPrint · 3-LS4-3 · Set 2 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Three Rock Pools

Set 2. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. It does not tell you what lives in the pools at high tide. 2. The low pool, near the sea. 3. So each pool was searched for the same time and the counts can be compared. 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.They are fixed tight to the rocks, and the waves bring them food
  3. 3.Reef coral needs warm water to survive
  4. 4.There is no light to see by down there
  5. 5.The kelp would get less light and grow less well
  6. 6.To attract prey in the dark deep sea, where no sunlight reaches
  7. 7.It needs sunlight, which cannot reach the deep sea

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