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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 21 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. Barnacles were most common in the high pool. What does that suggest about them?
  2. 2. Why count for ten minutes at each pool?
  3. 3. Where would you look to find more kelp?
  4. 4. Where was the kelp found?
2.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
3.Why are there no coral reefs in polar seas?
  • A.Polar bears eat the coral
  • B.Reef coral needs warm water to survive
  • C.Polar seas are too salty for fish
4.Which ocean habitat could a polar bear survive in?
  • A.A warm coral reef
  • B.The sea ice of the Arctic
  • C.The floor of the deep dark sea
5.Why does kelp grow only in shallow water?
  • A.It needs sunlight, which cannot reach the deep sea
  • B.It cannot swim
  • C.It is too heavy for deep water
6.Why does an anglerfish have a glowing lure on its head?
  • A.To scare the sun away
  • B.To attract prey in the dark deep sea, where no sunlight reaches
  • C.To keep itself warm
7.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

LessonPrint · 3-LS4-3 · Set 21 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Three Rock Pools

Set 21. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. Barnacles can survive being out of the sea for most of the day. 2. So each pool was searched for the same time and the counts can be compared. 3. Lower down the shore, near the sea like the low pool. 4. Only in the low pool.
  2. 2.A thick layer of fat under its skin keeps it warm
  3. 3.Reef coral needs warm water to survive
  4. 4.The sea ice of the Arctic
  5. 5.It needs sunlight, which cannot reach the deep sea
  6. 6.To attract prey in the dark deep sea, where no sunlight reaches
  7. 7.The reef gives them food and places to hide

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