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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. Where would you look to find more kelp?
  2. 2. Why count for ten minutes at each pool?
  3. 3. Why might starfish survive well in the low pool but not in the high pool?
  4. 4. How many starfish were in the low pool?
2.Why can mussels and barnacles live where the waves crash?
  • A.They swim away from every wave
  • B.They are fixed tight to the rocks, and the waves bring them food
  • C.Waves cannot reach them
3.Why do some animals in the deep sea have no working eyes?
  • A.The water is too salty for eyes
  • B.They are always asleep
  • C.There is no light to see by down there
4.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
5.Why are there no coral reefs in polar seas?
  • A.Reef coral needs warm water to survive
  • B.Polar bears eat the coral
  • C.Polar seas are too salty for fish
6.Why does kelp grow only in shallow water?
  • A.It is too heavy for deep water
  • B.It needs sunlight, which cannot reach the deep sea
  • C.It cannot swim
7.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

LessonPrint · 3-LS4-3 · Set 25 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Three Rock Pools

Set 25. 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. The low pool is covered by the sea nearly all day, while the high pool warms up and its water drops in the sun. 4. 5 starfish.
  2. 2.They are fixed tight to the rocks, and the waves bring them food
  3. 3.There is no light to see by down there
  4. 4.A thick layer of fat under its skin keeps it warm
  5. 5.Reef coral needs warm water to survive
  6. 6.It needs sunlight, which cannot reach the deep sea
  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.