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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 was the kelp found?
  2. 2. Why might starfish survive well in the low pool but not in the high pool?
  3. 3. Why count for ten minutes at each pool?
  4. 4. What does this survey not tell you?
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 does kelp grow only in shallow water?
  • A.It cannot swim
  • B.It is too heavy for deep water
  • C.It needs sunlight, which cannot reach the deep sea
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 keep itself warm
  • C.To scare the sun away
5.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
6.Which ocean habitat could a polar bear survive in?
  • A.The floor of the deep dark sea
  • B.A warm coral reef
  • C.The sea ice of the Arctic
7.How can a seal live in icy seas?
  • A.A thick layer of fat under its skin keeps it warm
  • B.It lives on land all year
  • C.It never gets wet

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

Answer key — Three Rock Pools

Set 3. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. Only in the low pool. 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. So each pool was searched for the same time and the counts can be compared. 4. It does not tell you what lives in the pools at high tide.
  2. 2.They are fixed tight to the rocks, and the waves bring them food
  3. 3.It needs sunlight, which cannot reach the deep sea
  4. 4.To attract prey in the dark deep sea, where no sunlight reaches
  5. 5.The reef gives them food and places to hide
  6. 6.The sea ice of the Arctic
  7. 7.A thick layer of fat under its skin keeps it warm

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