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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. What claim does this survey support?
  2. 2. Which pool had the most kinds of living thing?
  3. 3. Where was the kelp found?
  4. 4. Barnacles were most common in the high pool. What does that suggest about them?
2.Which ocean habitat could a polar bear survive in?
  • A.The sea ice of the Arctic
  • B.The floor of the deep dark sea
  • C.A warm coral reef
3.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
4.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
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.How can a seal live in icy seas?
  • A.It lives on land all year
  • B.It never gets wet
  • C.A thick layer of fat under its skin keeps it warm
7.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

LessonPrint · 3-LS4-3 · Set 5 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Three Rock Pools

Set 5. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. Some sea creatures survive well high on the shore, and others only in the pool near the sea. 2. The low pool, near the sea. 3. Only in the low pool. 4. Barnacles can survive being out of the sea for most of the day.
  2. 2.The sea ice of the Arctic
  3. 3.The reef gives them food and places to hide
  4. 4.Reef coral needs warm water to survive
  5. 5.The kelp would get less light and grow less well
  6. 6.A thick layer of fat under its skin keeps it warm
  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.