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Keeping the Sea Clean is a free printable Grade 5 science worksheet on how communities use science to protect coasts and oceans, aligned to NGSS performance expectation 5-ESS3-1. It prints 8 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 12 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.

Keeping the Sea Clean

5-ESS3-1

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

1.Waste water is cleaned at a works before it reaches the sea. What does that protect?
  • A.Only the pipes
  • B.Sea life and the people who swim there
  • C.Nothing, the sea cleans itself
2.Why do scientists count seabirds on a cliff every year?
  • A.To scare the birds away
  • B.To notice early if their numbers start to fall, so the cause can be found
  • C.To feed the birds
3.A beach survey found most of the litter was plastic bottles and their tops. Which measure uses that evidence best?
  • A.Painting the bins blue
  • B.A scheme that pays people back for returning bottles
  • C.Closing the beach in winter
4.A fishing town's catches fall year after year. What could help the fish recover?
  • A.Using bigger boats
  • B.An area of sea where no fishing is allowed, so fish can breed
  • C.Catching the fish faster
5.Why do some fishing laws require nets with bigger holes?
  • A.So more fish are caught
  • B.So young fish escape and grow up to breed
  • C.So the nets are lighter
6.Why might a community replant seagrass and salt marsh along its coast?
  • A.They make the sea saltier
  • B.They keep tourists away
  • C.They shelter young fish and hold the mud in place
7.Why do some places charge a small amount for plastic carrier bags?
  • A.To make bags stronger
  • B.To make the stores tidier
  • C.Fewer bags are used, so fewer end up in rivers and the sea
8.Volunteers record every kind of litter they pick up on a beach. Why record the kinds?
  • A.So the beach looks busy
  • B.So the town can tackle where most of it comes from
  • C.So the litter weighs more

LessonPrint · 5-ESS3-1 · Set 12 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Keeping the Sea Clean

Set 12. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.Sea life and the people who swim there
  2. 2.To notice early if their numbers start to fall, so the cause can be found
  3. 3.A scheme that pays people back for returning bottles
  4. 4.An area of sea where no fishing is allowed, so fish can breed
  5. 5.So young fish escape and grow up to breed
  6. 6.They shelter young fish and hold the mud in place
  7. 7.Fewer bags are used, so fewer end up in rivers and the sea
  8. 8.So the town can tackle where most of it comes from

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to 5-ESS3-1 of the Next Generation Science Standards.