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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 14 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.Why might a community replant seagrass and salt marsh along its coast?
  • A.They keep tourists away
  • B.They shelter young fish and hold the mud in place
  • C.They make the sea saltier
2.A fishing town's catches fall year after year. What could help the fish recover?
  • A.Catching the fish faster
  • B.An area of sea where no fishing is allowed, so fish can breed
  • C.Using bigger boats
3.Why are tiny plastic beads banned from face washes in many countries?
  • A.They are too expensive
  • B.They make faces too clean
  • C.They wash down drains into the sea and are eaten by sea life
4.Why do scientists count seabirds on a cliff every year?
  • A.To notice early if their numbers start to fall, so the cause can be found
  • B.To scare the birds away
  • C.To feed the birds
5.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
6.A beach survey found most of the litter was plastic bottles and their tops. Which measure uses that evidence best?
  • A.A scheme that pays people back for returning bottles
  • B.Painting the bins blue
  • C.Closing the beach in winter
7.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
8.A town turns off its seafront lights during the turtle nesting season. How could it check this worked?
  • A.Count how many hatchlings reach the sea before and after
  • B.Count the streetlights
  • C.Ask people whether they liked the dark

LessonPrint · 5-ESS3-1 · Set 14 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Keeping the Sea Clean

Set 14. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.They shelter young fish and hold the mud in place
  2. 2.An area of sea where no fishing is allowed, so fish can breed
  3. 3.They wash down drains into the sea and are eaten by sea life
  4. 4.To notice early if their numbers start to fall, so the cause can be found
  5. 5.Fewer bags are used, so fewer end up in rivers and the sea
  6. 6.A scheme that pays people back for returning bottles
  7. 7.So the town can tackle where most of it comes from
  8. 8.Count how many hatchlings reach the sea before and after

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