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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 19 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.Storm drains carry street litter into the sea. What could a town do?
  • A.Make the drains wider
  • B.Sweep the litter into the drains
  • C.Fit nets or screens on the drains to catch litter
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.Waste water is cleaned at a works before it reaches the sea. What does that protect?
  • A.Nothing, the sea cleans itself
  • B.Sea life and the people who swim there
  • C.Only the pipes
4.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
5.Why might a community replant seagrass and salt marsh along its coast?
  • A.They make the sea saltier
  • B.They shelter young fish and hold the mud in place
  • C.They keep tourists away
6.Why do some places charge a small amount for plastic carrier bags?
  • A.To make the stores tidier
  • B.Fewer bags are used, so fewer end up in rivers and the sea
  • C.To make bags stronger
7.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
8.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.Closing the beach in winter
  • C.A scheme that pays people back for returning bottles

LessonPrint · 5-ESS3-1 · Set 19 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Keeping the Sea Clean

Set 19. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.Fit nets or screens on the drains to catch litter
  2. 2.To notice early if their numbers start to fall, so the cause can be found
  3. 3.Sea life and the people who swim there
  4. 4.Count how many hatchlings reach the sea before and after
  5. 5.They shelter young fish and hold the mud in place
  6. 6.Fewer bags are used, so fewer end up in rivers and the sea
  7. 7.They wash down drains into the sea and are eaten by sea life
  8. 8.A scheme that pays people back for returning bottles

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