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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 2 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 are tiny plastic beads banned from face washes in many countries?
  • A.They wash down drains into the sea and are eaten by sea life
  • B.They are too expensive
  • C.They make faces too clean
2.Waste water is cleaned at a works before it reaches the sea. What does that protect?
  • A.Only the pipes
  • B.Nothing, the sea cleans itself
  • C.Sea life and the people who swim there
3.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
4.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
5.Why might a community replant seagrass and salt marsh along its coast?
  • A.They shelter young fish and hold the mud in place
  • B.They make the sea saltier
  • C.They keep tourists away
6.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
7.A beach survey found most of the litter was plastic bottles and their tops. Which measure uses that evidence best?
  • A.Closing the beach in winter
  • B.A scheme that pays people back for returning bottles
  • C.Painting the bins blue
8.Volunteers record every kind of litter they pick up on a beach. Why record the kinds?
  • A.So the town can tackle where most of it comes from
  • B.So the beach looks busy
  • C.So the litter weighs more

LessonPrint · 5-ESS3-1 · Set 2 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Keeping the Sea Clean

Set 2. Prints on its own sheet.

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