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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 22 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.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
2.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
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.Waste water is cleaned at a works before it reaches the sea. What does that protect?
  • A.Sea life and the people who swim there
  • B.Nothing, the sea cleans itself
  • C.Only the pipes
5.Boats' anchors are tearing up a seagrass meadow. What could a harbor do?
  • A.Ban everyone from the harbor for ever
  • B.Put in fixed moorings so boats do not need to drop anchor
  • C.Use heavier anchors
6.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
7.Why are tiny plastic beads banned from face washes in many countries?
  • A.They make faces too clean
  • B.They wash down drains into the sea and are eaten by sea life
  • C.They are too expensive
8.A town turns off its seafront lights during the turtle nesting season. How could it check this worked?
  • A.Count the streetlights
  • B.Count how many hatchlings reach the sea before and after
  • C.Ask people whether they liked the dark

LessonPrint · 5-ESS3-1 · Set 22 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Keeping the Sea Clean

Set 22. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.An area of sea where no fishing is allowed, so fish can breed
  2. 2.A scheme that pays people back for returning bottles
  3. 3.Fit nets or screens on the drains to catch litter
  4. 4.Sea life and the people who swim there
  5. 5.Put in fixed moorings so boats do not need to drop anchor
  6. 6.To notice early if their numbers start to fall, so the cause can be found
  7. 7.They wash down drains into the sea and are eaten by sea life
  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.