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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 24 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.An area of sea where no fishing is allowed, so fish can breed
  • B.Using bigger boats
  • C.Catching the fish faster
2.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
3.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
4.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
5.Waste water is cleaned at a works before it reaches the sea. What does that protect?
  • A.Nothing, the sea cleans itself
  • B.Only the pipes
  • C.Sea life and the people who swim there
6.Boats' anchors are tearing up a seagrass meadow. What could a harbor do?
  • A.Put in fixed moorings so boats do not need to drop anchor
  • B.Use heavier anchors
  • C.Ban everyone from the harbor for ever
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.Why do scientists count seabirds on a cliff every year?
  • A.To feed the birds
  • B.To scare the birds away
  • C.To notice early if their numbers start to fall, so the cause can be found

LessonPrint · 5-ESS3-1 · Set 24 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Keeping the Sea Clean

Set 24. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.An area of sea where no fishing is allowed, so fish can breed
  2. 2.They shelter young fish and hold the mud in place
  3. 3.They wash down drains into the sea and are eaten by sea life
  4. 4.A scheme that pays people back for returning bottles
  5. 5.Sea life and the people who swim there
  6. 6.Put in fixed moorings so boats do not need to drop anchor
  7. 7.Fewer bags are used, so fewer end up in rivers and the sea
  8. 8.To notice early if their numbers start to fall, so the cause can be found

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