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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 4 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 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
2.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
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.Why do some fishing laws require nets with bigger holes?
  • A.So the nets are lighter
  • B.So more fish are caught
  • C.So young fish escape and grow up to breed
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.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 keep tourists away
  • C.They make the sea saltier
7.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 make faces too clean
  • C.They are too expensive
8.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

LessonPrint · 5-ESS3-1 · Set 4 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Keeping the Sea Clean

Set 4. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.To notice early if their numbers start to fall, so the cause can be found
  2. 2.A scheme that pays people back for returning bottles
  3. 3.Sea life and the people who swim there
  4. 4.So young fish escape and grow up to breed
  5. 5.Fewer bags are used, so fewer end up in rivers and the sea
  6. 6.They shelter young fish and hold the mud in place
  7. 7.They wash down drains into the sea and are eaten by sea life
  8. 8.An area of sea where no fishing is allowed, so fish can breed

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