WorksheetPremium

Keeping Beach Litter Out of Tide Pools

Use a beach litter investigation to evaluate how a community can protect tide pools and conserve materials.

Grade 5ScienceInteractive · Printable

Aligned to5-ESS3-1

Buy this worksheet: $1.50

Or unlock every Premium worksheet with Premium

PrintUnlock to print

Answer keyUnlock to see answers

Assign to classUnlock to assign with a class code

What’s included

Single worksheet
Auto-graded online
1 NGSS standard
Printable answer key
14 questions
Classroom-ready

Details

Format: Interactive · Printable
Grade: Grade 5
Subject: Science
Question types: Fill in the blank, Multiple choice, Matching, Circle the answer, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

Students use investigation results to evaluate a community plan for reducing windblown litter.
Students explain how reusing materials and testing waste stations can protect resources and the environment.
Students identify limits of a model and propose observations to check a community solution.

How to use

Read the investigation together, then have students work independently with the graph and planning information. Discuss how model results can guide a community decision without proving that a design will work in every condition.

Curriculum

NGSS standard covered

5-ESS3-1

Find out how communities use science ideas to protect Earth's resources and environment.

Preview

OwlSheets.com

Name Date

Keeping Beach Litter Out of Tide Pools

Use a class investigation to help a community choose a waste station.

Investigate a Beach Problem

Read the investigation. Use the evidence to answer the questions.

A Test at Shellgate Beach Visitor Center

Shellgate Beach Visitor Center stands beside a walkway leading to tide pools. Volunteers noticed paper scraps near the walkway after windy afternoons. Loose litter can reach the pools, where animals may swallow it or become trapped in it. Center workers wanted a waste station that would keep discarded paper inside. They also wanted to use donated bins instead of buying new bin bodies.

A fifth-grade class investigated three tops that fit the same donated bin: an open top, a raised rim, and a top with a swinging flap. A raised rim is a short wall around the opening. The flap covers the opening but swings inward when someone pushes paper through. The students tested how much paper escaped when moving air passed over each top.

First, an adult placed the bin and a low-speed fan inside a large, clear test box. Mesh-covered openings let air pass through but kept every escaped scrap inside the box. The class used clean paper, not beach trash. No paper was released outdoors, and no tide-pool animals were handled.

Next, students put a flat cardboard platform inside the bin, two inches below its opening. They spread 20 equal-sized, dry paper squares on the platform to model a nearly full bin. They attached one top. They kept the fan speed, fan distance, bin body, platform height, paper size, and blowing time the same in every test.

Then, students ran the fan for one minute and counted the squares that left the bin. They collected every square, reset the materials, and tested each top three times. The open top lost 11, 12, and 13 squares. The raised rim lost 5, 6, and 7. The swinging flap lost 1, 0, and 2. Students calculated each top's average number of escaped squares.

Finally, the class shared its results with center workers. The test used only dry paper and one steady fan speed. Beach winds change direction and strength, and visitors may leave openings blocked. Workers would need to observe any installed station. All three tested tops fit the donated bins, which were sturdy and ready to use.

Which community question can this investigation help answer most directly?