Biology  by Bradford
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Free · AP Biology · Unit 3 bonus

Cellular respiration escape room

Lockdown in Lab 4

At 09:14 the containment system sealed every door in Lab 4 after a culture tray went missing. The override needs five combinations, one per lock, and every lock answers to cellular respiration. Solve the four questions at each lock, decode your answers and enter the combination before the system resets.

Play it onlineTeacher pack (PDF)
  • 5 locksfour multiple-choice questions at each, 20 in all
  • About 45 minutesfor a team of three or four
  • Online or on papera link to play, or the pack to print
  • ForAP Biology classes
  • Play linkbiologybybradford.com/escape/sample

The five locks

Each lock’s four answers are decoded with its puzzle into a four-digit combination, so one wrong answer keeps it shut. The questions climb from recall to evaluating evidence.
  1. Lock 1 · Recall

    The airlock

    Lock dials Easy

    Each letter has a dial. Read the number the needle points to.

  2. Lock 2 · Understand

    The cold room

    Pathway Easy

    Start at your letter and go straight down. Every time you meet a rung, cross it. Your digit is where you finish.

  3. Lock 3 · Apply

    The incubator bay

    Dice Medium

    Add all three dice beside your letter. A blank face counts as 0.

  4. Lock 4 · Analyse data

    The respirometer room

    Logic clues Medium

    A, B, C and D are four different digits. No clue gives a value away; combine them.

  5. Lock 5 · Evaluate

    The control room

    Overlay Hard

    Panel 2 is upside down. Turn it round in your head; only segments lit on both panels count.

Lock 1, as a team sees it

The first four questions and their decoder. The answers, and the reason for each, are in the teacher pack.

  1. Where in a eukaryotic cell does glycolysis take place?

    1. A Mitochondrial matrix
    2. B Cytosol
    3. C Inner mitochondrial membrane
    4. D Intermembrane space

  2. What is the net ATP yield of glycolysis for one molecule of glucose?

    1. A 2 ATP
    2. B 4 ATP
    3. C 32 ATP
    4. D 0 ATP

  3. Which molecule is the final electron acceptor in aerobic respiration?

    1. A NAD⁺
    2. B FAD
    3. C Oxygen (O₂)
    4. D Carbon dioxide (CO₂)

  4. Which two-carbon molecule joins oxaloacetate at the start of the Krebs cycle?

    1. A Pyruvate
    2. B Citrate
    3. C Glucose-6-phosphate
    4. D Acetyl-CoA

Lock dials

Easy

Each letter has a dial. Read the number the needle points to.

0123456789A
0123456789B
0123456789C
0123456789D

Running it

  1. Online: send teams the play link. They answer a lock’s four questions, decode the letters and enter the combination; after lock 5 they get a completion code to show you. Nobody needs an account.
  2. On paper: sign in (free) and print the teacher pack: question cards, the five decoders, a guide and the answer key with a reason for every answer.
  3. Your version: Edit a copy from the library to change any question, then play and print it by its own code, or build a room from the topics your class has covered.

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