Biology  by Bradford
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Free · AP Biology · Unit 5

Heredity escape room

The Heirloom Seed Vault

A late-season blizzard has buried the entrance to a mountainside seed vault, where generations of heirloom crops are stored beside the breeders' pedigree ledgers. The emergency exit opens only for visitors who can prove they understand how traits pass from parents to offspring. Five locks stand between you and the trail home. Each lock needs four correct answers, decoded into its combination. Start with the ledger's basic terms and work up to its trickiest crosses.

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/u5

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 Ledger of Terms

    Symbol grid Easy

    Find the row for the question and the column for your answer. Swap the symbol for its number using the key.

  2. Lock 2 · Understand

    The Meiosis Drawer

    Patterns Easy

    Find the missing number. Your digit is its last digit (47 gives 7).

  3. Lock 3 · Apply

    The Map Room Cabinet

    Petri dishes Medium

    Count only the solid colonies. Ignore the rings.

  4. Lock 4 · Analyse data

    The Pedigree Gate

    Overlay Medium

    Only segments lit on BOTH panels count. Read the number they make.

  5. Lock 5 · Evaluate

    The Final Cross

    Logic clues Hard

    A, B, C and D are four different digits. Some clues only compare them, so test the possibilities.

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. What term describes a cell, such as a human skin cell, that contains two complete sets of chromosomes (2n)?

    1. A Haploid
    2. B Triploid
    3. C Diploid
    4. D Aneuploid

  2. What are different versions of the same gene, such as those for brown or blue eye color, called?

    1. A Gametes
    2. B Alleles
    3. C Loci
    4. D Chromatids

  3. An organism with the genotype Aa is described as being what?

    1. A Homozygous recessive
    2. B Hemizygous
    3. C Homozygous dominant
    4. D Heterozygous

  4. Which word refers to an organism's observable characteristics, such as flower color or height?

    1. A Phenotype
    2. B Genome
    3. C Genotype
    4. D Karyotype

Symbol grid

Easy

Find the row for the question and the column for your answer. Swap the symbol for its number using the key.

ABCD
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
= 3 = 6 = 8 = 2

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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