Biology  by Bradford
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Free · AP Biology · Unit 6

Gene Expression escape room

The Copyist's Library

You lingered too long in a clifftop library where scribes once copied ancient manuscripts letter by letter, and the caretaker has bolted the doors for the night. The library's builder hid a way out behind five locks, each guarded by riddles about how living cells copy, read and edit their own instructions. Every lock needs four correct answers, decoded into its combination. Open all five before the last lantern flickers out.

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/u6

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 Scribe's Desk

    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 Binding Shelf

    Symbol sums Easy

    One symbol's value is given. Use it to unlock the others, then swap your letters for symbols.

  3. Lock 3 · Apply

    The Editor's Cabinet

    Bar chart Medium

    Each letter is a bar. Only 0 and 5 are numbered, so count the lines.

  4. Lock 4 · Analyse data

    The Reading Room Door

    Pathway Medium

    Start at your letter and go straight down. Cross every rung you meet. Your digit is where you finish.

  5. Lock 5 · Evaluate

    The Master Cipher

    Magic square Hard

    Every row, column and diagonal adds up to the same total, but you have to work out what it is first. One square is blank.

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. Which enzyme unwinds the double helix at the replication fork by breaking hydrogen bonds between bases?

    1. A Primase
    2. B Topoisomerase
    3. C Helicase
    4. D Ligase

  2. What is the process of making an mRNA molecule from a DNA template called?

    1. A Transcription
    2. B Translation
    3. C Replication
    4. D Reverse transcription

  3. A sequence of three mRNA nucleotides that specifies one amino acid is known as what?

    1. A Exon
    2. B Codon
    3. C Anticodon
    4. D Promoter

  4. Which structure, built from rRNA and proteins, is the site of protein synthesis?

    1. A Lysosome
    2. B Spliceosome
    3. C Nucleolus
    4. D Ribosome

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 = 4

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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