Biology  by Bradford
support
Free · Biology · Unit 1

Chemistry of life escape room

The Midnight Candy Factory

Your class tour of the city's oldest candy factory ran late, and when the clock struck midnight the security system sealed every door with your team still inside. The factory's computer was built by a chemist, and it will only let out people who understand the molecules that sugar, chocolate and gummy bears are made of. Five locks stand between you and the loading dock. Each lock asks four questions, and your answers decode into its combination. Move fast: a giant vat of caramel left on the boil is starting to smoke, and the sprinklers will flood the whole floor with sticky syrup if it catches.

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
  • Forgrade 9 and 10 biology and pre-AP classes
  • Play linkbiologybybradford.com/escape/gb1

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

    Wrapping Room Door

    Lock dials Easy

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

  2. Lock 2 · Understand

    Sugar Silo Hatch

    Dice Easy

    Add the two dice beside your letter. A blank face counts as 0.

  3. Lock 3 · Apply

    Caramel Kitchen

    Light panel Medium

    Add up the numbers above the shaded squares. Careful: every row puts them in a different order.

  4. Lock 4 · Analyse data

    Quality Control Desk

    Magic square Medium

    Every row, column and diagonal adds up to the total shown. One square is blank as well as the lettered ones: work through it.

  5. Lock 5 · Evaluate

    Loading Dock Gate

    Bar chart Hard

    Each letter has a pink bar and a green bar. Your digit is pink minus green.

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 four elements make up most of the mass of living things?

    1. A Carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen
    2. B Carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and iron
    3. C Calcium, hydrogen, oxygen and sodium
    4. D Carbon, helium, oxygen and nitrogen

  2. Which molecule is made of one glycerol joined to three fatty acids?

    1. A A phospholipid
    2. B A polysaccharide
    3. C A triglyceride (fat)
    4. D A dipeptide

  3. Biuret solution is added to a crushed gummy bear and turns from blue to purple. Which nutrient does this show is present?

    1. A Starch
    2. B Protein
    3. C Reducing sugar
    4. D Fat

  4. What is the active site of an enzyme?

    1. A The place in the cell where the enzyme is made
    2. B The product released at the end of the reaction
    3. C The part of the substrate that the enzyme changes
    4. D The region of the enzyme where the substrate binds

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.

More Biology escape rooms