Biology  by Bradford
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Free · Biology · Unit 2

Cells and transport escape room

The Leaking Ocean Habitat

A crack has opened in the hull of an ocean research habitat forty meters below the surface, and seawater is seeping in. The habitat's computer has sealed every hatch and will open them only for a crew that understands cells: what they are made of, and how water and other substances get in and out of them. Five locks stand between your team and the escape pod. Each lock asks four questions, and your answers decode into its combination. Move fast: the pumps are losing the fight, the air is turning stale, and the habitat sinks a little lower every minute.

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/gb2

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

    Airlock Hatch

    Pathway Easy

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

  2. Lock 2 · Understand

    Dive Locker

    Lock dials Easy

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

  3. Lock 3 · Apply

    Ballast Room

    Symbol grid Medium

    Find the cell for your question and answer. Each symbol is worth a sum; work it out from the key.

  4. Lock 4 · Analyse data

    Sonar Deck

    Number pyramid Medium

    Each brick is the sum of the two bricks directly below it. Fewer bricks are filled in, so plan your route.

  5. Lock 5 · Evaluate

    Escape Pod

    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 small structures, found in every cell, join amino acids together to make proteins?

    1. A Ribosomes
    2. B Lysosomes
    3. C Vacuoles
    4. D Chloroplasts

  2. Which structure surrounds every cell and controls what enters and leaves it?

    1. A Cell wall
    2. B Nucleus
    3. C Cell membrane
    4. D Cytoplasm

  3. A group of similar cells that work together to do one job is called what?

    1. A An organ
    2. B A tissue
    3. C An organ system
    4. D An organism

  4. Which kind of microscope uses a beam of electrons and can show detail as small as a ribosome?

    1. A Light microscope
    2. B Hand lens
    3. C Dissecting microscope
    4. D Electron microscope

Pathway

Easy

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

ABCD4517

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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