Current Electricity - Save the Technician Escape Room - Middle School Science

Finish and reinforce the KS3 current electricity module or revisit it prior to exams with this innovative, enjoyable and challenging escape room lesson. Prior knowledge required:

·      current, voltage and resistance – defining and understanding, units, measuring;

·      circuits and symbols;

·      series and parallel circuits – current, voltage, switches, lamps;

·      current and voltage varying with number of batteries;

·      Ohms Law.

Pupils have to work their way through the clues to find the code to a box with a combination lock containing an antidote to a substance, accidentally ingested by the laboratory. The substance is the departments a prototype, orally administered sunscreen being developed by the department which has unfortunately been found to turn the skin of mice purple and which has not yet been tested on humans and is also therefore potentially toxic.

The pack contains:

·      PowerPoint – scene setting and instructions (sound effects and built-in timer);

·      crossword;

·      word search;

·      dominoes activity;

·      worksheet Differentiated over 2 versions);

·      code breaker sheet;

·      answer keys;

·      lesson plan.

If time is limited just the crossword, word search and domino can be used. With a minimum of 50 minutes available one of the differentiated worksheets can also be used. The worksheet is the most challenging clue to solve and this can be omitted completely for less able classes.

Both 3 and 4 number combination locks can be purchased very cheaply online if using an actual box containing an unopened bottle of a soft drink, with the label removed, for a member of the winning team to take to the technician. In the absence of a locked box, until the code is found, as each group completes a team member can be dispatched to the prep room for the technician to ”try the code”. Alternatively all the combination locks in the science department had been set to the same combination for an escape room lesson including the one used on the box with the antidote in the prep room. The combination has been lost but if the class can open the one in front of them it will open the one on the antidote!

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