Mass Zombie Extinction - Escape Room - Humans, Characteristics of Living Things

Using an Escape Room to develop curriculum knowledge is an exciting activity that will inspire learners from 2^nd to 5^th Grade.

The curriculum content of this Escape Room is linked to:

·       Humans

·       Characteristics of Living Things

·       Skeleton (Movement, Protection, Support)

·       Blood and the Circulatory System

·       Food Groups and Nutrition

·       Life cycle of Humans

The aim of the Escape Room is to provide jeopardy for the children to work under pressure to solve 9 clues to save the world from being overrun by Zombies.

Before beginning, you will need to prepare the following:

·       A copy of the Pupil Workbook for each group

·       A set of table activities for every group – prepared beforehand and given to each group after they have all completed each Code Key activity

·       IT sources and research materials

·       Electronic Communication Script

·       Completion Script

Children do not need prior knowledge of the topics above to complete this Escape Room, as the research will support the answers and each Code Key is supported with several clues. This Escape Room is ideal as a review of learning. 

The activity begins by the teacher reader the Electronic Message received. It clearly tells the children that the planet has become overrun with zombies. The only way to beat the Zombies is to solve the 9 challenges to find 9 Code Keys which, when successful, will send an electronic pulse across the globe which will wipe out the Zombies. 

What follows are 9 activities which the children must solve to discover the code to move onto the next activity. 

Each activity focuses and builds the children’s knowledge on many aspects the characteristics of Living Things. 

The 9 activities are based on the following outcomes:

·       The seven characteristics of living things

·       The functions of the skeleton and comparison with plants

·       Labelling bones which protect and the organs which are protected

·       Features of blood (word search) – children must answer 9 questions in order to find the answers in the word search

·       Features of the heart and understanding the difference between the left side and right side of the heart

·       Food groups

·       Life Cycle of Humans – Labelling a diagram and understanding why old people do not feature on the life cycle – even though they are still alive!

·       Identifying healthy meals by comparing food groups within meals

·       Reviewing the 8 Code Keys and identifying what we have learnt/revised about Humans and Living Things.

When all 9 activities are completed, and the children have gained the correct Code Keys from each activity, the teacher can read the final communication detailing how the children have saved the Earth from the Zombies.

Setting up the Escape Room

1.  Children should be split into groups of no more than four and be placed in their own work space. 

2.  Access to IT and research materials should be provided to allow children to research answers to questions and review their own knowledge, as well as checking answers. 

3.  Each group should have a Code Key Booklet and decide on a team name

4.  Read the Initial Electronic Message to the children. Discuss what this means, and what the activity entails. 

5.  Hand each group a copy of Code Key 1. Agree with the children a set time to complete the problem in – this ensures that the children stay on task and maintains the Escape Room element of working under pressure.

6.  At the end of the time, children should have filled in the Code Key in their booklet. The teacher can then check the accuracy of all the groups and talk through the responses the children should have.

7.  Move on through the remaining challenges until all 9 have been completed.

8.  For those groups who have been successful, they are then able to read the completed statement where they find out if they have sent the electronic pulse around the Earth!

There are other ways of running Escape Room activities, for example, each activity could be set up on 8 tables (with the 9^th Challenge the groups all doing at the same time) and the children then move from table to table completing the activity. This would reduce the need for as many resources, and access to non-fiction sources and Internet Resources could then be targeted at specific Challenges.

The Escape Room should last for 2 hours.

We hope that your children enjoy this Escape Room.

Best wishes

INSPIReducation