The Biology Bandit - A Biology Escape Room Revision Activity - Distance Learning

Topics covered in revision:
Lock 1 - Cell Transport
Lock 2 - Organelles
Lock 3 - Meiosis
Lock 4 - Protein Synthesis
Lock 5 - Restriction Enzymes
Lock 6 - Trophic levels
Lock 7 - Gel Electrophoresis

There are a number of ways you can use this resource. The most straight forward way would be to prepare each of the locks, and run it as a station with a timed period for the students to solve the puzzles, before rotating. The students, who think they have the code, could come to you for conformation, with a clarification of all the puzzles done at the end (ideally by the students, for further revision, but perhaps by you for one or two of the more difficult ones).
The space for the location has been left blank for you to fill. I would suggest you put your school name, but anywhere is fine. Likewise, the space for the time to complete the task as been left blank. Fill it in by writing the number in before you begin.
If you have more time and are feeling adventurous, you could actually go to the trouble of getting some cheap combination locks and boxes, setting them up at each station for the students to try. Make sure the locks that you get are programmable, to make them compatible with each riddle.
Inside the box could be anything. I have, in the past, put extra clues in, which lead to a final test by having the students log in to the “Biology Bandits” account on a Raspberry Pi, with each piece of paper being part of the password and the lock numbers being the order they are entered into the pi. The desktop background gave the final confirmation of completion. As I said, the possibilities are endless.
Most of the given puzzles require you to do no more than print out the instruction sheet for each group.
If you decide to go with an actual lock, regardless of your method, you will need to set up the boxes and locks up well in advance. Any opaque box will do and you can adjust the puzzle as you see fit. For one round, in a pinch I simply took a sturdy envelope, poked a hole in the opening and locked the combo lock on it.
As for the prize, that is also up to you. It could be a certificate or another goody of your choice. I managed to find some David Attenborough books for a dollar or two each one year, and they went down a treat. Make sure you have runner up prizes for those that don’t get the main prize. Point is, take these and have fun with them.