Summary

In this activity, students will review concepts covered in a solutions unit. They will complete problems in order to determine codes that will allow them to advance through stages of a Google Form, which is set up as an escape room. This activity is designed to be used at the end of a unit, or as an alternate to an exam, particularly in a virtual environment.

Grade Level

High School

NGSS Alignment

This activity will help prepare your students to meet the performance expectations in the following standards:

• Scientific and Engineering Practices:
  • Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking
  • Analyzing and Interpreting Data
  • Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

Objectives

By the end of this activity, students should be able to:

• Demonstrate an understanding of concentration and solute/solvent interactions.

Chemistry Topics

This activity supports students’ understanding of:

• Solubility
• Solubility Curves
• Intermolecular Forces
• Emulsifying Agents
• Molarity
• Dilution Calculations

Time

Teacher Preparation: 10 minutes
Lesson: 45 minutes (will vary by student)

Materials

• Internet access
• Periodic table
• Calculator
• Student Document: Solutions Escape Room Google Form
• Student Document: Solutions Escape Room Alternate Version Google Form (only use if needed)

Safety

• There are no safety precautions needed for this activity.

Teacher Notes

• This activity is intended to be used as a culminating activity, not as a first look activity or a way to learn the concepts. 
• The student section of the activity is set-up as a Google Form. When it is accessed it will force the teacher to make a copy for their own use before they can proceed.
• Teachers must then click “SEND” in the upper right corner of the Google Form to get the link to share with your students.
• Students will be able to access the Escape Room through the link sent and you will be able to see their responses.
• To be clear, this activity will not teach the concepts covered.  It is intended to be a review of the solutions unit or perhaps an assessment.
• Helpful hints:
  • It’s helpful to preview and work through the activity yourself first, so that you are prepared to best help with student questions. That is why 10-minute teacher prep time is suggested.
    
  • Students can work in small groups. While the chemistry problems aren’t particularly challenging, finding the “codes” is challenging. Several heads can be better than one so that students don’t become frustrated.
    
  • Students can get “stuck” and then be prevented from moving forward. When this happened, I had them email me their answer and I gave them a hint as to how to move forward. 
  • The average time for completion was 45 minutes; however, some groups took considerably longer.
• The video included in the Escape Room, Solubility of Vitamins in Water was created by Study Force. 
• The ASL sketches used for decoding in the Emulsifying Agent section are from Gallaudet font. 
• I found the website Hart Decoding helpful for creating codes. 
• An Answer key for both the Escape Room activity and the Alternative activity have been provided for teacher reference. 
• Differentiation:
  • Some students are not interested in an escape-room-style challenge. In this case, an alternate assessment can be provided. This is also available as a Google Form.