Thinkabara

🐙 Escape room: The Deep-Sea Submarine

Google Classroom

An ocean escape room for grades 3–6: octopuses with three hearts, whales that are mammals and starfish. Solve the puzzles to surface.

The story

The class submarine dived to the bottom of the ocean, and now the surfacing system has locked! Only divers who know their sea creatures can open it and rise to the top.

A curious octopus peers in through the porthole, and it looks like it’s trying to help.

Run it at home or in class

What to prepare

  • Station sheets with pictures of sea creatures
  • A 4-digit lock or an envelope
  • Pencils and scrap paper
  • Soap bubbles for the celebration (optional)

Tips for the facilitator

  • Print real photos of an octopus, a blue whale and a starfish next to each station.
  • Dim the classroom lights and play ocean sounds for atmosphere.
  • After the end, tell the pupils one more fact: an octopus has blue blood.

Difficulty level

The story clues stay the same on every level; harder levels add more locks in between. You can ask for a hint at every stage.

0 of 6 stages solved · Easy · 15–25 minutes

Stage 1: The curious octopus

1/6

An octopus has 8 arms and 3 hearts.

Run it in real life too

Print a facilitator kit for the easy level: a sheet with the opening story, the setup and every answer, plus a big card for each of the 6 stages.

🐙 The Deep-Sea Submarine: facilitator kit

Grades 3–6 · 15–25 minutes · Level: Easy · 6 stages

Opening story: The class submarine dived to the bottom of the ocean, and now the surfacing system has locked! Only divers who know their sea creatures can open it and rise to the top. A curious octopus peers in through the porthole, and it looks like it’s trying to help.

Setup

  1. Station sheets with pictures of sea creatures
  2. A 4-digit lock or an envelope
  3. Pencils and scrap paper
  4. Soap bubbles for the celebration (optional)
  5. Print the 6 stage cards and put them in order, or hide each card around the room so every answer leads to the next one.
  6. Read the opening story to the group and start a timer.
  7. When the group gets stuck, give one hint from the table, one at a time.
  8. Print real photos of an octopus, a blue whale and a starfish next to each station.
  9. Dim the classroom lights and play ocean sounds for atmosphere.
  10. After the end, tell the pupils one more fact: an octopus has blue blood.

Answers and hints (facilitator only)

StageAnswer / codeHints
1. The curious octopus248 times 3.
2. Who breathes air?mammalsThe same group as dogs, elephants… and us.
3. Counting in the deep44Work out 3×8, then 4×5. · Add the two answers.
4. The blue giantblue whaleThe color of the sky and the sea.
5. Warm-up route · The symbols on the lock4Every symbol is a number. What is one symbol worth? · Add: 2 plus 2.
6. The surfacing system2444Write 24 and straight after it 44.

Read at the end: Bloop-bloop! The submarine rises to the surface, and the octopus waves goodbye with all 8 arms.

🐙 The Deep-Sea Submarine · Stage 1 of 6

The curious octopus

An octopus has 8 arms and 3 hearts.

What is the number of arms times the number of hearts?

✍️ Our answer:

🐙 The Deep-Sea Submarine · Stage 2 of 6

Who breathes air?

A whale lives in the sea, but it isn’t a fish: it breathes air through a blowhole on its head, gives birth to live young and feeds them milk.

Which group of animals does the whale belong to?

✍️ Our answer:

🐙 The Deep-Sea Submarine · Stage 3 of 6

Counting in the deep

Outside the window swim 3 octopuses (8 arms each) and 4 starfish (5 arms each).

🐙🐙🐙 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

How many arms do they have altogether?

✍️ Our answer:

🐙 The Deep-Sea Submarine · Stage 4 of 6

The blue giant

A huge shadow passed over the submarine. It’s the largest animal that has ever lived on Earth, bigger even than the dinosaurs. It’s a kind of whale, and the first word of its name is a color.

What is this animal?

✍️ Our answer:

🐙 The Deep-Sea Submarine · Stage 5 of 6

Warm-up route · The symbols on the lock

On the way to the last clue of “The Deep-Sea Submarine” you find another corridor of locks. Every 🐙 is worth 2. Add two symbols.

🐙 + 🐙 = ?

Which number opens the lock?

✍️ Our answer:

🐙 The Deep-Sea Submarine · Stage 6 of 6

The surfacing system

The surfacing code: the answer from station 1, followed by the answer from station 3. For example, if the answers were 12 and 30, the code would be 1230.

What is the code?

✍️ Our answer:

Facilitator guide: 🐙 The Deep-Sea Submarine

What the room practices

Ocean science, multiplication and grouping animals.

The 5 stations (without the answers)
  1. The curious octopus: What is the number of arms times the number of hearts?
  2. Who breathes air?: Which group of animals does the whale belong to?
  3. Counting in the deep: How many arms do they have altogether?
  4. The blue giant: What is this animal?
  5. The surfacing system: What is the code?

Age and group size

Best with teams of 3–5 children. In a class or a big party, print a kit per team and run the room in parallel.

Giving hints in this room

Online the hints open one at a time; in the printed kit they sit in the facilitator table next to each answer. Give the first hint after a couple of minutes of silence, not at the first wrong guess.

Questions and answers

What age is “The Deep-Sea Submarine” for, and how long does it take?

It was written for grades 3–6, at easy–medium difficulty, and usually takes 20–25 minutes. It has 5 story stations, and online you can choose between three difficulty levels that add more locks.

What do I need to run “The Deep-Sea Submarine”?

A printer and these props: Station sheets with pictures of sea creatures; A 4-digit lock or an envelope; Pencils and scrap paper; Soap bubbles for the celebration (optional). The printable kit includes a facilitator sheet with every answer and a card for each stage.

What if the players get stuck?

Every stage has graded hints. Online they open one at a time; in the printed kit they sit next to each answer on the facilitator sheet. The first hint never gives the answer away.

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