Thinkabara

⏳ Escape room: The Time Machine

Google Classroom

A history escape room for grades 4–6: put inventions on a timeline, count the years from the first flight to the Moon and get home.

The story

The class time machine broke down in the middle of a journey! To get back to the present, you need to fix its date panel. Each station gives back one part of the code.

The machine stopped in an ancient inventor’s workshop, and its screen is flashing: “Enter return code”.

Run it at home or in class

What to prepare

  • Station sheets
  • A paper timeline on the board
  • A 4-digit lock or an envelope
  • Invention cards to cut out (wheel, printing press, telephone, Moon)

Tips for the facilitator

  • At station 2, give pupils cards to cut out and physically order on the timeline.
  • Allow scrap paper for the year calculations.
  • At the end, ask each team to add one invention they know to the timeline.

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: From airplane to Moon

1/6

In 1903 the Wright brothers made the first powered flight. In 1969 people landed on the Moon for the first time.

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 Time Machine: facilitator kit

Grades 4–6 · 15–25 minutes · Level: Easy · 6 stages

Opening story: The class time machine broke down in the middle of a journey! To get back to the present, you need to fix its date panel. Each station gives back one part of the code. The machine stopped in an ancient inventor’s workshop, and its screen is flashing: “Enter return code”.

Setup

  1. Station sheets
  2. A paper timeline on the board
  3. A 4-digit lock or an envelope
  4. Invention cards to cut out (wheel, printing press, telephone, Moon)
  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. At station 2, give pupils cards to cut out and physically order on the timeline.
  9. Allow scrap paper for the year calculations.
  10. At the end, ask each team to add one invention they know to the timeline.

Answers and hints (facilitator only)

StageAnswer / codeHints
1. From airplane to Moon66Work out 1969 minus 1903.
2. The timeline4291Start with the wheel (4). · Finish with the Moon (1).
3. A jump back18761969 minus 90 is 1879. · Now take away 3 more.
4. Warm-up route · The symbols on the lock4Every symbol is a number. What is one symbol worth? · Add: 2 plus 2.
5. Warm-up route · The number board10Look at the last number in the sequence. · Add 2 to it.
6. The return code6676The answer from station 1 is 66. · What are the last two digits of 1876?

Read at the end: WHOOSH! The machine landed right back in this lesson. Just a moment… why is there an ancient wheel on the desk?

⏳ The Time Machine · Stage 1 of 6

From airplane to Moon

In 1903 the Wright brothers made the first powered flight. In 1969 people landed on the Moon for the first time.

How many years passed from the first flight to the Moon landing?

✍️ Our answer:

⏳ The Time Machine · Stage 2 of 6

The timeline

Each invention has a number stuck on it: the telephone = 9, the Moon landing = 1, the wheel = 4, Gutenberg’s printing press = 2. The wheel was invented thousands of years ago, the printing press about 600 years ago, the telephone about 150 years ago, and the Moon landing happened last.

Order the inventions from oldest to newest and write their numbers in a row.

✍️ Our answer:

⏳ The Time Machine · Stage 3 of 6

A jump back

The machine is in 1969, the year of the Moon landing. Now it jumps 93 years back, to exactly the year Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone.

Which year did the machine reach?

✍️ Our answer:

⏳ The Time Machine · Stage 4 of 6

Warm-up route · The symbols on the lock

On the way to the last clue of “The Time Machine” you find another corridor of locks. Every ⏳ is worth 2. Add two symbols.

⏳ + ⏳ = ?

Which number opens the lock?

✍️ Our answer:

⏳ The Time Machine · Stage 5 of 6

Warm-up route · The number board

Each step to the right adds 2.

2 → 4 → 6 → 8 → ?

What is the next number in the sequence?

✍️ Our answer:

⏳ The Time Machine · Stage 6 of 6

The return code

The code back to the present: the answer from station 1, followed by the last two digits of the year from station 3. For example, if the answers were 50 and 1812, the code would be 5012.

What is the return code?

✍️ Our answer:

Facilitator guide: ⏳ The Time Machine

What the room practices

Subtracting years, ordering a timeline and reading digits.

The 4 stations (without the answers)
  1. From airplane to Moon: How many years passed from the first flight to the Moon landing?
  2. The timeline: Order the inventions from oldest to newest and write their numbers in a row.
  3. A jump back: Which year did the machine reach?
  4. The return code: What is the return 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 Time Machine” for, and how long does it take?

It was written for grades 4–6, at medium difficulty, and usually takes 20–30 minutes. It has 4 story stations, and online you can choose between three difficulty levels that add more locks.

What do I need to run “The Time Machine”?

A printer and these props: Station sheets; A paper timeline on the board; A 4-digit lock or an envelope; Invention cards to cut out (wheel, printing press, telephone, Moon). 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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