About
Your students will practice number sense concepts while completing six different challenges (or obstacles) in order to make it out in this "Lost in the Amazon" Escape Room-style activity. They'll crack codes and work together as a team, ultimately overcoming the obstacles and making it back to the research camp!
Are you ready for the challenge?
Ideas for Use
- Use the individual tasks as part of your math centers. Place one task at each center and have students rotate through them.
- Make a booklet for each student that includes all the tasks from this math project. Allow your students to choose the order that they complete the tasks, and use it as early finisher activities or morning work.
- Keep students engaged by allowing them to work through this package with a partner.
What's Included?
Your students will be completing six different challenges (or obstacles) in order to get back to the camp.
Obstacle #1: Get your foot out from under the tree.
When you realized that you were lost, you started to panic, which was a huge mistake! Now you’ve gotten your foot stuck under a fallen tree and cannot get it out. The tree is too heavy to lift off. You tell yourself not to think about all the dangers around you. Instead, you try to remain calm and figure out how to get your foot unstuck.
YOUR TASK: Order the cards from least (smallest) to greatest (largest). The secret message will reveal how you get unstuck.
Obstacle #2: Keep away from the green anaconda.
Finally you got your foot out from under the tree. You stand up and see something that makes you freeze in fear. Directly in front of you is one of the deadliest snakes of the Amazon – the green anaconda. You decide to back away slowly. You’ll take one step back every 4 seconds for 100 seconds. Then you will run. Hopefully this works!
YOUR TASK: On the hundred chart count by 4’s to 100. This will represent the number of steps back you take before you start to run.
Obstacle #3: Survive the night.
It gets dark so early in the rainforest! You will have to spend the night alone and focus on getting back to the research camp tomorrow. As the darkness settles, you hear every little sound around you – monkeys howling, bugs buzzing, leaves crunching. You are terrified! There are nine hours until the sun will rise. You’ll be lucky if you get any sleep tonight.
YOUR TASK: Get through each hour of darkness by getting a letter from the code wheel.
Obstacle #4: Build a shelter.
That was the longest night ever – but you made it! Just when you thought you’d be able to spend the day getting back to the research camp, you see a storm coming in the distance. Rainfall in the jungle is no joke – you’re going to need to build a shelter to keep you dry during the rainstorm that is headed your way.
YOUR TASK: Solve the unknown for each part-part-whole. Then use the code to figure out what you will use to build the shelter.
Obstacle #5: Escape the jaguar.
The rain is over and you begin walking toward where you think the research camp is. As you walk, you recognize some of the surroundings. This is a good sign! You must be close to the research camp! But just then you hear a rustle in the trees ahead and stop dead in your tracks. It’s a jaguar and it is huge! You crouch down and stay completely still, hoping that it won’t see you.
YOUR TASK: To escape the jaguar, put the puzzle together. Then look at the numbers along the top and figure the rule.
Obstacle #6: Unlock the gate.
After waiting a few minutes for the jaguar to get far away from you, you begin the journey back to the camp. Surroundings are looking very familiar and finally you get to the gate! Now you just need to enter the gate code and you’ll be back with your uncle inside the research camp!
YOUR TASK: Order the task cards from least (smallest) to greatest (largest). Then draw the symbols in order to form the gate code.
What Teachers Are Saying
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "I used this at a homeschool cottage school. My third grade class really enjoyed this! I used it over a few weeks, during our Math Games class. They worked in groups of 3 and it was perfect!" Ashley G.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "Thank you! This was excellent! Some challenges were easier than others, it gave a challenge to my strongest students and was not out of reach for those who struggle more. Everyone loved it and the instructions for prep were clear and easy to follow. It all worked properly! A great early in the year activity for grades 3 and 4." Kathryn M.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "I used this in the last 1-2 weeks of school for math. This was a great product for students to do independently, which required them to use skills and knowledge previously taught. I loved how it was self-grading (they couldn't move on until them found the right answer). I appreciated that they were not all multiple choice because those could've been easy to skip through without trying. I wish I would've asked for some time of work to show accountability for all." Kaitlyn T.
