Nuclear Containment

MMM's Escape Room

You and your group have been invited to go on a field trip to tour a nuclear power plant.  In the course of your visit to the plant, you are allowed to visit the control room. While you are being shown around, Dr. Riemann orders everyone out. But you are told to stay. The only ones left in the room are you, Dr. Riemann, and his cat Fanucci. Dr. Riemann has decided to flood the area with deadly radiation in protest of our nation's energy policy. He states that the authorities have roughly 2 hours to change its policy or he will let loose the radiation. He wants you there as a witness. The radiation release has already been set in motion. Only a special code input to a computer will stop a calamity.

You try and reason with him, but he will not hear of it. He says that there is only one way of stopping it - by solving clues that he has left in the room.  You are given a first clue. That clue leads to another clue. There are 16 clues in all. Once you complete all the clues, you will put them together to create a special code that is fed into into a computer (A, B, C, D and maybe E). The instructions on how to construct the code is on a slip of paper hidden somewhere in the room.

At that point, he leaves the room to escape to a Caribbean Island and locks you in.

Nuclear Containment, MasterMathMentor's Escape room, is a clever tool to have students test themselves on important concepts in many areas of mathematics while trying to save the world from nuclear contamination. The clues are a set of 5 (sometimes 6) multiple-choice math problems. Students must solve all of the problems to get the next clue. Once all the clues have been found and solved, students must use their ingenuity to put them together and determine the special code to stop the destruction.

Nuclear Containment is available for AP^® Calculus (both AB and BC), AP^® Statistics,  SAT^®/ACT^® exams, and Precalculus.

It is completely free to anyone.  In this age of COVID-19, I feel very strongly that I should do as much as possible to help teachers and students. So there is no cost to download the game.  It merely requires having a version of Microsoft Excel on your computer.  Or you can play the game using Google Sheets. If you have a Google account (you use Gmail), you do not need Excel.

There is a purchased edition explained below, but students can play the game in its entirety, knowing whether they got problems right and wrong completely for free.

When you download the Excel file, the Escape Room is explained and the first clue given. Once the 5 or 6 problems are solved, students input their answers (A,B,C,D or in the case of AP Statistics, A,B,C,D,E) and if correct, a link for the next clue comes up. Once all 16 clues have been solved, students have to figure out how to use them to construct the special code that will be input using a picture of the control room.

Teachers are free to either give the students this website or download the Excel or Google  file themselves and email it to the students.

The clues are in the order of the way material is usually taught in class. For instance, in AB Calculus, the first clue deals with problems in limits. The second clue deals with problems in taking derivatives.  And so on.  This is true for all of the versions except the SAT^®/ACT^® version. Since that is not based on a course, problems are more intermingled although care is taken to focus on a specific skill based on the topic.

Teachers can put students in groups to work out the problems. A time recommendation is given for each clue so students can get an idea of whether it is taking them too long to solve the problems.

Purchased Editions:

Teachers can also purchase Nuclear Containment. The purchased edition gives teachers the solutions (not just the answers), completely worked out, to all problems.  It also provides a scrambled version so that teachers can give the clues at the end of a semester or school year to provide a review.  The table below describes the content of the scrambled version.  For instance, in AB Calculus, the first 8 clues are all derivative-based in no particular order.

Teachers purchasing the game also get the set of all clues so they could use each as a standalone quiz if they want.  There is also an information sheet that explains how to use Nuclear Containment in a classroom setting.

Free downloads: 

Nuclear Containment uses just one file, a spreadsheet.  You can optain this spreadsheet free of charge in using Excel format or Google Sheets.  The spreadsheet has a Cover sheet and an Input sheet. The Cover sheet page introduces the game and explains how to play it.  The Input sheet contains a link to the first clue, a set of 5 or 6 problems which will open in PDF format. From there, new clues can only be obtained by solving all the problems on the subsequent clue.  It is important that you understand how to get clues and the Cover sheet will explain it.

Excel:

Below are the links to the game. It consists of simply one Excel file. Once it opens, it is suggested that you rename the file and place it somewhere on your computer where you can find it.   (Depending on your browser settings, your Excel file will be placed in a folder, usually a download folder).  Every time you play the game, you will open that file and be sure to always save it.

Google:

Below are the links to the game. It consists of one Google Sheets file. Once you click on the link, you will be asked whether you would like to download a copy of the appropriate spreadsheet. Answer yes and a copy of the spreadsheet will be placed on your Google Drive.

As you start to solve clues and enter solutions, the file is automatically saved. To access the file at any time, open Google and go to Apps. Select Drive and your file should show up. Just click on it and the last saved version will open.  If you want to re-open a clean version of the spreadsheet, click on the link below again.

PURCHASE OPTIONS

AP^® Calculus Nuclear Containment Solutions

Other Versions Nuclear Containment Solutions

All Versions Nuclear Containment Solutions

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