The Great Volume Heist
The lab is in a total splash! Someone snuck into the high-security vault and drained the primary reservoir of its glowing blue serum. The security alarms failed, but the culprit left behind a trail of spilled drops, empty graduated cylinders, and cubic unit blocks. As lead detective, you must use your volume math skills to measure the clues and find the thief before the serum evaporates!
Possible suspects
Cross off a row as each clue rules it out. On screen, tap a row.
| Name | Measurement Method | Liquid Ability | Handedness | Safety Headgear | Lab Tool Vulnerability |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archimedes | Unit Converting | Condensing | Uses right handed pipette | Clear swim cap | Mega drain |
| Daniel Bernoulli | Beaker Balancing | Freezing | Uses left handed pipette | Clear swim cap | Mega drain |
| Thomas Edison | Displacement Calculation | Evaporating | Uses left handed pipette | Clear swim cap | Empty beaker |
| Michael Faraday | Displacement Calculation | Condensing | Uses left handed pipette | Yellow splash visor | Empty beaker |
| John Dalton | Cubic Stacking | Gellifying | Uses left handed pipette | Clear swim cap | Mega drain |
| Louis Pasteur | Displacement Calculation | Siphoning | Uses left handed pipette | Blue safety goggles | Empty beaker |
| Albert Einstein | Unit Converting | Evaporating | Uses left handed pipette | Blue safety goggles | Spilled sponge |
| Charles Boyle | Beaker Balancing | Gellifying | Uses left handed pipette | Clear swim cap | Mega drain |
| Antoine Lavoisier | Beaker Balancing | Condensing | Uses left handed pipette | Clear swim cap | Spilled sponge |
| Jacques Charles | Unit Converting | Condensing | Uses left handed pipette | Blue safety goggles | Mega drain |
| Marie Curie | Beaker Balancing | Evaporating | Uses left handed pipette | Yellow splash visor | Mega drain |
| Gregor Mendel | Cylinder Calibrating | Evaporating | Uses right handed pipette | Clear swim cap | Mega drain |
| Isaac Newton | Cubic Stacking | Condensing | Uses right handed pipette | Blue safety goggles | Empty beaker |
| Robert Boyle | Cubic Stacking | Evaporating | Uses left handed pipette | Clear swim cap | Spilled sponge |
| Alan Turing | Unit Converting | Condensing | Uses left handed pipette | Clear swim cap | Mega drain |
| Nikola Tesla | Cubic Stacking | Gellifying | Uses right handed pipette | Yellow splash visor | Spilled sponge |
| Jane Goodall | Displacement Calculation | Siphoning | Uses right handed pipette | Clear swim cap | Empty beaker |
| Galileo Galilei | Beaker Balancing | Evaporating | Uses right handed pipette | Clear swim cap | Mega drain |
| Lord Kelvin | Cubic Stacking | Gellifying | Uses left handed pipette | Yellow splash visor | Spilled sponge |
| Joseph Gay-Lussac | Beaker Balancing | Condensing | Uses left handed pipette | Clear swim cap | Empty beaker |
| Evangelista Torricelli | Cubic Stacking | Siphoning | Uses left handed pipette | Clear swim cap | Mega drain |
Fractions of a number
The lab team had forty graduated cylinders on the rack, but the thief knocked over a fraction of them. We counted the broken ones to narrow down the suspect list.
Solve each problem to learn its letter. Then write that letter in every box that shows the same number, and read the secret clue.
Order of operations
To find the mystery volume of the storage tank, we must solve a formula with parentheses, multiplication, and addition. Calculating this correctly reveals a key clue about the thief.
Solve each problem to learn its letter. Then write that letter in every box that shows the same number, and read the secret clue.
Multiplication facts (1-12)
The thief escaped by climbing a wall of cubic storage boxes. By multiplying the rows, columns, and height of the boxes, we figured out how high they climbed.
Solve each problem to learn its letter. Then write that letter in every box that shows the same number, and read the secret clue.
Rounding
An eye-witness saw the thief spill a beaker, but the exact volume measurement on the scale was blurry. We had to round it to the nearest liter to understand the clue.
Solve each problem to learn its letter. Then write that letter in every box that shows the same number, and read the secret clue.
Division facts (1-12) — the last clue
We recovered a stolen container of formula and had to divide it equally among our five small test tubes. The shared volume amount told us the final identity clue.
First solve each problem. Then find each answer in the list below and cross that sentence out. One sentence will be left — that's exactly what the villain did!
Name the culprit
Choose the one suspect left standing.
Answer Key — The Great Volume Heist
- Clue 1 (Fractions of a number): "THE VILLAIN DOES NOT USE SIPHONING"2/6 of 15 = 5 (T) · 2/4 of 52 = 26 (D) · 1/6 of 96 = 16 (H) · 1/4 of 124 = 31 (A) · 1/4 of 68 = 17 (G) · 4/6 of 51 = 34 (V) · 2/4 of 12 = 6 (S) · 5/10 of 26 = 13 (N) · 1/5 of 200 = 40 (P) · 1/6 of 72 = 12 (L) · 1/3 of 21 = 7 (U) · 4/6 of 12 = 8 (E) · 3/6 of 70 = 35 (O) · 1/8 of 152 = 19 (I)
- Clue 2 (Order of operations): "LEFT HANDED PIPETTE PRINTS WERE FOUND AT THE LAB"24 + 3 × 9 = 51 (L) · 10 × 5 - 25 = 25 (R) · 17 + 9 × 7 = 80 (F) · 2 + 4 × 2 = 10 (A) · 2 + 2 × 3 = 8 (E) · 3 × 6 - 1 = 17 (B) · 12 + 2 × 6 = 24 (H) · 8 × 10 - 24 = 56 (N) · 40 + 5 × 4 = 60 (U) · 62 + 4 × 2 = 70 (T) · 4 + 3 × 4 = 16 (W) · 10 × 7 - 2 = 68 (O) · 10 × 3 - 11 = 19 (S) · 10 × 5 - 16 = 34 (P) · 7 × 12 - 19 = 65 (D) · 24 + 7 × 3 = 45 (I)
- Clue 3 (Multiplication facts (1-12)): "THE VILLAIN WAS SUCKED DOWN A MEGA DRAIN"9 × 5 = 45 (T) · 11 × 3 = 33 (H) · 10 × 10 = 100 (W) · 9 × 9 = 81 (S) · 12 × 12 = 144 (O) · 8 × 3 = 24 (C) · 10 × 5 = 50 (M) · 7 × 1 = 7 (L) · 12 × 1 = 12 (R) · 9 × 12 = 108 (E) · 11 × 10 = 110 (I) · 11 × 9 = 99 (A) · 11 × 1 = 11 (D) · 10 × 1 = 10 (U) · 7 × 3 = 21 (V) · 7 × 12 = 84 (K) · 8 × 6 = 48 (G) · 11 × 8 = 88 (N)
- Clue 4 (Rounding): "A CLEAR SWIM CAP WAS FOUND IN THE SPECIMEN"Round 4,333 to the nearest hundred = 4300 (A) · Round 526 to the nearest hundred = 500 (I) · Round 8,511 to the nearest thousand = 9000 (N) · Round 287 to the nearest ten = 290 (P) · Round 2,310 to the nearest hundred = 2300 (E) · Round 129 to the nearest ten = 130 (H) · Round 889 to the nearest hundred = 900 (D) · Round 33 to the nearest ten = 30 (F) · Round 368 to the nearest ten = 370 (U) · Round 2,510 to the nearest thousand = 3000 (L) · Round 168 to the nearest ten = 170 (R) · Round 17 to the nearest ten = 20 (W) · Round 212 to the nearest hundred = 200 (O) · Round 94 to the nearest ten = 90 (M) · Round 664 to the nearest hundred = 700 (S) · Round 49 to the nearest ten = 50 (T) · Round 1,728 to the nearest hundred = 1700 (C)
- Clue 5 (Division facts (1-12)): surviving statement (box 10) → Daniel Bernoulli27 ÷ 3 = 9 · 24 ÷ 3 = 8 · 4 ÷ 2 = 2 · 32 ÷ 8 = 4 · 36 ÷ 6 = 6 · 15 ÷ 5 = 3 · 84 ÷ 12 = 7 · 40 ÷ 8 = 5 · 5 ÷ 5 = 1 · 144 ÷ 12 = 12 · 88 ÷ 8 = 11
About this mystery
- Grade level
- Grade 5 math
- Math topics
- Fractions of a number, Order of operations, Multiplication, Rounding, Division
- Reading level
- grades 5-6
- Theme
- The Great Volume Heist — set in The Liquid Dynamics Lab
- Format
- Interactive online & printable worksheet with answer key
- Solution
- One unique, verified culprit among 21 suspects