Year 7 · KS3 · Maths · Pirate Cove theme

Crack the vault. Claim the treasure.

A differentiated escape room for Year 7 (Grade 6 US) focused on ratios, scaling, and simplification. Pupils work as a pirate crew solving four interconnected puzzles to unlock an ancient treasure vault hidden in a pirate cove.

What’s inside

• 19-slide PowerPoint with themed pirate narrative and puzzle reveals.
• Three differentiated pupil sheets (support / standard / stretch).
• Teacher answer key with common mistakes flagged.
• 3 hint cards to support struggling teams.

Differentiation

• Support — sharing in simple ratios (1:1, 1:3, 2:1) with small whole numbers.
• Standard — sharing and scaling with larger ratios (2:3, 3:4, 5:7) and multi-part divisions.
• Stretch — three-part ratios, GCD simplification, scaled recipe compounds, and ratio comparisons.

All three tiers resolve to the same 4-digit code.

Topic covered

• Sharing quantities in a given ratio (e.g., sharing 24 in the ratio 1:3).
• Scaling recipes and provisions up and down.
• Simplifying ratios to lowest terms.
• Understanding ratios as proportional relationships.

Duration

30–45 minutes — ideal for a full maths lesson or enrichment session.

Format

• Editable .pptx + .docx files.
• UK National Curriculum aligned.
• UK English spelling.

Tags
escape room, ratios, scaling, year 7, maths, pirate theme, print and go, differentiated, proportional reasoning, puzzle, ks3, tes