True Crime Activity/Game - Writing Two-Step Equations from Word Problems

What others say

"My students love activities where they can move around the room. The solve the crime activity is interactive and students are engaged the entire time. "

Gabriella A.

"STUDENTS WERE REALLY ENGAGED AND WERE HAVING FUN, ME INCLUDED. I WILL BE USING THIS RESOURCE AGAIN AND WILL BE MARKED AS ONE OF MY FAVORITES."

ROSA M.

Description

Inspired by the classical mystery game “Clue”, True Crime is a fun and engaging activity to sharpen your students’ math skills while solving a murder mystery. Students absolutely love this activity and will beg for more!

How to play: Inspired by the classic mystery game Clue, there are 9 problems and 1 example. On the “Work Page”, students will solve each problem. On the “Tracking Sheet”, students will use their answers to gather clues to eliminate suspects and their last known locations or weapons. The last 3 not eliminated will reveal the killer, the location, and the weapon connected to the crime. There should only be one killer, one location, and one weapon left at the end.

This activity includes two different versions: (1) Clue Cards to post around the room as a gallery walk (2) A worksheet version for stationary work.

Activity also includes:

10 Clue Cards
Tracking Sheet
Work Page
Answer Key for Teacher
Examples for Students
Graphics for a Fun Experience

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True Crime Activity/Game - Writing Two-Step Equations from Word Problems

Name: True Crime Activity/Game - Writing Two-Step Equations from Word Problems
Brand: Making the Most with Moses
SKU: 8686642
Price: 5.00 USD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 3.78 (9 reviews)

Making the Most with Moses

132 Followers

$5.00

Highlights

Digital downloads

PDF

Grades

7th - 12th

Subjects

Algebra, Math, Other (Math)

Standards

CCSS7.EE.A.2

CCSS7.EE.B.3

CCSS7.EE.B.4

What others say

"My students love activities where they can move around the room. The solve the crime activity is interactive and students are engaged the entire time. "

Gabriella A.

"STUDENTS WERE REALLY ENGAGED AND WERE HAVING FUN, ME INCLUDED. I WILL BE USING THIS RESOURCE AGAIN AND WILL BE MARKED AS ONE OF MY FAVORITES."

ROSA M.

Description

This activity includes two different versions: (1) Clue Cards to post around the room as a gallery walk (2) A worksheet version for stationary work.

Activity also includes:

10 Clue Cards
Tracking Sheet
Work Page
Answer Key for Teacher
Examples for Students
Graphics for a Fun Experience

Report this resource to TPT

Reported resources will be reviewed by our team. Report this resource to let us know if this resource violates TPT's content guidelines.

3.8

Rated 3.78 out of 5, based on 9 reviews

9
ratings

Mostly used with 7th grade

Reviews

6th

7th

8th

9th

10th

11th

12th

All verified TPT purchases

Well-crafted activity

Rated 4 out of 5

April 17, 2026

Met expectations

Great value

Standards-aligned

I loved this activity! My one complaint is the example that is done for the students. I wish it was 10 questions they had to solve on their own. It was so fun to figure out who did it, where, and with what object. I made my students write a short story on what happened after.

Virginia Fouche

(TPT Seller)

106 reviews • Georgia

Grades taught: 6th, 7th

Interactive

Rated 5 out of 5

March 8, 2026

Met expectations

Great value

Standards-aligned

My students love activities where they can move around the room. The solve the crime activity is interactive and students are engaged the entire time.

Gabriella Acevedo

(TPT Seller)

199 reviews • New Jersey

Grades taught: 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th

Student populations: Autism, Learning difficulties, Mild to severe disabilities

Needs many revision

Rated 1 out of 5

November 19, 2025

Standards-aligned

This activity has multiple errors that have not been corrected as of November 2025. The example switches the order of the equation from the card to the answer sheet and on Clue #10, there are 2 identical answers. I am very disappointed and DO NOT RECOMMEND this activity.

Jessica M.

1 review • Rhode Island

Grades taught: 7th, 8th

Rated 5 out of 5

March 16, 2025

Great resource! All positive answers so great for 6th graders.

Annetta Z.

1,101 reviews

Grades taught: 6th

Rated 4 out of 5

December 7, 2024

Nice way to make word problems less intimidating and a good activity to introduce writing equations.

Math Struggle Bus

(TPT Seller)

635 reviews

Grades taught: 7th

Rated 1 out of 5

November 21, 2024

This activity has significant errors. This would be a disaster if you did it in a classroom with many children. Luckily, I did this at home with my twins and could find the errors quickly and work it through with them. Clue #5 is incorrect- Dear Author- please read your text and see that none of your equations can match the text because what it actually says is- (2x21) - 5 is Jasmine's age. Clue #10 also seems to have a typo because it doesn't match the rhythm of the activity. For each clue, you only need to find the 1 correct equation and use the clue below it. On Clue #10, there are 2 identical answers. Unfortunately, if a student doesn't realize this they would not be able to solve the mystery. None of the other clues are done this way, which is why I'm assuming it's a typo. With these corrections, this would be a cute activity. Otherwise, I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND.

Laura T.

4 reviews

Grades taught: 7th

Rated 5 out of 5

September 28, 2024

STUDENTS WERE REALLY ENGAGED AND WERE HAVING FUN, ME INCLUDED. I WILL BE USING THIS RESOURCE AGAIN AND WILL BE MARKED AS ONE OF MY FAVORITES.

Idalia D.

124 reviews

Grades taught: 8th

Rated 4 out of 5

April 26, 2024

I used this as an activity for a sub day. Students were able to practice writing equations with enough structure that they didn't find it overly difficult but the problems were challenging enough that they actually had to think them through. It was a good resources because of the directions and key provided and an easy way to keep track of answers.

Celeste W.

28 reviews

Grades taught: 7th

Questions & Answers

Standards

to see state-specific standards (only available in the US).

CCSS7.EE.A.2

Understand that rewriting an expression in different forms in a problem context can shed light on the problem and how the quantities in it are related. For example, 𝘢 + 0.05𝘢 = 1.05𝘢 means that “increase by 5%” is the same as “multiply by 1.05.”

CCSS7.EE.B.3

Solve multi-step real-life and mathematical problems posed with positive and negative rational numbers in any form (whole numbers, fractions, and decimals), using tools strategically. Apply properties of operations to calculate with numbers in any form; convert between forms as appropriate; and assess the reasonableness of answers using mental computation and estimation strategies. For example: If a woman making $25 an hour gets a 10% raise, she will make an additional 1/10 of her salary an hour, or $2.50, for a new salary of $27.50. If you want to place a towel bar 9 3/4 inches long in the center of a door that is 27 1/2 inches wide, you will need to place the bar about 9 inches from each edge; this estimate can be used as a check on the exact computation.

CCSS7.EE.B.4

Use variables to represent quantities in a real-world or mathematical problem, and construct simple equations and inequalities to solve problems by reasoning about the quantities.