How I Teach Moles and Reaction Stoichiometry Using an Escape Room

If there’s one unit that can drain the energy from even the most enthusiastic chemistry class, it’s moles and stoichiometry. The skills are essential, but students often get bogged down in conversions, coefficients, and formulas.

That’s why I turned this tricky topic into a chemistry escape room activity. Instead of groans, I get laughter, collaboration, and the kind of engagement that makes even mole conversions fun.

In this post, I’ll walk you through how I use a stoichiometry escape room in my high school classroom, what topics it covers, and how the puzzles grow in difficulty so students practice every step of the process.

Why Chemistry Escape Rooms Work

I’ve always loved game-based learning because it lowers resistance to content that can feel intimidating. Escape rooms in particular bring together three things that make chemistry click:

• Storytelling – the content is wrapped in a narrative where every problem matters.

• Urgency – there’s a sense of racing the clock and unlocking the next chamber ( if you choose to have your escape room timed)

• Collaboration – students lean on each other to solve the puzzles and the problems, which makes the chemistry less intimidating.

  
  

It transforms “calculate the moles of oxygen” into “unlock the Guardian’s gate before the temple seals forever.” Same skills — different energy.

Stoichiometry Escape Room Overview

I use an escape room called The Temple of the Golden Mole. The storyline transforms mole calculations and stoichiometry practice into an immersive classroom adventure.

Students play the role of explorers trapped inside an ancient temple. To escape, they must solve five progressively harder puzzles. Each puzzle is self-contained but builds on the previous one.

Topics Covered in the Escape Room

1. Periodic Table Warm-Up – riddles about elements where the unlock code is their atomic numbers.

2. Mole Conversions – enchanted rocks in different units (mass, volume, particles) that all have to be converted to moles.

3. Balancing Equations – restoring balance to “ancient inscriptions” that turn out to be chemical reactions.

4. Stoichiometry Problems – jigsaw fragments reveal mole → mass and mass → mass problems.

5. Cipher Challenge – solving final review problems gives cipher keys to decode a hieroglyphic message.

   
   

By the end, students have practiced every skill, from basic mole conversions to multi-step stoichiometry, without ever feeling like they’re stuck in a drill worksheet.

What’s Inside the Temple of the Golden Mole

Here’s a teacher ’ s-eye view of how it works:

Puzzle 1: The Trial of the Guardians (Warm-Up)

What it reinforces: basic periodic table familiarity and element recognition.

Six guardians provide riddles to their identities. Students must use their knowledge of the periodic table to determine the atomic numbers. This is a quick confidence-building activity that gets students comfortable with the format of the puzzles.

Puzzle 2: The Scale of the Guardians (Mole Conversions)

What it reinforces: unit conversions into moles + comparison reasoning.

Students are given “enchanted rocks” with different quantities in all kinds of units — grams, liters, particles — but the temple’s scale only weighs moles. They have to convert everything into moles, pair equal amounts, and then do something clever with it to find the unlock code to move on to the next puzzle.

This is very similar to my Balancing Moles activity in my TPT store. You can learn more about my Moles Conversion Calculations Games, and puzzles HERE.

Puzzle 3: The Scroll of Flames (Balancing Equations)

What it reinforces: balancing simple to complex reactions.

An ancient scroll is cracked, and the inscriptions (equations) are broken. Students restore balance by adding the correct coefficients. The order of coefficients unlocks the chamber.

A simple balancing equation worksheet to get students prepped for the stoichiometry problems in the last two puzzles.

Puzzle 4: The Broken Tablet of Trials (Stoichiometry)

What it reinforces: core stoichiometry problem solving

Students reconstruct a shredded scroll to reveal stoichiometry word problems. Each problem involves mole → mole; mole → mass or mass → mass conversions. Their answers give them the numbers for the code.

Puzzle 5: The Chamber of Hidden Glyphs (Cipher)

What it reinforces: review of all mole and stoichiometry skills in one place.

The final puzzle involves reaction stoichiometry as well as mole conversion problems as a sort of final review. Each answer, rounded to the nearest whole number, reveals the key to a provided cipher, which will enable students to unlock the final coded message written in hieroglyphs.

How I Use It

There are two main ways I run this activity:

• Adventure Day (1–2 periods): Students work in teams to complete all five puzzles in a single sitting. Great for review before a test.

• Puzzle by Puzzle: Spread across the unit, using one puzzle a day. Each puzzle ties neatly into the lesson I just taught, so it doubles as practice and reinforcement.

  
  

Both work beautifully. I’ve found that spreading it out makes the story more suspenseful, while running it all at once builds a shared “we did it!” class moment.

Differentiation Ideas for Stoichiometry Review

• With or without instructions: I sometimes give students only the riddles and withhold the step-by-step directions. Stronger groups love the challenge, while weaker groups need the scaffolding.

• Collaboration flexibility: Groups of 2–4 usually work best, but I’ve also let ambitious students try it solo.

• Time adjustments: Advanced groups can race the clock, while others just work steadily until they’ve cracked the codes.

  
  

Final Thoughts

Moles and stoichiometry will probably never be “easy,” but wrapping them in a chemistry escape room review game changes the energy completely. Instead of slogging through conversions, students are cracking codes, unlocking gates, and racing to escape the temple.

And the best part? They’re practicing exactly the skills I need them to master—mole conversions, stoichiometry, balancing—without even realizing how much math they’re doing.

Want to try this in your own classroom? Check out The Temple of the Golden Mole Escape Room on TPT and bring the adventure to your students.