Mrs J’s Resource Creations ©

Mrs J’s Resource Creations ©

Thank you for your purchase. I sincerely hope both

you and your students enjoy this product. Your
feedback would be appreciated so that I can make
my resources better. Please do not hesitate to
contact me if you need me to make any adjustments
to this resource for you.

Follow my store to stay updated on more FREEBIES

and new products @ Mrs J’s Resource Creations

Terms of Use
• All pages of this packet are copyrighted. You may
not create anything to sell or share based on this
packet.
• This packet is for one teacher use only. Do not
share with colleagues. If they like the packet
please send them to my TPT store. TPT is about
teachers supporting teachers 
• You are permitted to share the cover image of this
packet on your blog or via social media as long as
you link back to my store on TPT showcasing the
product or link to the product. My store link is
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Mrs-
Js-Resource-Creations

Thank you so much for your download. I truly

appreciate your business. 
Mrs J’s Resource Creations 2
 Mrs J’s Resource Creations ©

PREPARATION
Print and copy pages 4-11 for your students. You can do either of the following:
• Combine the pages to form a booklet for each student to work on; OR
• Hand out worksheets as you want students to work on them – please note that if you
choose this option, students will always need the ‘Possible Locations ’ page handy.
• If it is a difficult skill or something not yet done with your students, demonstration and a
lesson before completing that clue is recommended.
• You could get students to work independently, or in pairs/groups.
IMPORTANT: The clues must be completed in the order I have arranged them in i.e. 1-5!

HOW TO USE
Read through the article on page 4 ‘Math Mystery: Case of the School Invaders’ to set up
the activity and engage students.

Instruct students that they will need to keep referring back to their Possible Locations list
after solving each clue.

Students work through each clue, either guided by the teacher or independently (your
choice). After completing a math worksheet, if students completed the questions
correctly, a clue will be revealed about where the aliens’ transponder is located. For
example: ‘It is not near any books or food.’ So, in this example, students can conclude that
any location left on the list that has either books or food must be crossed off (or only places
remaining on the list with trees must be kept on the list).

Once students have correctly completed all of the clues, only one location will remain and
that location is where the school invaders’ transponder is. On page 11, the teacher ticks
off the ‘Well done . . . ‘ box and the student can receive an Award (provided on page 18)
if they declare the correct location. If a student gets the wrong location, tick the second
box “Oops! Try again,“ and instruct the student to go over their work to see where they
went wrong.

ANSWERS
I have provided answer sheets for all of the clues, as well as where the transponder is
located. You will find these on pages 12-17. This includes the elimination process of
locations post each clue.

AWARDS
On page 18 you will find awards that you can print and give to students who solve the
case correctly. I suggest making it a rule that students complete all of the questions on
each worksheet to be eligible for the award (even if they can guess what the clue is
without finishing all of the math questions!). You could also make it a condition that
students show their working out on the back of the page or on a separate piece of paper
if applicable.
If you need help, have any questions, or notice an error in my work please email
me on JJResourceCreations@gmail.com
 Mrs J’s Resource Creations ©

MATH MYSTERY:
CASE of the SCHOOL INVADERS
September 5 2041
The students of Mathhattan Elementary recently returned to school from the
holidays to find that their school environment has been invaded by slimy aliens
from the planet Geometron! These school invaders are making students feel
squished and miserable as they continue to use their desks, seats, and playground
to camp in.

Katrina, a student of Mathhattan Elementary, cried, “There is alien slime

everywhere! It’s so gross! My classroom stinks like smelly cheese, and one of the
aliens is using my desk as a bed!”

Another student, named William, complained, “ I was really excited to come back
to school. But, sharing our classrooms with these aliens is making it hard to enjoy
learning, especially when my seat is all sticky and my lunch gets eaten by them!”

Mayor Patrick spoke with the leader of the aliens earlier this morning. He
attempted to persuade the aliens to vacate the school and return to their planet,
however Patrick was asked to deliver something very important to the invaders as a
condition to give the school completely back to the students of Mathhattan
Elementary.

Post discussion, the Mayor released the following statement, “The reason why the
aliens have invaded the school is because they are simply stuck there. They crash
landed nearby and lost their transponder, which was their only communication
device to the mothership. The leader is very angry with the alien responsible for
losing it, but that doesn’t help the situation. He has requested that we help them
find this transponder device, then they will be able to contact the mothership to
pick them up and return to their home planet.”

The police have begun their search, but since Mathhattan is so large, they are
struggling to locate where this transponder could be. The longer it takes them to
find this device, the slimier and smellier the school is getting. The students are
already beginning to wear gas masks!

MATH DETECTIVE NEEDED TO HELP FIND THE SCHOOL INVADERS’

TRANSPONDER!!!

The police have made a list of all the possible locations that the transponder
could be found, however they need a super detective with math skills to quickly
solve where the device is located. Help solve this mystery before the students
start to stick to the classroom floor!
Name: _______________________ Mrs J’s Resource Creations ©

Possible LOCATIONS
Main type of In or Out of Indoors/ Positional Close/Far from
Location object in area The School Crash Site
Outdoors Direction
Grounds

The Principal’s Books In Indoors North Close

Office
The Playground Trees In Outdoors East Close

The Library Books Out Indoors West Close

Crystal Lake Trees Out Outdoors South Close

The Cheese Food Out Indoors North Far

Factory
The School Food In Indoors East Close
Canteen
Harry’s Bookstore Books Out Indoors South Far

The Wizard’s Books Out Indoors North Close

Tower
Pepe’s Pizzeria Food Out Indoors South Far

The Whispering Trees Out Outdoors West Close

Woods
Mathhattan’s Food Out Indoors South Far
Retro Theme
Cafe
The Teachers’ Books In Indoors North Close
Lounge
Vikki’s Vegetable Food Out Outdoors North Close
Garden
Dr Morton’s Study Books Out Indoors West Close

The Fraction Trees Out Outdoors East Close

Garden
The Fruit Market Food Out Outdoors South Close

Solve the clues and then cross the location off the list until one remains! The last
location remaining is where the school invaders’ transponder can be found!
Name: _______________________ Mrs J’s Resource Creations ©

ROUNDING – CLUE 1
Crack the code by rounding the numbers below as instructed. Use your answers to
match and place the letters in the boxes to reveal the clue. Put the letter in
every box that it matches your answer in (there may be more than one!) The first
one has been done for you!

400 90 100 200 100 20 570 300 100

O O
570 350 300 500 330 350 100 400 330

400 90 100 300 60 600 350 90

350 570 400 100

Round the numbers below to the nearest ten.

334 = _______
330 56 = _______ 572 = _______
O R I

88 = _______ 345 = _______ 23 = _______

H S V

Round the numbers below to the nearest hundred.

110 = _______ 362 = _______ 550 = _______

E T A

195 = _______ 476 = _______ 329 = _______

D L C
Name: _______________________ Mrs J’s Resource Creations ©

PLACE VALUE - CLUE 2

Crack the code by writing the value of the underlined digit in each question. Use
your answers to match and place the letters in the boxes to reveal a clue. Put
the letter in every box that it matches your answer in (there may be more than
one!) The first one has been done for you.

Write the value of the underlined digit.

420 - ________
400 R 1,305 - _________ A 2,484 - _________ T

5,566 - _________ P 731 - _________ C 8,908 - _________ O

1,726 - _________ H 6,511 - _________ N 3,057 - _________ S

9,244 - _________ I 2,263 - _________ L

514 - _________ D 350 - _________ E

2,000 20 50

R R
2,000 400 300 1 3,000 6 900 1 4 50 400

9,000 3,000 1 900 2,000 9,000 1 2,000 20 50

3,000 30 20 900 900 60

Name: _______________________ Mrs J’s Resource Creations ©

MULTIPLICATION – CLUE 3
Reveal a special message about the space invaders’ transponder by completing
the multiplication questions below. Use your answers to match and place the
letters in the boxes to reveal the clue. Put the letter in every box that it
matches your answer in (there may be more than one!) The first one has been
done for you!

60 42 60 28 44 35 42

D
90 60 44 6 40 36 60 40 36 35

28 84 90 40 44 40 12 36 35 42

35 72 9 28 84 15 44 42 25

D
84 88 40 90 44 6 35

6
3 X 2 = _______ 5 X 3 = _______ 4 X 7 = _______ 6 X 2 = _______
D R L W

8 X 5 = _______ 10 X 6 = _______ 3 X 3 = _______ 7 X 5 = _______

T A P E

4 X 11 = _______ 6 X 7 = _______ 9 X 10 = _______ 12 X 6 = _______

I N S X

5 X 5 = _______ 8 X 11 = _______ 4 X 9 = _______ 7 X 12 = _______

G U H O
Name: _______________________ Mrs J’s Resource Creations ©

ADDITION - CLUE 4
Discover another clue by correctly completing the addition algorithms below.
Locate your answer at the bottom and see what letter it matches to write in the
box. The first one has been done for you!

240 411 55 209 244 525 300

+ 52 + 65 + 301 + 480 + 532 + 355 + 394
292 ____
____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____
I

514 786 39 174 614 771 491

+ 85 + 93 + 104 + 567 + 255 + 209 + 211
____ ____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____

165 879 473 816 482 327 540

+ 555 + 49 + 205 + 173 + 78 + 381 + 136
_____ ____ _____ _____ ____ _____ _____

614 370 914 463

+ 291 + 255 + 34 + 196
_____ _____ ____ _____

The answers are jumbled up below with a letter to help crack the code!
292 = I 625 = O 989 = K 948 = O
879 = E 476 = T 980 = N
708 = O 356 = I 702 = Y 905 = F
869 = A 928 = O 678 = O 599 = N
659 = D 880 = O 741 = R 720 = B
776 = N 676 = R 560 = S
689 = S 143 = A 694 = T
Name: _______________________ Mrs J’s Resource Creations ©

IDENTIFY SHAPES – CLUE 5

Crack the code by matching the shape names to the correct 2-D or 3-D shape. Use
the letter paired with each shape name to place inside the shape. There may be
more than one of the same shape! That means put the same letter inside. The
first one has been done for you!

H
Square

H
Square

Square = H Triangle = I Pentagon = D

Rectangle = N Circle = A Hexagon = T

Cylinder = V Cube = S Octagon = C

Heptagon = E
 Mrs J’s Resource Creations ©

SOLVE THE MYSTERY:

WHERE IS THE SCHOOL INVADERS’
TRANSPONDER LOCATED?

Detective
_____________________________________
(your name)

Has discovered that the school invaders’

transponder is located at:

_____________________________________________

Clues Checklist: Teacher to check and

tick
Clue 1 Well done you have
found the transponder
Clue 2 and helped the school
get rid of the slimy and
Clue 3 smelly invaders!

Clue 4 Oops! No that is not

where the transponder
Clue 5 is. Go over, check your
clues and try again.
Name: _______________________ Mrs J’s Resource Creations ©

ANSWER SHEET – CLUE 1

Crack the code by rounding the numbers below as instructed in the section (First
box is to the nearest ten and the second box is to the nearest hundred). Use your
answers to match and place the letters in the boxes to reveal the clue. Put the
letter in every box that it matches your answer in (there may be more than one!)
The first one has been done for you!

T H E D E V I C E
400 90 100 200 100 20 570 300 100

I S C L O S E T O
570 350 300 500 330 350 100 400 330

T H E C R A S H
400 90 100 300 60 600 350 90

S I T E All places marked as ‘far’ from the

350 570 400 100 crash site must be crossed off the list.

Round the numbers below to the nearest ten.

334 = _______
330 56 = _______
60 572 = _______
570
O R I

90
88 = _______ 350
345 = _______ 20
23 = _______
H S V

Round the numbers below to the nearest hundred.

100
110 = _______ 400
362 = _______ 600
550 = _______
E T A

200
195 = _______ 500
476 = _______ 300
329 = _______
D L C
Name: _______________________ Mrs J’s Resource Creations ©

ANSWER SHEET CLUE 2

Crack the code by writing the value of the underlined digit in each question. Use
your answers to match and place the letters in the boxes to reveal a clue. Put
the letter in every box that it matches your answer in (there may be more than
one!) The first one has been done for you.

Write the value of the underlined digit.

420 - ________
400 R 300
1,305 - _________ A 2,000
2,484 - _________ T

6
5,566 - _________ P 731 - _________
30 C 900
8,908 - _________ O

20
1,726 - _________ H 1
6,511 - _________ N 3,000
3,057 - _________ S

9,000
9,244 - _________ I 60
2,263 - _________ L

4
514 - _________ D 50
350 - _________ E
All places located in
the school must be
T H E crossed of the list.
2,000 20 50

T R A N S P O N D E R
2,000 400 300 1 3,000 6 900 1 4 50 400

I S N O T I N T H E
9,000 3,000 1 900 2,000 9,000 1 2,000 20 50

S C H O O L
3,000 30 20 900 900 60
Name: _______________________ Mrs J’s Resource Creations ©

ANSWER SHEET – CLUE 3

Reveal a special message about the space invaders’ transponder by completing
the multiplication questions below. Use your answers to match and place the
letters in the boxes to reveal the clue. Put the letter in every box that it
matches your answer in (there may be more than one!) The first one has been
done for you!

A N A L I E N
60 42 60 28 44 35 42

S A I D T H A T H E
90 60 44 6 40 36 60 40 36 35

L O S T I T W H E N
28 84 90 40 44 40 12 36 35 42

E X P L O R I N G
35 72 9 28 84 15 44 42 25
All places that are
O U T S I D E indoors need to be
84 88 40 90 44 6 35 crossed off the list.

6
3 X 2 = _______ 15
5 X 3 = _______ 28
4 X 7 = _______ 12
6 X 2 = _______
D R L W

40
8 X 5 = _______ 60
10 X 6 = _______ 9
3 X 3 = _______ 35
7 X 5 = _______
T A P E

44
4 X 11 = _______ 42
6 X 7 = _______ 90
9 X 10 = _______ 72
12 X 6 = _______
I N S X

25
5 X 5 = _______ 88
8 X 11 = _______ 36
4 X 9 = _______ 84
7 X 12 = _______

G U H O
Name: _______________________ Mrs J’s Resource Creations ©

ANSWER SHEET CLUE 4

Discover another clue by correctly completing the addition algorithms below.
Locate your answer at the bottom and see what letter it matches to write in the
box. The first one has been done for you!

240 411 55 209 244 525 300

+ 52 + 65 + 301 + 480 + 532 + 355 + 394
292 ____
____ 476 _____ 689
356 _____ 776 _____
_____ 694
880 _____
I T I S N O T

514 786 39 174 614 771 491

+ 85 + 93 + 104 + 567 + 255 + 209 + 211
599
____ 879
____ 143
_____ 741
_____ 980 _____
869 _____
_____ 702
N E A R A N Y

165 879 473 816 482 327 540

+ 555 + 49 + 205 + 173 + 78 + 381 + 136
720 ____
_____ 678 _____
928 _____ 560
989 ____ 708 _____
_____ 676
B O O K S O R

614 370 914 463

+ 291 + 255 + 34 + 196
_____ 625 ____
905 _____ 948 659
_____
F O O D
The answers are jumbled up below with a letter to help crack the code!
292 = I 625 = O 989 = K 948 = O Cross off any remaining
879 = E 476 = T 980 = N places that have either
708 = O 356 = I 702 = Y 905 = F books or food as the
869 = A 928 = O 678 = O 599 = N main item found at that
659 = D 880 = O 741 = R 720 = B location.
776 = N 676 = R 560 = S
689 = S 143 = A 694 = T
Name: _______________________ Mrs J’s Resource Creations ©

ANSWER SHEET – CLUE 5

Crack the code by matching the shape names to the correct 2-D or 3-D shape. Use
the letter paired with each shape name to place inside the shape. There may be
more than one of the same shape! That means put the same letter inside. The
first one has been done for you!
Keep any place
remaining located in
the east and cross out
T H E the rest.
Square This should leave the
answer to the mystery
only.

D E V I C E

I S I N

T H E E A S T
Square

Square = H Triangle = I Pentagon = D

Rectangle = N Circle = A Hexagon = T

Cylinder = V Cube = S Octagon = C

Heptagon = E
Name: _______________________ Mrs J’s Resource Creations ©

elimination OF LOCATIONS
Main type of In or Out of Indoors/ Positional Close/Far from
Location object in area The School Crash Site
Outdoors Direction
Grounds

The Principal’s Books In Indoors North Close

Office
The Playground Trees In Outdoors East Close

The Library Books Out Indoors West Close

Crystal Lake Trees Out Outdoors South Close

The Cheese Food Out Indoors North Far

Factory
The School Food In Indoors East Close
Canteen
Harry’s Bookstore Books Out Indoors South Far

The Wizard’s Books Out Indoors North Close

Tower
Pepe’s Pizzeria Food Out Indoors South Far

The Whispering Trees Out Outdoors West Close

Woods
Mathhattan’s Food Out Indoors South Far
Retro Theme
Cafe
The Teachers’ Books In Indoors North Close
Lounge
Vikki’s Vegetable Food Out Outdoors North Close
Garden
Dr Morton’s Study Books Out Indoors West Close

The Fraction Trees Out Outdoors East Close

Garden
The Fruit Market Food Out Outdoors South Close

On the answer sheets you will find a comment about where needs to be crossed off. Please refer to the
color of the font and the color of the shaded places to show where has been crossed off from that clue.
LOCATION ANSWER: THE FRACTION GARDEN
 Mrs J’s Resource Creations ©

Awarded To:
____________________________
For solving the Math Mystery:
Case of The School Invaders

Awarded To:
____________________________
For solving the Math Mystery:
Case of The School Invaders
Vector Open Stock.com

CLOUDY ARTS
Fonts by The
Learning Tree
Vladimir Zuñiga
Foca.tk
CLIPART Lord -
http://www.clipar
tlord.com/