Middle School Math Review CSI Math Mystery Worksheets | Grades 6–8 | The Drone Heist

Five evidence pages spiral back through last year's math — one skill per page — so students revisit two-step equations, integer operations, composite area, the coordinate plane and the Pythagorean theorem while they work out who flew the media club's drone away. Because each page is a different skill and every page is self-checking, one activity tells you where the gaps are without a single test being handed out. No prep — just print and go.

Quick Details

Skill: Middle school review — two-step equations, adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing integers, area of composite figures, plotting in four quadrants, the Pythagorean theorem · Grades: 6–8 · Format: One full case, 5 clue pages + complete answer keys (printable PDF, color and black-and-white) · Theme: The Drone Heist

The Case

At 1:52 on Friday afternoon, thirty seconds into the assembly flyover, the media club's camera drone stopped answering the controller. It did not crash — nothing came down, the field was searched twice, and the drone is still transmitting, but the GPS pings plot a route no drone could possibly fly. Fifteen students signed the equipment register that afternoon, and only one of them is feeding the tracker false positions.

The 5 Clues

Clue One — The Coded Message — Students solve each two-step equation for x, then use the key to decode the clue.

Clue Two — Navy or Grey Jacket? — Integer addition and subtraction answers are already filled in; students tick only the correct ones and the bigger tally names the jacket.

Clue Three — Media Pass or Sports Pass? — Students find the area of each L-shaped room in feet, locate that area on the strip at the foot of the page, and write the room's letter above it.

Clue Four — The GPS Pings — Each ping gives an x and a y value to work out with integer multiplication and division; students plot all ten points in the four quadrants and join them in order to trace a letter.

Clue Five — The Hypotenuse Maze — Students apply the Pythagorean theorem to each drawn right triangle, color the path with that answer, and follow it to the next triangle for the drone's log number.

Why Teachers Love It

Coming back in September you need to know what actually stuck over the summer — and you need it to be quiet, independent work while you are still learning names. Zero prep, self-checking pages, and a wrong answer visibly breaks the puzzle, so students go back and try again before they ever reach the key.

Skills Covered

Solving two-step equations for a variable, adding and subtracting integers with negatives, multiplying and dividing integers, decomposing composite L-shaped figures into rectangles to find area, plotting and joining ordered pairs in all four quadrants, and applying the Pythagorean theorem to find a hypotenuse — plus logical reasoning and deductive elimination as students rule suspects out clue by clue.

What's Included

A story page that sets up the case, five printable clue worksheets, the case chart of fifteen suspects, complete answer keys and clear student instructions — every page in full color and in an ink-saving black-and-white version, all in one PDF.

Best Used For

Back-to-school math review, beginning-of-year diagnostics, first-week-of-school activities, math centers, early finishers, substitute and relief days, spiral review and test prep for Grades 6–8.

More From This Line

Browse every CSI Math Mystery, or keep the middle school run going with Adding & Subtracting Integers and 5th Grade Review.