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

Integer operations, two-step equations, area of composite figures, coordinate plane graphing, and the Pythagorean theorem are all reviewed in this middle school CSI Mystery Detective for 6th grade, 7th grade, and 8th grade. Five detective clue pages spiral back through last year's math, so it works as a back to school math review, a beginning of year diagnostic, first week of school activity, test prep, sub plans, and early finisher work. Completely no prep - just print and go.

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. Because every clue 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.

Students work through five evidence pages, eliminate suspects from the case chart one clue at a time, and name the student who flew the drone away. Every page is self-checking, so a wrong answer visibly breaks the puzzle and students know to go back and try again before they ever reach the answer key.

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. Only one of them is feeding the tracker false positions.

What's Inside

• Solving two-step equations for x: 4x - 9 = 51, 7x + 4 = 298, x divided by 3 minus 14 = 1
• Adding and subtracting integers with negatives: -17 + -26, 45 - 56, -54 - -13
• Multiplying and dividing integers with negatives: -8 x 6, -63 divided by -9, 48 divided by -8
• Area of composite L-shaped figures, decomposing each room into rectangles and subtracting the cut-out
• Plotting ordered pairs in all four quadrants of the coordinate plane and joining them in order
• Applying the Pythagorean theorem to drawn right triangles to find the hypotenuse
• A full-color set and a black-and-white set of every student page
• Red-ink answer keys for all five clue pages and the suspect chart

Five clue pages, five different skills, one case. Answer keys included for every page.

What is a CSI Mystery Detective?

A CSI Mystery Detective is a print-and-solve detective activity - an escape room without the locks. Students solve a page of math to earn a single fact about the culprit, cross the suspects who do not match off the case chart, and repeat until one suspect is left. The math is the key, so students cannot skip ahead, and because each clue is self-checking they find their own mistakes instead of waiting to be told.

This middle school edition is not a re-skin of the elementary packs. Three of the five clue pages use mechanisms this line has never printed before: a floor-plan page of drawn composite figures, a four-quadrant coordinate map where the plotted points trace a letter, and a maze of drawn right triangles solved with the Pythagorean theorem.

When to Use This Resource

• Back to school math review
• Beginning of year diagnostic - see what stuck over summer
• First week of school and first month activities
• Test prep and spiral review
• Sub days and emergency plans
• Early finishers and enrichment
• Small group and math centers
• Homework, end of year review and holiday packets

Grade Levels

Designed for 6th, 7th and 8th grade students. At the start of the year it suits an incoming class one grade above the skills listed - a great review for 7th graders in September on their 6th grade work. Also beneficial for advanced 5th graders ready for negative numbers, and for 9th graders who need a confidence-building review of middle school skills before Algebra 1.

Why Teachers Love CSI Mystery Detective packs

• Zero prep - print and hand out
• Self-checking, so students correct themselves as they go
• Reviews a whole year of middle school math in one activity
• Shows you the gaps in week one without giving a test
• The detective hook holds students who normally switch off in review week
• Real middle school rigor - negatives, equations, geometry, not dressed-up arithmetic
• Color and black-and-white versions included to suit any printer

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