Order of operations worksheets for 5th grade with a CSI Math Detective case to solve: parentheses, brackets and braces, no exponents, and a bank vault with one cash bag missing. Students evaluate numerical expressions, spot the classic slips of working left to right or skipping the brackets, compare expressions built from the same numbers, place the parentheses to hit a target, and follow a getaway trail where every stop is a calculation. Print-and-go for math centers, morning work, early finishers, sub plans, homework and test prep in any month from September to June, and a strong order of operations activity for 4th grade extension and 6th grade review before exponents arrive. Color and black-and-white pages with answer keys, and only the right math keeps the mystery moving.
The Case: The Bank Heist
City Central Bank locked its vault for the weekend. On Monday the door was still locked and the alarm had never sounded, but one cash bag was gone and the sheet saying which one had been soaked through. The evidence only makes sense to someone who works in the right order.
What's Inside
- Audit the teller: check worked calculations line by line and stamp each slip CORRECT or ERROR - every error is a real slip
- Head to head: the same numbers with the parentheses in different places, worked out both ways to see which safe held more
- Witness statements: true or false equations whose ticked letters spell out the clue
- Place the parentheses: add one pair of grouping symbols to make a line true, or write NONE
- The getaway trail: nested brackets in a chain of expressions, where the last answer reveals the bag number
- Suspect chart, detective story, teacher notes, color and black-and-white pages, and full answer keys
What Is a CSI Math Detective Case?
A CSI Math Detective case is a printable investigation your class solves with math. Think of a math escape room where the locks are replaced by suspects: each correct answer rules another one out, and the case only closes when the arithmetic is right all the way through. That built-in check sets detective activities apart from ordinary math worksheets, and makes one case a complete math activity for a lesson, a center or a sub day.
When to Use This Resource
- Math centers and rotations
- Morning work and warm-ups
- Early finishers
- Sub days and emergency plans
- Homework and spiral review
- Test prep before state testing
Grade Levels
Designed for 5th graders learning to evaluate and write numerical expressions with grouping symbols, where the whole topic is taught. Also a strong fit for 6th graders who need the order of operations solid before exponents, and for advanced 4th graders ready for multi-step calculations.
Why Teachers Love CSI Mystery Detective Cases
- Zero prep - just print and hand it out
- The pages check themselves - a wrong answer stops the mystery, so students find their own slip
- The wrong turns are the mistakes students really make, so you can see which step went astray
- Practice students want to finish, because they want to name the culprit
- Prints clean in black and white
- Works for the whole class, small groups or one student alone
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