This Pearl Harbor digital escape game includes the following topics:

• The attack on Pearl Harbor
• Roosevelt’s address to Congress
• Congress votes
• American retaliation – the Doolittle Raid
• The 442nd Infantry

It’s 1942. The Japanese have attacked Pearl Harbor. They plan to attack again, but you can stop them! You’ve got the code-breaking information, but in order to get to it you’ll have to figure out the combinations to unlock the box where the decryption information is locked.

You can have students do this Pearl Harbor digital escape game individually or in small groups. You do need internet access to do the activity.

Note about digital breakouts, as they are new to the educational scene and can be confusing for those who have never done an ‘escape the room’ type game:

The first clue will always be the most difficult for them. Once they figure that out, the others will be easier because they will get the idea of how things work. They will mouse over the images, looking for the hand or arrow that lets them know that it’s a link.

Once they open the link, they’ll want to read the page, watch the video, etc. The clues are hidden in there.

The tricky part is that they don’t know which clue is on which page – they have to work together, think about what they’re looking for, and think about what they’ve learned on each page.

They know that they need certain things to open the locks – but they can’t be sure if they’ve got it until they try it. If they try a word or a number and it doesn’t work, they can keep trying until they figure out what it’s supposed to be.

For sure it is a challenging activity – the first time I did one, my students were pretty confused. I guided them to opening the first clue but then told them they’d have to figure out what exactly they were looking for. Most of them did end up solving the puzzle, but a few groups were one clue short of solving it.

Since you have the answers, you can guide your students if they need it. I had some groups who would never get the clue if I didn’t nudge them in the right direction.

But I also had some who didn’t want any help and relished the challenge. It’s not really a question/answer sort of thing since that would be just a scavenger hunt or research project.

They have to discuss what they think might be the most important things on each page and go from there.