The Mystery of the Lost School Trip
You're investigating what happened during your school's camping trip last month. By asking your friends about when and how long ago certain events occurred, you'll uncover a hilarious mystery.
A free Story Adventure for Teens at CEFR B1 level. Topic: Talking about past events using how, when and prepositions of time (Remix) (Remix).
Story
- Last month, your school went on a camping trip that nobody wants to talk about. When you ask your friends what happened, they just laugh nervously. Your best friend Marco finally admits that something strange occurred on the last night. He says it happened about three weeks ago, but he won't tell…
- Sofia shows you her phone. She explains that on Friday evening, around 7 PM, something unexpected happened. She says, 'How long was the campfire supposed to last? We were sitting there for about two hours when suddenly, we heard this strange noise from the forest.' She shows you a blurry photo from…
- Mr. Chen sits down with you seriously. He says, 'When did you hear about this situation? I want to be honest with you.' He explains that on Friday night, about three weeks ago, there was an incident. He tells you that the trip lasted for five days in total, from Monday to Friday. He mentions that…
- You scroll through the school's Instagram account from last month. You notice that posts were uploaded regularly on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, but then nothing appeared on Thursday or Friday. When you check the timestamps, you see photos from the morning of Thursday showing students smiling…
- Finally, you discover the truth! During Thursday afternoon, from 2 PM to 4 PM, someone accidentally knocked over the supply tent while playing football. When the tent fell, all the food for dinner scattered everywhere. For about thirty minutes, nobody knew what to do. Then the funniest thing…
- You finally get the real story! On Friday night, around 9 PM, during the campfire, someone thought they heard a bear in the forest. When you ask who made that sound, everyone bursts out laughing. Apparently, it wasn't a bear at all—it was just Marco trying to scare everyone because he was bored.…
- Lucia finally tells you everything! When you ask her about the cryptic message, she explains what happened on Thursday. From 2 PM onwards, the supply tent incident occurred, and then on Friday morning, when everyone woke up, the mascot costume was missing. How long ago did they realize this? It was…
- You find the supply team students, and they're happy to finally talk about it! They explain that on Thursday afternoon, around 3 PM, they were organizing supplies when something went wrong. When you ask them how long ago this happened, they say it was exactly three weeks ago. For about an hour,…
Vocabulary
- when
- ago
- last month
- on
- happened
- around
- for
- from
- When was
- How long was
- How long ago
- to
- afternoon
- Thursday
- Friday
- morning
Printable worksheet
This Story Adventure comes with a free printable worksheet: 2 parts for students to do after the game, and an answer key for the teacher. It prints at three levels (Support, Core and Challenge); this is the Challenge sheet. Sign in free to print the whole sheet.
What's on the worksheet
- Remember the story · Answer in a full sentence.
- A new ending · Write a new ending for the story. Use three story words.
Part 1: Remember the story
Answer in a full sentence.
- When did the camping trip take place?
- How long was the campfire supposed to last according to Sofia?
- How long did the entire camping trip last?