Ward's® The Road to Life: Forming Coacervates Lab Activity

Provide insight into evolution.

In this exceptional lab activity, your class actually produces coacervates, which are liquid colloidal suspensions of organic compounds. Coacervates, while not truly alive, exhibit several lifelike properties. They contain an outer membrane and grow by reacting to the physical and chemical conditions of their environment. Students will study the formation of coacervates, stain them and compare them to simple living organisms. The kit contains materials for 30 setups, a teacher’s guide, and student copy master.