Orders are typically shipped same day or next day.

If you need expedited handling, contact our office and we can usually accommodate urgent requests. Faster shipping options are also available at checkout.

We can delay shipment for up to 1-year. We are happy to take Purchase Orders as well.

We recommend:

• Minimum: 2 per group (treatment and control)
  
• Ideal: 3 replicates per condition
  

So:

• 3 treatment + 3 control = 6 ready-to-go beads sets per group
  

Multiply by the number of student groups in your class.

Yes. The algae remain alive and metabolically active while immobilized in the gel of sodium alginate. They will live for 1-4 months if kept out of bright light and at room temperature.

Algae beads typically last 1 to 4 months when stored properly.

Store at room temperature and allow low ambient light daily so they remain healthy.

No direct sunlight, but rather keep them on your bench or desktop. Let them turn light purple by the end of the day. This keeps them "on scale" for pH, so that you can use them anytime.

Store algae beads:

• At room temperature
• In their original solution
• Never in direct sunlight
  

They should receive low ambient light, but direct sunlight should never be used.

At the end of the day the pH should increase a little bit, we like to see it up to a slight purple color. This light keeps the cells alive (they are photosynthetic after all). This is also functionally important for your classroom as they can be used immediately rather than waiting for them to become "on scale" for the pH.

If you keep them in the DARK for a long time the pH will drop LOWER than the scale. Its ok, you will just need to keep them in the light for a while until the pH raises up to the scale that it changes the indicator solution color.

No. Do not refrigerate algae beads. They are living organisms and should be kept at room temperature under ambient light.

If the beads are within the active pH range of the indicator, color change typically occurs within 20 to 45 minutes.

If the beads have been sitting in the dark for extended periods (such as during shipping), the pH may be much lower due to respiration (CO₂ forming carbonic acid). In this case, it may take longer to observe the initial color change.

To prevent the "sitting in the dark" conditions stated above, store the algae beads on the bench/desktop in the light. Make sure they turn light purple by the end of the day. This lets you know they are alive and ready for science at a moments notice!

While it only takes 20-45 minutest to turn purple (increase in pH due to photosynthesis removing CO2- carbonic acid), returning from purple to yellow typically takes 1 to 2 days in the dark.

Place beads in a drawer or wrap them in foil to allow respiration to lower the pH.

The pH indicator solution is a carbonate indicator containing:

• Bromothymol blue
• Cresol red
  

It provides a colorimetric readout of pH and can also be used with a spectrophotometer for quantitative measurements.

Yes. The materials are generally recognized as safe (GRAS):

• Algae: Chlorella (food-grade)
• Matrix: Sodium alginate (food-grade)
  

They are safe for classroom use, but should not be eaten or inserted into eyes, ears, nose, your neighbors nose or ears, stored behind your ears or used as alternative medicine. However they are quite fond of Grateful Dead Music (not so much Phish).

• LED lights work very well
• Standard hardware store LED shop lights are sufficient
• Beads can be placed close to the light source for faster results
  

Do not use direct sunlight.

For optimal results, the Benchtop Algae Light is recommended. - we manufacture these.

We're going to get nerdy here. Flux of light is photons per area per time.

Use approximately:

• 100 to 200 µmol photons/m²/s (ideal)
• Up to 700 to 800 µmol photons/m²/s (acceptable upper range)
  

Do not use direct sunlight (Sunlight is >2000 µmol photons/m²/s), as it can damage or kill the algae quickly.

Yes. Increasing light intensity increases the rate of photosynthesis up to a limit.

This relationship can be explored using a photosynthesis vs. irradiance (P vs. I) curve, which can be used as an advanced classroom investigation.

Each bead contains approximately 1 mg of dry algae biomass. They are mostly water followed by algae biomass and sodium alginate.

Dry one out and weigh it! (More like, dry out 10-20 of them as your analytical balance may have a hard time with a small mass)

They are made from food-grade materials, but they are not intended for consumption.

Do not eat them, do not take them on vacation, do not tell them they are special - if you do they get clingy and will want to move in with you and they will camp out on the couch eat all your peanut butter and won't do their own dishes.

If the beads are green, they are most likely alive and functional. I know its a little simplistic, but color functionally it is an effective test.

To get a change in pH place them about 2mm from an LED light and leave them alone. After a short time they should change color (if they are alive). If they have been in the dark for a few days or weeks, it may/will take a few hours to have photosynthesis increase the pH so that it is on-scale for the pH indicator solution.

We recommend that you store the algae beads at ambient temperature and ambient light so that these LIVING organisms can have energy to live.

We recommend:

• At minimum: 2 per group (treatment and control)
• Ideal setup: 3 replicates per condition
  

So:

• 3 treatment + 3 control = 6 beads per group
  

Multiply by the number of student groups in your class to determine total needed.

For example a class with 36 students (OMG thats a full class) that has 4 students per group will have 9 groups. You will need 54 ready-to-go algae beads->. 9 groups x 6 beads per group = 54.