Identify and differentiate bacteria, while teaching your students to perform the Acid Fast stain.

• Teach aspetic technique
• Learn a staining technique usually used to identify pathogenic organisms.
• All organisms used in this activity are non-pathogenic

Acid-fast stain is used primarily in the identification of pathogenic organisms like Tuberculosis bacillus, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and the leprosy microbe, Mycobacterium leprae. In this activity, students perform an acid-fast stain procedure on nonpathogenic cultures of Mycobacterium nonchromogenicum, an acid-fast rod found in soil, and Staphylococcus epidermidis, a non-acid-fast coccus that normally inhabits your skin.

In the process, students will learn to use sterile techniques, one of the most crucial components of microbiology. They will also relate the characteristics of acid-fast bacteria to drug resistance. It includes a teacher’s guide, student copymaster, and materials for eight setups.

All microbial cultures undergo an extensive quality control program prior to releasing for sale, so they are guaranteed for purity as well as for species.

Ward’s Science is not affiliated with the American Type Culture Collection and does not provide ATCC numbers for our organisms.

Materials needed but not included: A compound microscope with an oil immersion lens.

Canada: Containment Level 2 – PHAC License required.