Many biochemical systems operate or maintain their states using a continuous supply of energy. That is, they are "dissipative", typically using an exergonic reaction to drive a reaction network out of equilibrium. For example, myosin motor proteins use the hydrolysis of ATP to effect muscle contraction. Inspired by the emergent properties of such out-of-equilibrium chemical systems, non-biological chemically "fueled" systems have recently received significant attention. Functional systems have been developed ranging from transient materials with unusual properties to molecular machines. Student exploration of nonequilibrium reaction networks is uncommon, although some examples of complex behavior, especially from oscillating and related reactions, have been presented, generally as activities for physical chemistry courses. Of particular relevance to this work, a recent report described a multi-week project for high school students on transient assembly, making use of the enzymatic hydrolysis of ATP to control the aggregation of gold nanoparticles. To our knowledge, however, single-session laboratory activities for undergraduates that focus on demonstrating the concepts of nonequilibrium assembly using simple, nonbiological reactions have not yet been described, despite their significant pedagogical potential. These concepts are important to an emerging and exciting area of systems chemistry, but the core chemistry is well-established and suitable for students in their first college-level organic chemistry courses.