Pony Friends Set (Calico Critters)

Teaching a high school biology course at home can be challenging. What if I'm not knowledgeable about biology? What if I don't like dissecting things? What if I can't afford a microscope and slides? What if I can't find a course written from a Christian perspective?

Valid questions. One answer is Exploring Creation With Biology. This course can be used if you have any (or all) of the concerns mentioned. First of all, the book assumes that God is the creator of all life, not that life just happened or that one kind of animal evolved into a different kind of animal. While the creationist view is evident throughout the book, Chapter 9 is a 30+ page discussion of the theory of evolution compared to the theory of creation. Also, if you tire of hearing radical environmentalists whine about man destroying the earth, appropriate scientific facts are sprinkled throughout the book refuting many of their claims.

The book is written specifically for use in a homeschool. The authors assume no prior knowledge of the subject, and the course is written in an easy-to-understand, conversational style. Nonetheless, it is a serious biology text - one of the co-authors was formerly a university science professor. The book contains 16 chapters, or modules, discussing every topic you would expect in a high school biology course. The book contains a variety of drawings and photographs, both color and black-and-white.

Lab work can be more challenging in a homeschool environment, and the authors have made allowances for this fact in their course. Three types of lab exercises are included. First, household labs use only household equipment and should be done by all students. Second, microscope labs require the use of a 400x microscope and prepared slide set. Third, dissection labs require a dissection kit of instruments and specimens. The authors do not require the microscope and dissection labs to be done, although they believe that these are certainly beneficial. To make these labs more "do-able", they have developed a slide set and a dissection kit to be used with this course. We offer these below.

The course comes with two components. The student text includes all student reading, experiments, "On Your Own" exercises (with answers and discussion later in the chapter), and 15 to 25 "Study Guide" questions at the end of each chapter. The second book, Solutions and Tests, as you might expect, contains 10 to 20 test questions for each chapter, answers to the test questions, and solutions to the "Study Guide" questions. This guide also includes the perforated tests listed below. The Study & Lab Notebook provides a consistent format for completing labs and questions from the text as well as lesson plans and rubrics for the teacher.

How do students feel about this course? One student wrote, "I am one of the [homeschooling students] that has the privilege of testing out your remarkably interesting and informative biology course... I would like to express my sincere thanks and gratitude to you for taking the time to put together and write this curriculum."