I am a product of Christian education from kindergarten through college. I loved my education and am grateful for how it shaped my knowledge and worldview. When I began teaching in a Christian school straight out of college, however, it “got real, real quick.”
Being responsible for helping students to see God in every subject and to think Christianly about various subjects requires more thought, reflection, and attention to detail now than it did when I was on the receiving end of that relationship. To do so with excellent teaching practices is even more difficult. Seventeen years later, I still strive toward that goal though I realize that it may never be fully attainable when we consider the continual changes in educational philosophies, student culture, and even theology.
To further complicate the matter, my own three children are all Christian school students. While I cherish and value the education my parents paid for and love being part of it as my vocation, paying for it myself adds a layer of motivation to make Christian education unique, excellent, and formational.
In 2011, I learned that a group was developing faith-based curriculum at the intersection of science and faith that employed Christian teaching practices. The group wanted to develop units ranging from community in the chemistry lab to looking at DNA in the biology classroom to biblical, theological, and technological issues that arise across many subjects—and to do so in a hopeful, not fearful, manner. To top it off, the curriculum would be freely available online. This greatly appealed to me, a science teacher with a limited budget, and reminded me of Kenny Bania’s line on Seinfeld: “That’s gold, Jerry—gold!” I applied and was accepted to the curriculum development team, which would eventually be called the FAST (Faith and Science Teaching) project.
A Cross-Curricular Approach
A cross-curricular approach benefits schools, teachers, and students in many ways. Providing opportunities for teacher collaboration is key. Such an approach fosters deep student engagement, enriches the context of a particular theme, and makes content more relevant while helping students learn to transfer knowledge from one subject area to another. Cross-curricular work can address problems in education such as fragmentation and isolated skill instruction.
In Christian schools, a cross-curricular approach becomes essential as we preach and practice biblical themes in class: stewardship, wisdom, compassion, forgiveness, justice, redemption, and renewal, to name just a few. We aren’t simply schools that tack on a Bible class. A cross-curricular approach centered around Christian practices and virtues reinforces an understanding of this for students and parents alike. This type of approach provides students with opportunities to see how their faith practices and formation are necessary and useful in every subject as well as in any situation they find themselves in.
The History of DNA
Take, for example, DNA. It is fundamental for life as well as a foundational topic for every biology and life science class. The discovery of DNAs structure has an intriguing history. The behavior and personalities of the scientists involved in its discovery also provide avenues to examine ethical behavior, restorative justice, and the motivations people have for doing science, which are topics that may arise just as easily in a biology or a Bible class. How might this topic turn into learning activities?
An activity called “Believe It or Not?” offers a way to work on the topic and spark student interest (“Believe It or Not?” and all other activities referenced in this article can be found at teachfastly.com). This begins with a slide presentation and student handout presenting a series of truth claims with explanations. The truth claims range from “Obama Face Discovered on Dwarf Planet Ceres” to the resurrection of Christ. Students are tasked with answering whether or not they believe the claim, explaining why or why not, rating the believability of the source, stating any prior knowledge they possess, and describing what it would take to change their minds. This introduces students to critical thinking about the roles of trust and evidence in coming to believe scientific findings and other kinds of belief. It also opens space to explore how our motives can influence what we are willing to believe, whether scientific evidence is desirable for answering every kind of question, and the role of trust in accepting truth claims. Later, as they study the story of DNA, questions of trust and scientific integrity will arise again.
As this opening activity points the way toward study of the story of DNA in the biology classroom, imagine the Bible teacher exploring similar themes and creating cross-curricular questions for students. Perhaps the topic in Bible class is the resurrection of Christ. This, too, can be examined from scientific, cultural, and historical perspectives, and it raises questions about how we come to believe truth claims and what kind of evidence is relevant. An activity called “Knowing about the Resurrection” begins with a series of apparently random questions for students to answer: Where were you born? Who was the first king of Israel? Is it ever right to steal? Does the person next to you have hopes and dreams? This leads into discussing how students arrived at answers and what would count as evidence for their answers. Would scientific investigation help with some or all of these questions? What about the resurrection of Christ? Can science tell us whether that really happened? Exploring the nature of evidence and how we come to know and believe in both science class and Bible class can lead students toward richer understanding.
The Ethics of DNA Research
Cross-curricular connections between faith and science also focus on relationships and virtues in the lab, in the classroom, and in the community. In our biology class about the story of DNA, the focus shifts to the ethical behavior of the scientists who discovered DNA structure. Students view a documentary film, which is followed by group work where they document either the scientists’ motivations, methods, or behaviors. Afterward, they gather into similar topic groups first to confirm observations and thoughts and then disperse into groups of three, one from each topic, and share what they have observed and recorded as other group members take notes. Later, they experience a DNA model-building lab, and as they collaborate to build DNA models they are asked to focus on the virtues needed for collaborative scientific work. Finally, students fill out a survey ranking their own motivations for doing science, discuss these rankings with several classmates, and then write answers to a series of reflective questions about faith, scientific work, and what inspires scientists.
Concurrent Bible Curriculum
Meanwhile, back in Bible class students explore how Christian truth-seeking involves not just beliefs and positions but virtues. Students stage a debate and then debrief in a way that shifts their attention from who won to how love of neighbor might be relevant to how we debate and seek truth together. They go on to explore models within Scripture that illustrate how the people of God have gone about dealing with differences, such as the debate in Acts 15. It turns out that not only questions about truth but also motivations, virtues, and questions about interpersonal relationships are relevant in both science class and Bible class. Do students see us making the connections?
The FAST Project
To reiterate, the goal of the FAST project is to create authentic, engaging Christian content that uses excellent teaching practices to engage students at the intersection of faith and science. By its very nature this undertaking involves making cross-curricular connections between the Bible and science. The connections could be made wider still because coming to grips with faith and science also involves history and social dynamics between students, teachers, and parents. The FAST resources are free and offer starting points for your own creativity. Find units or activities that will work in your classrooms and suggest units and activities to your colleagues that may work for them.
This project has impacted how I teach and how my students engage with each other and think about science. I have benefited from this process and project as both a learner and an educator. I hope it does the same for you. “That’s gold, Jerry—gold!”
Nate Adema has a BS in biology from Calvin College. He teaches biology, physiology, media discernment, and advanced algebra.
