By: Kendall Hunt RPD with contributions from the editorial team
The Kendall Hunt Religious Publishing Division (RPD) takes pride in our extensive experience crafting customized curricula materials tailored to meet the unique needs of various educational settings. When standard curricula fall short, custom publishing becomes the solution, and we possess the resources and expertise to create detailed and specific curricula that align with your educational mission.
Our commitment to adaptability ensures that our curricula options consistently deliver. Introducing our latest offering: ByDesign Biology: The Scientific Study of Life. Let’s explore what makes ByDesign Biology so adaptable and why it’s an excellent fit for your high school students.
ByDesign Biology is a Christian-based high school biology program. This new ByDesign Biology program considers two popular contrasting worldviews:
1. Materialistic Darwinism: This worldview claims that life originated without divine intervention.
2. Biblical theism: This worldview is rooted in the belief in the existence of God.
Both the Darwinian and biblical worldviews provide a framework for understanding, particularly in the context of biology. This new program explores both perspectives while adhering to the principles, beliefs, and high standards of the faith-based educational system.
Life is recognized based on its characteristics, which include cellular structure, metabolism, reproduction, development, homeostasis, genetic material, and adaptability. Our worldview strongly influences how we perceive life, the questions we pose, and the theories we consider.
Science, especially biology, is not about knowing everything; it is a process of discovering something amazing about reality. Science follows a systematic method of acquiring knowledge and understanding the natural world through collecting and analyzing empirical data, followed by interpretation.
As Dr. Larry Blackmer, Executive Editor, and former NAD Vice President, stated, “Humans are as much a part of nature as every other creature, and we have a specific role to play as part of God’s Creation.”
ByDesign was developed in collaboration with the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) North American Division (NAD) Office of Education, it is designed for a faith-based and inquiry science classroom.
Just like ByDesign Science at the elementary level, the high school biology textbook’s philosophy and worldview align seamlessly with the beliefs of many Christian educators across traditional and nontraditional classrooms. The program was developed with the goal of creating a rigorous creation-based program that also explains evolution, filling a gap in the broader Christian market.
ByDesign Biology follows the precedent set by its predecessor, ByDesign Science for elementary students. The program has received positive reviews for its applicability across various faith contexts.
“Educators appreciate that ByDesign Science is faith-based without contradicting their beliefs,” as stated by Arne Nielsen, NAD Vice President Office of Education. “It presents information from a Christian perspective while acknowledging other worldviews. ByDesign Biology offers a curriculum rooted in Adventist worldviews, making it an ideal choice for both traditional and nontraditional faith-based classrooms.”
In summary, ByDesign Biology serves as an adaptable and rigorous resource, catering to the needs of Christian educators and students alike.
