Caroline and I used Compass Classroom’s Devotional Biology last year. I chose Devotional Biology because I wanted Caroline to have a course in biology, but it had to be meaningful and enjoyable. I wasn’t looking for one full of math and mind-numbing details to memorize. I wanted one that pointed to our amazing Creator and the incredible world He gave us. It had to be unapologetic for being from a Christian worldview. 

We both loved it. Caroline counts her two favorite courses so far as Devotional Biology and The Master and His Apprentices (Christian High School Art History). We were honestly sad when we watched the last video of the course. 

Devotional Biology Materials 

There are many options for both printed and digital materials. 

I purchased the printed textbook, the printed teacher’s guide, and the streaming lessons. The student book is made with high-quality materials and well-designed (which you know is a big deal in our home). The video lessons by Dr. Kurt Wise are also well done. He is an excellent teacher who clearly loves God, his students, and his subject matter. It provides your family an amazing opportunity to learn high school biology from one of the top creation scientists in the world.

Devotional Biology Lab Materials

I did not order the lab materials. It would have been an extra $340 to purchase the full set with the microscope and that was simply not doable with our budget at the time. (I didn’t see any point of ordering the lab materials without the microscope and we don’t already own one.)

We did watch all of the lab videos to get an understanding of what was covered, but that was it. It was either do Devotional Biology without the lab materials or not use it at all. I was certain it was a good fit for my creative child and it was the best choice so that’s what I did. 

How We Used Devotional Biology 

Because we used it in our own way, I can’t really address how well it would prepare someone for college applications and college science. My goal was to introduce Caroline to the major ideas of biology and that is what it did. We did not do any written work with it. Because of her LBLD, this is how we did the lessons each day:

• She independently read the textbook portion that covered the previous day’s video lesson and we would discuss it to review.
• We watched the new daily video together and discussed it.

So every day she was reviewing what we watched the day before and then watching something new. We discussed everything as we went. For our purposes, that was enough. For another family, that might not be sufficient. 

How Devotional Biology Is Organized 

The content progresses in the opposite direction of most biology courses. It starts big (God) and steadily drills down (cells, DNA, etc.) as opposed to starting with the tiny and working up. The topics covered include:

• Introduction – Why This Biology Text Is Unique
• Chapter 1: Biology for the Believer – What is Biology?
• Chapter 2: The Living God – Different Types of Life and the Origin of Life
• Chapter 3: The Glory of God – Biological Beauty
• Chapter 4: God Is Distinct – Created Kinds and Biological Unity
• Chapter 5: God Is Good – Biological Cooperation and Biological Evil
• Chapter 6: God Is Good – Biological Personality
• Chapter 7: Provider God – Bioprovision and the Anthropic Principle 
• Chapter 8: The Sustaining God – Understanding the Biomatrix 
• Chapter 9: God Is One – Biochemistry and Systems Biology 
• Chapter 10: God Is Three – Climates, Biomes, and Biodiversity 
• Chapter 11: God of Hierarchy – Molecular Biology: The Cell 
• Chapter 12: The Almighty God – Cellular Energy Metabolism 
• Chapter 13: God The Word – Biological Communication and DNA 
• Chapter 14: Fullness of God – Biological Reproduction 
• Chapter 15: History of Life – The Natural History of Living Organisms 
• Appendix: Evolution – Perspectives on Evolution 

Each chapter includes discussions about how what we’ve learned leads us to worship God and how we should be stewards of each aspect of creation in light of what we’ve learned. Caroline and I didn’t agree with him on every application point and it made for some good discussions related to worldview application. 

Strongly Recommend Devotional Biology 

If you have a curious child who loves to learn about the world, learns well by video, and dislikes rote learning, this might be the very course you are looking for. For our purposes, it was just what we needed. 

I hope this is helpful if you are considering Compass Classroom’s Devotional Biology.