Anatomy lessons for high schoolers based on truth & science

Did you know that even in healthcare degree programs, anatomy lessons can sometimes be peppered with phrases like “I have to teach it that way because that’s what the book says?” Those exact words were spoken by one of my anatomy teachers at a Chinese Medicine school. She was trying to be politically correct, of course. But, anatomy is anatomy. There is no denying skeletal, muscular, endocrine, reproductive, and other differences between male and female bodies. Thankfully, my personal trainer program didn’t dance around this because after all, it is dangerous to try to train men and women the same.

In addition to being a health coach and personal trainer, I have the privilege of teaching high school students at a small Christian school near me. This has been such a blessing after 23 years of homeschooling. One of the subjects I teach is life sciences. So, I went looking for anatomy lessons based on truth and science. And, it had to be open-and-go with possibilities for supplementation. After all, I love to use games, videos, projects, and experiments to cement learning.

I found Master Books’ Introduction to Anatomy lessons and thought it was a great fit for my small class. (I only have five to ten kids in each class, kind of like my years homeschooling….)

What I liked about Master Books’ Introduction to Anatomy curriculum

Versatile anatomy lessons

As I mentioned above, I like to modify and supplement lessons to really make learning stick. The Master Books’ Introduction to Anatomy curriculum pairs well with homeschool science labs, for example, if you want to integrate lab time. But, the illustrations are so detailed and beautiful, you may not need to.

These anatomy lessons are great for students who learn well using a text book approach. However, they also lend themselves well to a visual-kinesthetic approach. The illustrations offer a great launch to creating 3-D models and graphic organizers of what students are learning.

The other versatile thing about these anatomy lessons from Master Books is that each body system is one unit. So, for someone like me who is teaching an integrated life science class, this allows me to be creative. I can stop after the Musculoskeletal System and teach some Botany for awhile or integrate some exercise and application. Or, you might like to stop after the Cardio-Respiratory unit and compare the human system to different animals, even dissecting. The possibilities are numerous!

Pace and Depth

Most anatomy lessons I’ve ever seen cover all body systems in one year, sometimes even in one semester. But this Introduction to Anatomy curriculum covers all body systems over two years. It’s like nursing school lite, but in a very conversational tone. Because of this, there’s sufficient depth at the right pace to lay a solid foundation for any healthcare minded teen. I was actually surprised at the depth of the material, to be honest. How many high school level anatomy books take an entire page to talk about cardiac regulation of stroke volume?

The curriculum also includes special highlight boxes, including Taking a Closer Look and gray boxes that discuss diseases and health conditions in depth. These offer additional opportunities to enrich lessons with videos, models and dissection. They also make great discussion and research starters.

Anatomy lessons from a creation perspective

Teaching in a small Christian high school doesn’t mean that the students believe that God created them. And, even if they do, they don’t know the science that supports a creationist view. So, I do hear comments from students about “evolving from apes” or “Well, we’re just animals anyway.” I love this Introduction to Anatomy curriculum from Master Books because it helps me teach the students the science-based facts to refute evolution. In today’s confusing landscape, teens need to be equipped to sort through all the myths, hype, pundits, and other information thrown at them. And, as someone who loves Jesus, I wouldn’t teach it any other way.

And, it is open and go!

Finally, as I mentioned earlier, I wanted open-and-go anatomy lessons. Because I like to supplement curricula that I use, I don’t want to plan everything from scratch. I love that Master Book’s Introduction to Anatomy includes all the worksheets, quizzes, and tests with answer keys. It also includes a day by day lesson planner so I just open the teacher’s guide, and it tells me the reading for the day and which worksheet and/or quiz goes with it. This makes it super easy to add in the extras! Or, if it’s a challenging week, to make sure we stay on track regardless of whether there are fun supplemental activities.

Conclusion

I love this program because it is easy to use, especially for the busy mom or teacher who prepares several subjects. Another reason I love it is that it is a creation-based science curriculum that is pretty comprehensive. It lays a solid foundation for any student wishing to enter the healthcare professions. If you are looking for an alternative to the usual Biology, Chemistry, Physics high school triad, I highly recommend this two-year series from Master Books, Introduction to Anatomy.

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