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This column will explore how both educators and parents can help apply principles of TOB to all subjects and areas of student life. Science is the focus of this month.  

The Oxford Dictionary defines science as, “the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world.” Hopefully all Catholic educators can understand and explain how faith and science are not at odds but rather supported by each other. It can be helpful when critics claim that Theology of the Body is out of touch with reality to focus on exactly which realities of TOB are scientifically supported by the very scientific facts of anatomy. Per the definition above, to study the structure and behavior of the human body is an extraordinary application of science which reveals so many shared truths about our physical realities as well as our spiritual beliefs.  

If you want to teach about the sanctity of human life, you can easily do this through a science lesson. Life is defined as, “any system capable of performing functions such as eating, metabolizing, excreting, breathing, moving, growing…” (Britannica). These aspects of life agree with a Catholic understanding of the human person, even in the womb (and even though the baby isn’t breathing air, it does “breath” in and out fluid which helps develop the lungs). We believe that each precious human life grows. From this starting point of agreement between a secular and Catholic understand we can further add for the students that human life is activated by a soul given to us by God.  

Through the study of fertilization and cellular division you can teach about the creation and development of human life from the moment of conception to the moment of death. Here, the facts of science perfectly align with the moral teachings of our faith: that every human life is precious from womb to tomb. Our cells are constantly in a cycle of dividing, growing, regenerating, and dying our entire lives. This helps students understand, on the most basic level, that every single human life has equal dignity and worth: every race, ability, age, and both sexes. The cellular regeneration process is the same amongst all humans. We all start and end in the same exact way. So, while our journeys in between are not identical, our general existence follows a completely predictable scientific pattern. As Catholics, we believe that human life has a soul, and that no soul is more or less precious in the eyes of God than another. The elderly, the preborn, the disabled … we are all precious to God.  

Sometimes teaching about procreation can be tricky in the classroom because you need to be ready for questions to come up about sex. If your students are too young to discuss human procreation, it can be fun and age-appropriate to introduce the concepts to younger ages using a unit on bird life.  

Younger students love to study how nests are built and eggs are laid. They are intrigued by the patience of the mama bird as she sits on her eggs to protect them from enemies. They adore watching baby birds hatch and start chirping loudly, expressing their joy to be on the other side of the shell. They are fascinated to watch the mama bird bring back worms to the nest to feed and nurture her babies. And they love to see the baby birds grow and eventually fly and leave the nest. This is such a fun way to approach the worth of every stage of life. If the bird was not protected at any one stage of development it wouldn’t make it to adulthood and further reproduction. There are so many similarities between the development of human life and bird life. There is much to be admired in both human parents and bird parents who protect and nurture their young especially in the most vulnerable early stages of development.  

Check your Ruah Woods curriculum for fun lessons and reproducibles about birds and eggs (most schools have this curriculum on site already!) 

For more ideas on TOB in science please see the Resource of the Month.  
Resource of the Month: An Egg is Quiet by Sylvia Long 
FREE! Theology of the Body Journal: TOB Journal.pdf