Nature Studies

The study of nature must be integrated into a comprehensive vision of reality as God’s creation. Otherwise, the human person who is at the foundation of the curriculum becomes unintelligible and the truth about him becomes a matter of private opinion.

The study of nature, therefore, begins from the presupposition that all of reality is God’s creation, though the implications of this are easily misunderstood. The act of creation is not an alternative to natural processes; nor is the doctrine of creation an alternative to natural explanations. The act of creation is not something done to the world since prior to creation there is nothing to act upon. The doctrine of creation, therefore, does not explain how the world came to be, but what the world is. And to treat nature as creation is not to confuse science with theology or to divert attention from nature to prove God’s existence, but to behold nature differently in a way that is at once deeper and more comprehensive, but no less rigorous, than modern scientific materialism.

  • It is to recognize that we do not arbitrarily impose meaning upon a meaningless material world, but that meaning is inherent in the world itself. It is reflected in a rational order that penetrates to the depths of the natural order and can be apprehended by reason.
  • It is to see the infinite generosity of God reflected in the mysterious uniqueness of every living thing.  
  • It is to recognize that this mysterious uniqueness can never be exhaustively explained or understood and can only be fully appreciated through the eyes of love.
  • It is to recognize that what things are is not exhausted by how they work or how they came to be. Therefore, living things are wholes, irreducible to the interaction of their parts or the history of causes that produced them. They are wholes that transcend their parts. o It is to recognize that living things differ essentially from non-living machines because:
    • Unlike a machine that acquires its identity only at the end of a manufacturing process, living things have a nature, and therefore a unity, that precedes and guides their development. (This is partly what is meant by soul. It is also why a fetus is a person from the moment of conception and why it eventually matures into an adult: because it is already human.) 
    • Unlike a machine, an organism is not a means to an end and its purpose is not imposed from the outside. An organism’s end or ‘good’ is internal to it and is that for the sake of which it develops and acts. Maturity and health are the ends for which organisms ordinarily develop and grow as they do. 
    • Machines and other inanimate objects have an environment which surrounds them but is basically eternal to them. Living things have a world which they assimilate to themselves through metabolism and within which they move themselves and act. This world is not just the organism’s physical surroundings, but the whole order, including past, future, and other creatures, which makes up the organism’s ‘action space’. - Higher organisms are characterized by having a larger world in this comprehensive sense. Man has the largest world of all, since he can deliberate about his future, since his world includes God, and since he can respond to God’s call.
    • There is, therefore, an essential difference between the living and the non- living, between procreation and mechanical reproduction, between what is born and what is made. No aspect of the human body or of human biology is ever merely material or purely biological, but personal. All human biology is personal biology, the biology of persons.
  • It is to recognize that science alone, which is preoccupied with the causal history and mechanical aspects of the natural world, is not sufficient to understand what nature, living things, and human persons are. Philosophy and ultimately theology are also required.

The study of nature should train the student above all to see nature through the eyes of love and to respect its inner integrity.

This must be the foundation on which all further specialized study in the sciences is based. Coursework should emphasize the observation, classification and rendering of living things (as in a nature notebook). Students should consider the unique characteristics of different kinds of plants and animals and their ways of life, be able to recognize and appreciate the unique characteristics and classify them accordingly. They should understand what distinguishes human beings from other animals and the relation between human biology or morphology (e.g., upright posture, primacy of sight, opposable thumbs, etc.) and the uniquely human way of living. From the study of living wholes, students should then move to the study of their parts through the study of anatomy, physiology, and related disciplines. From this foundation, students should proceed through the relevant sub-disciplines in science—chemistry, geology, astronomy, etc., with special attention to how these various aspects of nature combine to make Earth a home suitable for life, but also in a way that prepares the student for the study of these subjects in high school. Students should have experience in both inductive and deductive methods and know the difference between them. Students should complete their study of nature at Divine Mercy Academy with a keen eye for nature, a deeper wonder and love for the natural world, a greater awe at the mystery of living things, and a deep appreciation of how the world, in providing a home fit for life, reflects the wisdom and generosity of its Creator.

Lower Elementary (Lower Grammar)

  • Understand the difference between basic animal groups
  • State and ‘catalog’ animals of certain species by their differences
  • Recite key characteristics of the way of life for certain select animals or animal groups
  • Understand basic divisions within the plant kingdom and the distinguishing characteristics of each
  • Learn to identify flora, fauna, and wildlife indigenous to the region
  • Begin to develop an elementary understanding of the human body
  • Begin to understand the ‘body-soul unity’ of the human person, and the specific characteristics and capacities distinguishing humans from other animals
  • Understand basic regional geography and seasons
  • Be able to narrate the above knowledge
  • Develop the skill of observing, rendering, and cataloging this knowledge in a ‘nature notebook’
  • Develop a capacity to attend to and notice nature
  • Develop wonder and appreciation for the natural world

Upper Elementary (Upper Grammar)

  • Recognize the study of nature as part of the human endeavor to understand the world
  • Understand science as one aspect of the study of nature which must be integrated into a more comprehensive vision of reality as God’s creation and thus behold nature in a different way
  • Recognize persons and animals not as historical accidents or the sum of their mechanical parts, but as living wholes that transcend their parts and are irreducible to them
  • Understand that as living wholes, organisms possess an inexhaustible depth and are worthy of our awe, wonder and affection
  • Understand that nature is therefore hierarchically arranged according to capacity for self-transcendence:
    • All organisms, including plants, exhibit some form of metabolism that relates them to the world through appetite
    • Animals exhibit metabolism as well, but also a capacity for self-movement and an awareness through the senses
    • Human beings, in addition to these, move and transcend themselves through reason and will, are able to contemplate God and the world, and can offer themselves in love
  • Beginning with the study of living things, students should be able to:
    • Render detailed observations of different organisms
    • Distinguish between genera in the plant and animal kingdoms
    • Specify essential differences between species
    • Identify unique characteristics in different forms of animal life
    • Explain what these characteristics mean in the life of the animal
    • Identify essential differences distinguishing human beings from other animals
  • From this basis, students should proceed to the interior world of plants and animals:
    • Botany
    • Anatomy
    • Physiology
  • Students should then proceed to the eternal world, understanding Earth as home for life:
    • Ecosystems
    • Natural processes which support life (e.g. weather, soil formation, water cycles)
    • Earth’s place in the solar system: the finely-tuned astronomical factors necessary to support life
  • Continue to develop the skill of observing, rendering, and cataloging this knowledge in a 'nature notebook'
  • Narrate the above knowledge
  • Begin to ask philosophical and scientific questions of nature
  • Gain detailed, firsthand experience of nature through growing things and recording the various stages of growth
  • Follow directions carefully when carrying out scientific experiments
  • Acquire reverence for nature as God’s creation
  • Be able to attend to and notice nature
  • Have a sense of wonder and appreciation for the natural world and the mystery of living things
  • Have an enthusiasm for examining nature and acquire the habit of curiosity regarding the physical world
  • Acquire a desire to experiment with what they are studying and observing

Middle School (Logic Stage)

  • Recognize the study of nature as part of the human endeavor to understand the world
  • Understand science as one aspect of the study of nature which must be integrated into a more comprehensive vision of reality as God’s creation and thus behold nature in a different way
  • Recognize persons and animals not as historical accidents or the sum of their mechanical parts, but as living wholes that transcend their parts and are irreducible to them
  • Understand that as living wholes, organisms possess an inexhaustible depth and are worthy of our awe, wonder and affection
  • Understand that nature is therefore hierarchically arranged according to capacity for self-transcendence:
    • All organisms, including plants, exhibit some form of metabolism that relates them to the world through appetite
    • Animals exhibit metabolism as well, but also a capacity for self-movement and an awareness through the senses
    • Human beings, in addition to these, move and transcend themselves through reason and will, are able to contemplate God and the world, and can offer themselves in love
  • Beginning with the study of living things, students should be able to:
    • Render detailed observations of different organisms
    • Distinguish between genera in the plant and animal kingdoms
    • Specify essential differences between species
    • Identify unique characteristics in different forms of animal life
    • Explain what these characteristics mean in the life of the animal
    • Identify essential differences distinguishing human beings from other animals
  • From this basis, students should proceed to the interior world of plants and animals:
    • Botany
    • Anatomy
    • Physiology
  • Students should then proceed to the eternal world, understanding Earth as home for life:
    • Ecosystems
    • Natural processes which support life (e.g. weather, soil formation, water cycles)
    • Earth’s place in the solar system: the finely-tuned astronomical factors necessary to support life
  • Ask philosophical and scientific questions of nature
  • Describe various creatures using Aristotle’s Four Causes
  • Observe animals and plants in their natural habitats
  • Render animals and plants through art
  • Employ scientific method
  • Continue to develop the skill of observing, rendering, and cataloguing this knowledge in a 'nature notebook'
  • Relate different parts and systems of nature to a comprehensive whole
  • Explain and defend the distinction between the animate and the inanimate Aptitudes
  • Appreciate the wholeness of animals and plants
  • Develop wonder and appreciation of the natural world and the mystery of living things
  • Recognize the beauty of creation
  • Develop enthusiasm for examining nature and acquire the habit of curiosity regarding the physical world
  • Desire to inquire into the lived life of organisms and the world that sustains them
  • Acquire reverence for nature as God’s creation