Statement of Faith-based Teaching and 

Learning 
In my Christian worldview, I do not see God at odds with the world he has 

created. In my view, God is not the opposite of Science and they are not up against 

each other. The role of God in the Bible and the role of God in Science have distinct 

purposes for humans, and both are worthy of study. I believe in the Bible as the 

ordained, holy word of God. I also believe that the study of science gives all humans 

access to the complex designs of the Creator. Science, however, is not the Creator. 

Science is not designed to give humans answers to the wonderings about who is 

behind patterns and why the world exists. As Fischer, R.B. (1981) describes, Science 

answers how questions having to do with scientific processes and the relationships 

between aspects of the physical world. Science has the limitation that it is not intended 

to answer who questions or why questions. For example, I use solutions to understand 

how particles mix together, and solubility to explain how the solutions can occur. I 

would turn to the Bible to give me an understanding of who created solutions and the 

matter that makes up everything. The Bible will help me understand why I need to 

know about solutions and who I ought to use my knowledge to advocate for.  

As a result of my view, I have chosen to teach the first half of the unit focusing 

mostly on the questions that Science will answer. Some of the most significant 

questions for students to wrestle with are, “What is a solution?” “What solutions exist 

in my everyday life?” and, “How do some substances dissolve in water and some 
don’t?” During the second half of my unit, in Lesson 3, students begin to ask who and 

why questions. Students may ask themselves, “Why are some substances designed to 

dissolve in water and others aren’t?” “Who will benefit from my knowledge on 

solutions?” and, “Of the people who could benefit from what I have discovered, who 

should I choose to help?” 

The second portion gives students an opportunity to explore their own 

worldview. First, they can ask themselves about the existence of someone who put 

together tiny particles to work together intricately. Second, students have the 

opportunity to practice taking action to improve the lives and minds of people around 

them.  

It is not enough for students to see evidence pointing to some higher, more 

intelligent power that designed the world they live in. This notion may cause students 

to think, “cool, I’m bet someone designed this to work out.” Identifying that a Creator 

well-designed their creation is not enough. My worldview tells me that it is not 

sufficient for my students to recognize God in science. I believe this because of my 

personal conviction that it is not enough to only recognize God in our lives. It is the job 

of a Christian to be left in wonder and to bring action into the world based on what we 

know. 

As a result, I have designed my summative assessment around this idea of 

bringing action. For my primary summative assessment, students will have two options 

for sharing beneficial information about solutions with people in their lives. They can 

choose to make a brochure explaining solutions and describing their importance in 
human lives, or they can choose to identify solutions in their everyday lives that help 

people. Students will practice acting as scientists who communicate their findings, but 

who also put the wellbeing of humans at the focus of their work. 

Reference:  

Fischer, R. B. (1981). God did it, but how?. Michigan: Zondervan. 

 
In a fifth‑grade unit about solutions, students might not learn a mind‑blowing, 
world‑changing concept that will change the course of their lives. However, a solid 
understanding of solutions from the beginning will give my students more confidence when 
they revisit the concept of solutions in later years. I noticed while reflecting on my own 
personal schooling on solutions, the time I first started to understand solutions was in 7 th  grade 
– and I felt very behind and discouraged during most of the unit because I could not figure out 
the new concept of distillation because I was still stumbling over definitions. My students will 
be visiting the concept of solutions again. Whether it is in 7 th  grade or in a high‑school chemistry 
class, my students will need to know this chemistry concept. I want my students to be ready to 
bring their knowledge of solutions and compounds in to the schools they attend after Cesar 
Chavez with confidence.  
This unit on solutions also offers a great chance to give students a picture or ideal of 
how they behave in their communities. When forms of matter are mixed, a few things can 
happen: (1) like sand and water, the two substances do not become one substance and they 
stay separate although they are in the same container; (2) like baking soda and vinegar, the 
substances come together and a surprising, irreversible change takes place and the new 
substance is formed that shows no resemblance to the original substances, or; (3) like drink mix 
and water, the substances become one new substance with properties that they each had 
before, but they generate something new. They have qualities of both parts, but they make up 
a new thing. In 6 th  grade, my 5 th  graders will go off to different schools around the Grand Rapids 
area and will be mixed in with other students. I believe there are several options that my 
students will have. Like sand and water, they may stick with each other and not let their 
identities be shaped by combining with others from the greater community. Like baking soda 
and vinegar, students may decide to completely change the identity that they have come with 
from their immediate community and become part of a new, unrecognizable substance. 
Another option, and the option that best represents my goal for my students is that they 
become solutions in their new school environments. As they are introduced to new students 
with different backgrounds, I want them to mix with these students and be influenced. I want 
my students to appear very different than they originally did because of who they came into 
contact with. Even with the changes, I do not want my students to lose their chemical 
properties – I do not want my students to forget what makes them recognizable as who they 
are.