Free Christian Curriculum Kindergarten through twelfth grade · free to download

Grade 9 · 15 units · 180 lessons · 1,800 questions

Biology

A full year of high school biology taught from a young-earth creation position, in 180 lessons.

About this course

This is a full high school biology course, and the science in it is genuine high school work. It begins with the cell: cell theory and the history of microscopy, prokaryotic and eukaryotic structure, and each organelle in turn. Cell processes follow at real depth, covering enzymes and ATP, the light reactions and the Calvin cycle, glycolysis, the Krebs cycle, the electron transport chain, and fermentation. Genetics covers Mendel's laws, monohybrid and dihybrid crosses, incomplete dominance and codominance, ABO blood types, polygenic and sex-linked traits, pedigree analysis, mutations, and genetic disorders. Molecular biology covers DNA structure and replication, transcription with promoters and RNA splicing, translation, the genetic code, protein structure, and epigenetics. The middle of the year surveys classification, microbiology and the immune system, botany, invertebrates, vertebrates and animal behavior, human anatomy system by system, and ecology. The last four units turn to the fossil record, the Genesis Flood, advanced human body systems, and creation science apologetics.

The course teaches from a young-earth creation position and says so plainly rather than leaving it implied. Three units address origins directly: the fossil record (how fossils form, the geologic column, the assumptions behind radiometric dating, the Cambrian explosion, living fossils, and the age of the earth), the global Flood (pre-Flood biology, the Ice Age, post-Flood animal dispersal, dinosaurs, and the engineering of the ark), and creation science apologetics (information theory, irreducible complexity, fine-tuning, and the second law of thermodynamics). Evolutionary claims are named and then answered rather than left out: your student will meet the 98-percent chimpanzee DNA figure, Darwin's finches, the hominid fossil sequence, the Miller-Urey experiment, and the open-system reply to entropy, each stated as an argument and then rebutted. Variation and speciation within created kinds are taught as real and observed; common ancestry across kinds is not. One lesson late in the year covers human reproduction — fertilization, the stages of fetal development, the sanctity of life from conception, and marriage as God's design. It is not sex education, but it is worth reading before you assign it.

The course is 180 lessons in 15 units of 12, planned at about 50 minutes each, which is a full school year. A lesson opens with prayer and a wonder question, then reads as an organized textbook page with bolded vocabulary, numbered mechanisms, and a closing KJV verse. Your student defines the terms in a science notebook, narrates the lesson back aloud, and finishes with a ten-question multiple-choice quiz that grades itself. Homework is written work — a paragraph, a comparison chart, or a labeled diagram such as the thylakoid membrane or a three-generation pedigree. Listed materials are pencil, paper, a Bible, and a science notebook. There is no lab kit, no dissection, and no microscope work; microscopes are studied as a subject but never used, and nothing is supplied, so if your student needs documented lab hours for a transcript or an outside requirement, you and your family will need to arrange that separately. For readiness, a middle school life science background helps, and so does basic chemistry vocabulary, since atoms, molecules, bonds, and pH are assumed rather than taught in the cell energy and molecular biology units. Freedom Homeschool also offers a general Science course at ninth grade covering biology, chemistry, physics, earth science, and astronomy together; its life science lessons overlap the early units here but stop well short of this depth. Each is a full 180-lesson year, so most families will assign one or the other rather than both.

What the course covers

What your student will be able to do

Scope and sequence

All 15 units of Biology for Grade 9, in the order they are taught.

UnitCoversLessonsQuestions
Unit 1The Living Cell — God's Miniature Factory12120Lessons
Unit 2Cell Processes — Energy for Life12120Lessons
Unit 3Genetics — The Language of Heredity12120Lessons
Unit 4DNA and Molecular Biology12120Lessons
Unit 5Classification — God's Created Kinds12120Lessons
Unit 6Microbiology — The Unseen World12120Lessons
Unit 7Botany — God's Green Creation12120Lessons
Unit 8Invertebrates — Diversity of Design12120Lessons
Unit 9Vertebrates — Backbone to Mammal12120Lessons
Unit 10The Human Body — Fearfully and Wonderfully Made12120Lessons
Unit 11Ecology — The Balance of Creation12120Lessons
Unit 12The Fossil Record — A Creation Perspective12120Lessons
Unit 13The Global Flood — Geology and Biology12120Lessons
Unit 14Advanced Human Body Systems12120Lessons
Unit 15Creation Science Apologetics12120Lessons

Every lesson, by title

All 180 lesson titles are listed here — nothing is withheld until you download. Open a unit to read its contents.

Unit 1: The Living Cell — God's Miniature Factory 12 lessons
  1. 1What is Life? The Seven Characteristics of Living Things10 q
  2. 2Cell Theory — History of Microscopy and Discovery10 q
  3. 3Tools of Cell Biology — Microscopes and Techniques10 q
  4. 4Prokaryotic Cells — Simple but Extraordinarily Complex10 q
  5. 5The Plant Cell — Structure and Function10 q
  6. 6The Animal Cell — Structure and Function10 q
  7. 7The Nucleus — Command Center of the Cell10 q
  8. 8Mitochondria — The Cell's Power Plant10 q
  9. 9Ribosomes and the Endoplasmic Reticulum10 q
  10. 10The Golgi Apparatus and Lysosomes10 q
  11. 11The Cell Membrane — A Selective Barrier10 q
  12. 12The Cell as Evidence for Intelligent Design10 q
Unit 2: Cell Processes — Energy for Life 12 lessons
  1. 1Introduction to Chemical Energy and ATP10 q
  2. 2Enzymes — God's Molecular Catalysts10 q
  3. 3Photosynthesis Overview — Capturing Light Energy10 q
  4. 4The Light Reactions of Photosynthesis10 q
  5. 5The Calvin Cycle — Building Sugar from CO₂10 q
  6. 6Cellular Respiration Overview10 q
  7. 7Glycolysis — The First Stage of Respiration10 q
  8. 8The Krebs Cycle — Harvesting Carbon Energy10 q
  9. 9The Electron Transport Chain and ATP Synthesis10 q
  10. 10Fermentation — Life Without Oxygen10 q
  11. 11Comparing Photosynthesis and Cellular Respiration10 q
  12. 12The Chemistry of Life — Designed for Efficiency10 q
Unit 3: Genetics — The Language of Heredity 12 lessons
  1. 1Introduction to Genetics — Gregor Mendel's Discovery10 q
  2. 2Mendel's Laws — Segregation and Independent Assortment10 q
  3. 3Punnett Squares and Monohybrid Crosses10 q
  4. 4Dihybrid Crosses and the 9:3:3:1 Ratio10 q
  5. 5Incomplete Dominance and Codominance10 q
  6. 6Multiple Alleles and ABO Blood Types10 q
  7. 7Polygenic Traits and Continuous Variation10 q
  8. 8Sex Chromosomes and Sex-Linked Traits10 q
  9. 9Pedigree Analysis10 q
  10. 10Mutations — Changes in the Genetic Code10 q
  11. 11Genetic Disorders10 q
  12. 12Selective Breeding — Variation Within Kinds10 q
Unit 4: DNA and Molecular Biology 12 lessons
  1. 1The Discovery of DNA — History and Experiments10 q
  2. 2DNA Structure — The Double Helix10 q
  3. 3DNA Replication — Copying the Blueprint10 q
  4. 4RNA — The Messenger Molecule10 q
  5. 5Transcription — Reading the DNA Code10 q
  6. 6Translation — Building Proteins from mRNA10 q
  7. 7The Genetic Code — A Universal Language10 q
  8. 8Protein Structure and Function10 q
  9. 9Mutations at the Molecular Level10 q
  10. 10Epigenetics — More Than Just DNA10 q
  11. 11DNA as the Language of Life — Information Theory10 q
  12. 12Molecular Biology and the Case for Creation10 q
Unit 5: Classification — God's Created Kinds 12 lessons
  1. 1Why We Classify Living Things10 q
  2. 2Binomial Nomenclature — The Language of Taxonomy10 q
  3. 3Linnaeus's Classification System — Kingdoms to Species10 q
  4. 4The Three Domains of Life10 q
  5. 5The Biblical Concept of 'Kinds' — Baraminology10 q
  6. 6Bacteria and Archaea — Prokaryotic Life10 q
  7. 7Protista — Single-Celled Eukaryotes10 q
  8. 8Fungi — God's Decomposers10 q
  9. 9The Plant Kingdom — Overview10 q
  10. 10The Animal Kingdom — Overview10 q
  11. 11Speciation Within Kinds — What Evolution Cannot Do10 q
  12. 12Classification and the Creationist Worldview10 q
Unit 6: Microbiology — The Unseen World 12 lessons
  1. 1Introduction to Microbiology — History and Importance10 q
  2. 2Bacterial Structure and Shapes10 q
  3. 3Bacterial Reproduction and Growth10 q
  4. 4Beneficial Bacteria — God's Little Helpers10 q
  5. 5Harmful Bacteria and Disease10 q
  6. 6Viruses — Structure and Classification10 q
  7. 7Viral Replication — Lytic and Lysogenic Cycles10 q
  8. 8Fungi in Detail — Beneficial and Harmful10 q
  9. 9Protists in Detail — Algae and Pathogens10 q
  10. 10The Immune System — God's Defense Network10 q
  11. 11Vaccines and Antibiotics10 q
  12. 12Microbiology and the Argument for Design10 q
Unit 7: Botany — God's Green Creation 12 lessons
  1. 1Introduction to Plants — The Kingdom Plantae10 q
  2. 2Plant Cell Structures Unique to Plants10 q
  3. 3Photosynthesis in the Leaf10 q
  4. 4Roots — Anchors and Absorbers10 q
  5. 5Stems — Support and Transport Systems10 q
  6. 6Leaves — Solar Panels of Creation10 q
  7. 7Flowers — God's Design for Pollination10 q
  8. 8Seeds and Fruits — Packaging Life10 q
  9. 9Plant Reproduction — Sexual and Asexual10 q
  10. 10Plant Responses — Tropisms and Hormones10 q
  11. 11Non-Vascular and Seedless Vascular Plants10 q
  12. 12Gymnosperms and Angiosperms — God's Seed Plants10 q
Unit 8: Invertebrates — Diversity of Design 12 lessons
  1. 1What is an Invertebrate?10 q
  2. 2Porifera and Cnidaria — Simplest Animals10 q
  3. 3Flatworms and Roundworms10 q
  4. 4Mollusks — Clams, Snails, and Octopuses10 q
  5. 5Annelids — Segmented Worms10 q
  6. 6Arthropods — The Most Diverse Animal Group10 q
  7. 7Insects — God's Most Numerous Creatures10 q
  8. 8Echinoderms — Starfish and Sea Urchins10 q
  9. 9Invertebrate Body Plans — Evidence of Design10 q
  10. 10Invertebrates in the Fossil Record10 q
  11. 11Invertebrates and Human Benefit10 q
  12. 12Unit Review — The Wonder of Invertebrate Life10 q
Unit 9: Vertebrates — Backbone to Mammal 12 lessons
  1. 1Introduction to Vertebrates and the Phylum Chordata10 q
  2. 2Fish — Masters of the Aquatic World10 q
  3. 3Amphibians — Life Between Two Worlds10 q
  4. 4Reptiles — Scales, Cold Blood, and God's Design10 q
  5. 5Birds — Flight, Feathers, and Fine-Tuning10 q
  6. 6Mammals — Warm Blood and Maternal Care10 q
  7. 7Animal Migration and Navigation10 q
  8. 8Hibernation, Estivation, and Animal Dormancy10 q
  9. 9Animal Behavior — Instinct and Learned Behavior10 q
  10. 10Vertebrates in the Fossil Record10 q
  11. 11Primates — A Creation Science Perspective10 q
  12. 12Vertebrate Diversity — Celebrating God's Creativity10 q
Unit 10: The Human Body — Fearfully and Wonderfully Made 12 lessons
  1. 1Organization of the Human Body10 q
  2. 2The Skeletal System — Framework of Strength10 q
  3. 3The Muscular System — Power and Precision10 q
  4. 4The Nervous System — God's Supercomputer10 q
  5. 5The Endocrine System — Chemical Messengers10 q
  6. 6The Cardiovascular System — The River of Life10 q
  7. 7The Respiratory System — Breath of Life10 q
  8. 8The Digestive System — Fueling God's Temple10 q
  9. 9The Excretory System — Filtering God's Temple10 q
  10. 10The Lymphatic and Immune System — Defending the Temple10 q
  11. 11Advanced Body Systems — Integration and Homeostasis10 q
  12. 12The Human Body as God's Masterpiece10 q
Unit 11: Ecology — The Balance of Creation 12 lessons
  1. 1Introduction to Ecology — God's Household10 q
  2. 2Energy Flow — The Food Web10 q
  3. 3Nutrient Cycles — God's Recycling System10 q
  4. 4Population Ecology — Limits and Carrying Capacity10 q
  5. 5Community Ecology — Species Interactions10 q
  6. 6Succession — Change Over Time10 q
  7. 7Aquatic Ecosystems — The Great Deep10 q
  8. 8Biomes of the World — Variety in Creation10 q
  9. 9Environmental Science — Stewardship in Practice10 q
  10. 10Symbiosis — Partnership and Design10 q
  11. 11Biodiversity — Treasure of Creation10 q
  12. 12Ecology Review — Creation's Integrated Design10 q
Unit 12: The Fossil Record — A Creation Perspective 12 lessons
  1. 1What Are Fossils and How Do They Form?10 q
  2. 2The Geological Column — Interpretation vs. Observation10 q
  3. 3Radiometric Dating — Assumptions and Accuracy10 q
  4. 4The Cambrian Explosion — Sudden Appearance10 q
  5. 5Living Fossils — Creation's Timeless Kinds10 q
  6. 6Transitional Fossils — Fact vs. Claim10 q
  7. 7Human Fossil Record — Creation Science Analysis10 q
  8. 8Mass Extinctions — Catastrophe and the Flood10 q
  9. 9Fossil Biogeography — Where Fossils Are Found10 q
  10. 10The Age of the Earth — Young or Old?10 q
  11. 11Flood Legends — Worldwide Testimony10 q
  12. 12Fossil Record Summary — The Big Picture10 q
Unit 13: The Global Flood — Geology and Biology 12 lessons
  1. 1The Biblical Account of the Flood10 q
  2. 2Pre-Flood World Biology10 q
  3. 3The Fountains of the Great Deep10 q
  4. 4The Flood Year — Geological Events10 q
  5. 5The Ice Age — Post-Flood Climate10 q
  6. 6Post-Flood Animal Dispersal10 q
  7. 7Dinosaurs and the Flood10 q
  8. 8Post-Flood Biology — Rapid Diversification10 q
  9. 9Noah's Ark — Engineering and Feasibility10 q
  10. 10After the Flood — A New World10 q
  11. 11Flood Science and Mainstream Geology — Engaging the Debate10 q
  12. 12The Flood — Theological and Biological Significance10 q
Unit 14: Advanced Human Body Systems 12 lessons
  1. 1The Integumentary System — Skin as Armor10 q
  2. 2Sensory Systems — Seeing God's World10 q
  3. 3Reproductive Biology — God's Design for Life's Continuity10 q
  4. 4Genetics and Heredity10 q
  5. 5Molecular Biology — DNA, RNA, and Protein Synthesis10 q
  6. 6The Brain and Consciousness10 q
  7. 7Pharmacology — Medicines and the Body10 q
  8. 8Human Health and Disease10 q
  9. 9Exercise Physiology — The Body in Motion10 q
  10. 10Nutrition — Fueling God's Temple10 q
  11. 11Sleep and Circadian Rhythms10 q
  12. 12Human Development Across the Lifespan10 q
Unit 15: Creation Science Apologetics 12 lessons
  1. 1What Is Creation Science?10 q
  2. 2Information Theory and the Origin of Life10 q
  3. 3Irreducible Complexity — Michael Behe's Argument10 q
  4. 4The Fine-Tuning Argument — Cosmological Design10 q
  5. 5Responding to Common Evolution Arguments10 q
  6. 6Genetics and the Origins Debate10 q
  7. 7The Age of the Universe — Creation Cosmology10 q
  8. 8The Second Law — Entropy and Creation10 q
  9. 9Building a Christian Worldview in Science10 q
  10. 10Origins of Life — Addressing Naturalistic Scenarios10 q
  11. 11Creation Science in the Classroom and Culture10 q
  12. 12Biology Year in Review — Worshiping the Creator10 q

One whole lesson, exactly as it comes

This is a real lesson taken from the middle of the course — the teaching text, the practice, the homework, and the first three quiz questions with their answers. It is not a marketing excerpt.

Unit 8: Invertebrates — Diversity of Design · Lesson 7

Insects — God's Most Numerous Creatures

50 minutesPencilPaperBible (KJV)Science notebook

What this lesson is for

  • Students will describe insect body plan and metamorphosis
  • Students will explain the ecological indispensability of insects

And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:21

Insects — God's Most Numerous Creatures

The Most Species-Rich Class

Class Insecta contains approximately 900,000 described species — more than all other animal classes combined. Entomologists estimate millions more await discovery. Insects occupy virtually every land and freshwater habitat and have been doing so since at least the time of Noah's Flood.

Insect Body Plan

Three body regions (tagmata):

  • Head — Compound eyes, antennae (sensory), mouthparts (adapted for specific diets: chewing, sucking, piercing, sponging)
  • Thorax — 3 segments; 3 pairs of jointed legs (one per segment); wings (1–2 pairs in most, absent in some)
  • Abdomen — 10+ segments; digestive, excretory, reproductive organs; spiracles (breathing holes)

Insect wings — The only invertebrates with wings. Wings are outgrowths of the thorax cuticle, not modified appendages. Insects could fly ~300 million years before birds (according to standard timeline). Flying requires remarkable coordination of muscles, sensory systems, and aerodynamics.

Insect senses:

  • Compound eyes — Hundreds or thousands of facets (ommatidia); wide field of view; excellent motion detection; some see UV and polarized light
  • Antennae — Chemical detection (pheromones), touch, humidity, temperature
  • Mechanoreceptors — Detect vibrations, air currents

Metamorphosis — Two Strategies

Complete metamorphosis (holometabolous):

  • Egg → Larva → Pupa → Adult — Four distinct stages
  • Larva and adult exploit different resources (caterpillar eats leaves; butterfly drinks nectar)
  • Includes butterflies, beetles, flies, bees, wasps, ants
  • ~88% of insect species

Incomplete metamorphosis (hemimetabolous):

  • Egg → Nymph (several instars) → Adult — Three stages
  • Nymph resembles small adult; gradually changes with each molt
  • Includes grasshoppers, cockroaches, dragonflies, crickets

Ecological Importance

Pollination — ~80% of flowering plants depend on insect pollination; bees alone pollinate crops worth ~$15 billion annually in the US.

Decomposition — Beetles, fly larvae, and ants break down dead plant and animal matter.

Food web — Base of many food webs; birds, amphibians, reptiles, and small mammals depend on insects.

Soil aeration — Ants and termites create extensive tunnels.

The extinction of all insects would collapse most terrestrial ecosystems within weeks.

"And God created... every living creature that moveth... and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good." — Genesis 1:21

Homework

Write a one-page summary of today's lesson on Insects — God's Most Numerous Creatures, including key vocabulary and connections to your faith.

Note for the parent

Today's lesson covers Insects — God's Most Numerous Creatures. Estimated time: 50 minutes. Encourage your student to connect the science content to the Creator's design.

The first three of this lesson's 10 questions

Insects are uniquely among invertebrates in having:

  1. An exoskeleton
  2. Jointed legs
  3. Wings — the only invertebrates to fly
  4. Segmented bodies
Show the answer

Answer: Wings — the only invertebrates to fly

The three tagmata (body regions) of insects are:

  1. Head, neck, body
  2. Head, thorax, abdomen
  3. Front, middle, back
  4. Fore, mid, hind
Show the answer

Answer: Head, thorax, abdomen

Complete metamorphosis (holometabolous) includes which stages?

  1. Egg, nymph, adult
  2. Egg, larva, pupa, adult
  3. Larva, pupa, adult only
  4. Egg, adult only
Show the answer

Answer: Egg, larva, pupa, adult

Another 7 questions follow in the lesson itself, each one graded the moment it is answered.

What comes with the download

180 full lessons

Across 15 units, each with objectives, a teaching passage written to be read aloud, guided practice, and homework.

1,800 quiz questions

Graded the instant they are answered, each with the explanation of why that answer is right.

A gradebook that works

Every score kept, a running average maintained, and a breakdown unit by unit — all in the file itself, nothing sent anywhere.

Progress and attendance

Tick lessons off as they are finished, watch the completion bar fill, and mark days present, absent, or excused.

Report card and certificate

Both printable, with your student's name, the grades, and the dates already filled in.

Backup you control

Export every record to a file you keep, and read it back later. A lost browser cache cannot take the year with it.

An answer key

Hidden from the student by default, there for the parent marking the work.

Nothing that phones home

No ads, no affiliate links, no analytics, no fonts fetched from elsewhere. Unplug the network cable and every one of these files still works.

What you will need

Drawn from the materials named across all 180 lessons of this course. Most families already own most of it.

Download Biology — Grade 9

Free, and free of everything else. 19 files, 23.6 MB in total. No account, no email address, no payment. What you download carries no advertising, no affiliate links and no tracking of any kind.

Use it on a screen

Open any of these straight from a folder or a USB stick. They run in the browser with the network cable unplugged, and nothing is ever sent anywhere.

HTMLInteractive ClassroomThe whole course as a working school: quizzes that grade themselves, a gradebook with a running average, a progress bar, attendance, a printable report card, and a certificate of completion.grade-9-biology-classroom.html 3.1 MBHTMLFlashcard AppEvery quiz question turned into a self-testing card, with shuffle and review-the-missed-ones.grade-9-biology-flashcards-app.html 925 KBHTMLRead-Aloud EditionLarge type, one lesson per screen, laid out for a parent reading aloud to a younger student.grade-9-biology-readaloud.html 1.2 MBHTMLLesson PlannerThe course spread across teaching days, with a box to tick as each lesson is finished.grade-9-biology-planner.html 85 KB

Print it

Page-numbered and laid out for paper. Print the whole year at once, or one unit the night before you teach it.

PDFPrintable LessonsEvery lesson, in teaching order, formatted for reading and printing.grade-9-biology-print.pdf 3.6 MBPDFFillable WorkbookType answers on screen and save, or print blank pages to write on by hand.grade-9-biology-workbook.pdf 1.3 MBPDFAnswer KeyEvery question answered, for the parent or teacher marking the work.grade-9-biology-answer-key.pdf 322 KBPDFCopywork PagesHandwriting practice drawn from this course's own Scripture and sentences.grade-9-biology-copywork.pdf 543 KBPDFPrintable FlashcardsCut-apart cards with fronts and backs aligned for double-sided printing.grade-9-biology-flashcards-print.pdf 5.4 MBPDFPrintable PlannerThe day-by-day plan on paper, for a binder or the refrigerator door.grade-9-biology-planner.pdf 178 KB

Edit it, or read it your own way

The same course in open, ordinary file formats. Rewrite a lesson, drop a unit you do not need, or load it on an e-reader.

DOCXMicrosoft WordFully editable. Change wording, add your own notes, delete what does not fit your family.grade-9-biology.docx 488 KBRTFWord ProcessorOpens in Word, LibreOffice, Pages, or Google Docs.grade-9-biology.rtf 2.7 MBEPUBE-Reader EditionFor a Kindle, Kobo, tablet, or phone reading app.grade-9-biology.epub 431 KBMDMarkdownPlain-text source with the headings intact, for note-taking apps and static site tools.grade-9-biology.md 1.2 MBTXTPlain TextThe whole course as unformatted text — the most portable copy there is.grade-9-biology.txt 1.2 MBCSVFlashcards (CSV)Import into Anki, Quizlet, or a spreadsheet.grade-9-biology-flashcards.csv 200 KBTSVFlashcards (TSV)Tab-separated, for importers that prefer it that way.grade-9-biology-flashcards.tsv 193 KBHTMLCopywork (HTML)The copywork sheets as a browser page you can print from.grade-9-biology-copywork.html 53 KBHTMLFlashcards (HTML)The cut-apart cards as a browser page you can print from.grade-9-biology-flashcards-print.html 534 KB

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