The Story of the Creation of the Universe introduces scientific thought on the origins of the universe and our own planet. Using impressionistic charts and experiments directly related to the basic physical properties of matter, a foundation is made for the future study of physics, chemistry, astronomy and geology. Specifically, this first Great Lesson describes how minerals and chemicals formed the elements, how matter transforms to three states of solid, liquid, and gas, how particles joined together and formed the earth, how heavier particles sank to the earth's core and volcanoes erupted, and how mountains were formed and the atmosphere condensed into rain, creating oceans, lakes, and rivers. From this story, students are introduced to lessons in physics, astronomy, geology, and chemistry. For example, they learn about light, heat, convection currents, gravity, galaxies, planetary systems, the earth's crust, volcanoes, erosion, climate and physical geography.

The Time Line of Life represents the beginning of life on Earth from the simplest forms through the appearance of human beings. A great variety and magnificence of life is presented, with each organism a contributor to a vast cosmic scheme. Specifically, this second Great Lesson explains how single-cell and multi-cell forms of life became embedded in the bottom of the sea and formed fossils. It traces the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and the Cenozoic periods, beginning with the kingdom of trilobites and ending with human beings. The teacher indicates on a time line where vertebrates began, followed by fish and plants, then amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. This lesson is the basis for lessons in chemistry, nutrition, categories of animals and plants, care and requirements of different animals, and their interrelationship with an ecological system. Students are introduced to formal scientific language of zoology, botany, and anthropology.

The Coming of Humans continues the exploration of life on Earth, providing a time line that stresses the development of humans from the earliest beings and introduces their unique endowments of intellect and will. The aim is for the children to imagine what life was like for early humans. This lesson is the basis for lessons in prehistory and the emergence of ancient civilizations. Students are introduced to an analytical tool to compare cultures. They learn how climate and topography influence culture and political geography.

The Story of Language A theme area rather than a specific time line (although time lines may be developed), the Story of Language follows the development of writing from its appearance in primitive cultures to its role in modern society, covering the origin, structure, and types of writing and speaking. It begins with a discussion of the Egyptians, who had two kinds of symbols, one for ideas and one for sounds. The story goes on to describe the Phoenicians, who used the Egyptian's sound pictures but not their idea pictures. Next, it describes contributions of the Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans. From this lesson, students use grammar materials, which help them examine how language is put together, and refine capitalization and punctuation. Students are introduced to the study of the origin of English words from other languages, the meanings of prefixes and suffixes and different forms of writing such as poetry, prose, and plays. Older children may study Egyptian hieroglyphics or Native Indian picture writing.

The Story of Numbers Also a theme area, this lesson involves the use of mathematics as an expression of the refinement of the human mind and as a response to the specific needs as well as the shared needs of human groups. Specifically, this Great Lesson emphasizes how human beings needed a language for their inventions to convey measurement and how things were made. The story describes how the Sumerians and Babylonians had a number system based on sixty, which is the reason for our sixty-second minute and sixty-minute hour. Greek, Roman and Chinese numbers are introduced. The story explains that our Arabic numerals are similar to numbers found in a cave in India from two thousand years ago. These Indian numerals used something that no other number system had used: the zero. This story is the basis for the children's learning of mathematics, which is integrated into all studies. For example, large numbers are needed in measuring time and space in astronomy, negative numbers are needed when measuring temperature changes; triangulation is needed to re-establish property boundaries after the Nile flooded ancient Egypt.