Observe, Classify, Compare, Use Numbers, Predict, Measure, Sequence, Collect Evidence, Experiment, Control/Test Situations. Across grade and ability levels, GMS students learn fundamental science skills through an inquiry-based program.

The following grade-appropriate entries are drawn directly from text materials provided by McGraw-Hill Science for grades 1-4 and Science Plus by Holt, Rinehart and Winston for grades 5-8. The topics and skills correlate to National Science Education Standards from the National Research Council, with content areas divided into three subcategories: Life Sciences, Earth Sciences, and Physical Sciences. When possible, units are chosen to match with the GMS Theme Studies program.

In grades 1-2, students study these topics:

• Life Sciences - the five senses, identifying/categorizing living and non-living things, plants and their habitats, animals and their habitats
• Earth Sciences - rocks, air, water and soil, effects of pollution, weather and season changes, solar system
• Physical Sciences - identifying/classifying matter, magnets and magnetism, simple machines, sound

In grades 3-4, students study these topics:

• Life Sciences - classifying organisms, life cycle of plants, ecosystems, animal characteristics, food chains, body systems
• Earth Sciences - rocks and minerals, landforms, fossils, water cycle, weather and climate, solar system [An example of a project: Botany Books]
• Physical Sciences - properties and states of matter, energy and its movement, electricity, forces and motion, simple machines

In grades 5-8, students study these topics:

• Life Sciences - structure and function in living systems, reproduction and heredity, regulation and behavior, populations and ecosystems, diversity and adaptations of organisms
• Earth Sciences - structure of the earth system, earth’s history, earth in the solar system
• Physical Sciences - properties and changes of properties of matter, motions and forces, transfer of energy

By grade 8, students will have experience in biology, zoology, botany, anatomy, oceanography, genetics, chemistry, physics, astronomy, ecology, geology, meteorology, archaeology, and petrology.