Expert geoscientists think in terms of systems that involve multiple processes with complex interactions. Earth system science has become increasingly important at the professional level, and an understanding of systems is a key learning goal at all levels of the earth science curriculum. In this paper, research in the cognitive and learning sciences is brought to bear on the question of how students learn systems thinking and on the challenges of developing effective instructional programs. The research suggests that learning systems concepts is difficult and that it involves extended learning progressions, requiring structured curricular integration across levels of K–16 instruction. Following a discussion of these challenges, current instructional innovations are outlined, and an agenda for needed research on learning and teaching systems thinking is proposed.

Few discoveries in geology are more important than geological time. However, for most people, it is impossible to grasp because of its massive scale. In this chapter, we offer a solution to this problem based on our research in cognition and education. Our strategy involves the decoupling of geological time between the macroscale of deep time, which includes the major features of Earth history, and the study of which we call event-based studies, and the microscale of relative time, represented by strata, the study of which we term logic-based studies. Our event-based study focuses on the problem of learning about macroevolution within the massive time scale of the fossil record. We approached this problem by creating a four-stage learning model in which the students manipulated a series of increasingly complex visual representations of evolution in time. Postprogram results indicate that students had a better understanding of macroevolution as seen in the fossil record; moreover, they appreciated that different events in absolute time required different scales of time to occur. Our logic-based studies used Montangero's diachronic thinking model as a basis for describing how students reconstruct geological systems in time. Using this model, we designed three specialized instruments to test a sample of middle and high school students. Our findings indicated that there were significant students in grade 9–12 and grade 7–8 in their ability to reconstruct geological systems. Moreover, grade 11–12 geology majors in Israel had a significant advantage over their nongeological counterparts in such reconstruction tasks.