As with the early history and early history of the universe, the origin and early history of the earth can probably be best explained to children in elementary school using graphics, particularly video.

The context of the earth and the solar system in terms of space and time would have been set to some extent when studying the origin and development of the universe.

The study of the origin and history of the earth in elementary school and the early years of post-elementary school could include the following:
- the formation of molecular clouds in space,
- the origin of the solar system through the collapse of a molecular cloud under gravity,
- the origin of the sun and of the planets from the solar nebula around 4.6 billion years ago, and their eventual organization into the solar system,
- formation of the early atmosphere and oceans,
- formation of the moon,
- early volcanism, eventual cooling of the surface and formation of the crust,
- formation of continents and their slow movement over the earth's surface,
- the covering and uncovering of the land by the sea over millions of years,
- the formation of mountains, and their erosion over time,
- the creation of rocks and rock strata, and their erosion to create a soil covering,
- changing levels of snow/ice coverage, past ice ages, "snowball earth", the present ice age and the future, - the formation of beaches,
- the formation of river systems, and their effect, along with other agents of change, in shaping the changing surface of the earth,
- changing oxygen levels in the atmosphere,
- development of weather and climate patterns,
- the transition to coverage with plant and animal lifeforms,
- the future history of the earth and solar system.

In the later years of post-elementary school the various sciences related to the history and structure of the earth can be introduced:
- geology,
- geophysics,
- soil science,
- hydrology,
- glaciology,
- atmospheric sciences,
- climatology,
- mineralogy,
- volcanology,
- oceanography,
- plate tectonics,
- etc., etc.