Since the popularization of chaos theory, great interest has been generated in non-linear dynamical systems. This text presents an introduction to the basic mathematical concepts and techniques needed to describe and analyze these, aimed at students who have taken a first course in calculus. After reviewing the basic ideas of differential equations, matrix algebra and iteration methods, first and second order continuous systems are discussed. Chapter Four investigates discrete systems and the final chapter is a collection of investigations that can be explored as more open ended tasks.