Scientific literacy based on the prior conceptions of third and fourth-grade elementary school students regarding fossils

This article aims to investigate the previous conceptions of students in the Early Years of Elementary School in relation to the topic of fossils, based on Scientific Literacy indicators. To this end, a questionnaire was used, six questions related to Fossil were analyzed, via qualitative research, with 60 students from two early years classes, from public schools in the northwest of the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The analysis of data was obtained from Content Analysis and the responses indicated that in the first axis the indicators that stood out were the serialization of information, as the students established bases for investigative action, such as a simple presentation about fossils; and the classification of information appeared when students sought to establish characteristics for the answers. In the second axis, logical reasoning stood out, as it comprises the way in which students' ideas are developed and presented. These two axes point to basic understandings of scientific knowledge and the structuring of thought.