Scientific literacy in the final years of elementary school: milk fermentation as a means of teaching in science

Abstract

The following pages contain a qualitative study designed and carried out to understand the assumptions, characteristics and evidence of Scientific Literacy in Elementary School Final Years. The study data were collected in a ninth-grade classroom of a state public school in the Getúlio Vargas village, belonging to the municipality of Terra Alta. These are data from the survey of voice recording of the entire classes and the written work and/or activities produced by the students, in addition to all the teaching material provided to them during classes. We started our research by reviewing the topic “Scientific Literacy through fermentation in the production of artisan yoghurt” in national and international literature on Science Didactics through which we found information that allowed us to propose the structuring axes of Scientific Literacy. These axes are considered in our research for the analysis of activities that make up a didactic sequence involving discussions in which the same topic is discussed taking into account scientific knowledge and technologies through local knowledge. The study of the specific bibliography in the area also led us to propose indicators of Scientific Literacy: action and investigation skills that we deem necessary to be used when trying to build knowledge on any topic. After analyzing the didactic sequence, oral arguments and written work and/or experimental activities carried out by the students, we found very substantial evidence that Scientific Literacy is in process for most of the students in the studied class.