Science Teaching in Early Childhood Education: expansion for the development of scientific literacy at school

Abstract

The article discusses the assumptions of science teaching for early childhood education, highlighting the importance of expanding the relationship between childhood and nature in contemporary times for the development of scientific literacy in the school context. The paper defends the thesis that states, in summary, that the teaching of science should be based on the exploration of the pedagogical potential of natural environments for learning about the phenomena of nature and the promotion of scientific literacy at this stage of schooling. The methodology is qualitative in nature, based on bibliographic research, as well as on document analysis, especially the Common National Curricular Base - BNCC (BRASIL, 2017). The proposed reflections integrate the understanding that the fields of experience, described in the BNCC, include principles and pedagogical proposals that are consistent with the promotion of scientific literacy in early childhood education. Moreover, the arguments point out that science teaching contributes to stimulate, in children, curiosity, critical thinking, investigation and discovery of natural phenomena, reflecting on the relationship between humans and nature, in order to mobilize attitudes of environmental preservation. In this context, exploring scientific literacy in school should provide an understanding of the usefulness and intervention of scientific knowledge in episodes that integrate children's daily lives.