This text deals with the theoretical aspects of alternative and scientific knowledge with children between seven and 11 years of age, in the area of natural sciences. It derives from a dissertation that studied the concepts of microorganisms and vital functions of animals and plants in a cooperative school in Central town, in 2009-2010. In this study, we organize a synthesis of spontaneous and scientific conceptions, based essentially on international literature for the purpose of contributing to the analysis of children's knowledge of that school in this area. The main aspects studied about microorganisms were their structure, size and importance; While, for the animals and plants the functions of nutrition, gas exchange, respiration and transportation were considered, emphasizing the digestive functions in humans. There is a discussion of the implications of this benchmark work for the planning of teaching to this age range, highlighting the biological knowledge of the child.
Science teaching; Animals; Scientific knowledge; Microorganisms; Initial series