ABSTRACT:

This study defends science teaching by research as a pedagogical practice that facilitates scientific literacy in primary school's first years. To collect data, a didactic sequence was applied addressing the theme "Where does the rainbow come from?" The research is qualitative and of the action-research kind. It was developed in a primary school's 5th year class. The results revealed that students develop conceptual contents in a context endowed with meaning when invited to do research similarly to those made by the scientific culture. In this way, students become able to use scientific concepts such as reading instruments, meaning and understanding of the world, which means they become scientifically literate.

Keywords:
Science; Learning; Literacy; Scientific literacy; Teaching by research.