This article describe the investigation about the spontaneous
conceptions on life cycle and metamorphosis, with a sample of 54 pupils of
preschool, second and fourth series of Basic Education that had been displayed
to observe and to describe cultures of Drosophila melanogaster. We also
present a didactic proposal (available in
www.ufsm.br/labdros/links/cultdros.pdf) to work the concept of life cycle with
traditional and constructivist perspectives already in the initial series of Basic
Education, where pupils of different ages and phases of the development bring
a gamma of valuable explanations on this subject. Many pupils believe that the
living creature pass for diverse stages, since the birth until the adult phase,
Revista Electrónica de Enseñanza de las Ciencias Vol. 6 Nº 1 (2007)
118
understanding, thus, the concept of metamorphosis, observed in this study
that used insects that pass for this process. Others, in turn, believe faithful
that the living creature can appear of the "inanimate substance" as, for
example, appear of the "food" or from the "dirt".v