169977 20260316092629.0 doi 10.1007/s10763-026-10656-0 sideral 148462 ART-2026-148462 eng Mazas Gil, Beatriz Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0003-1127-6160 Developing a model of bacteria: a journey through the understanding of prospective early childhood teachers 2026 This work aims to identify the development of the model of bacteria described by 369 prospective teachers of early childhood education, collected over eight academic years. The objective is to determine their pre-existing ideas about bacteria and the evolution after completing a sequence involving work on scientific skills. Before and after the sequence the participants are asked 'What is a bacterium?' The participants’ responses are subjected to content analysis. Initial results show a simplified model of bacteria. In their final models, they are able to add new characteristics such as type of cell or reproduction. There is also an increase in the number of students who mention the beneficial activities of bacteria. Regarding location, they acknowledge that bacteria are ubiquitous. Therefore, we identify an evolution of their model of bacteria towards one that is closer to the scientific reference model, although it is still incomplete. Access copy available to the general public Unrestricted info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess by https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.es info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Bravo Torrija, Beatriz Martín García, Jorge Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0002-2247-0826 4013 205 Universidad de Zaragoza Dpto. Didácticas Específicas Área Didáctica Ciencias Exper. 24, 24 (2026), 1-24 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS EDUCATION INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS EDUCATION 1571-0068 1375594 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/169977/files/texto_completo.pdf Versión publicada 1091708 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/169977/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon icon Versión publicada oai:zaguan.unizar.es:169977 articulos driver 2026-03-16-08:16:07 ARTICLE