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In this study, we use a mixed methods approach to analyze the conversational content and interactions constituting five family groups' visits to the Marine Aquarium of Rio de Janeiro (AquaRio), the largest marine aquarium in South America, to understand how families interact with science and construct meaning regarding science and conservation. The audiovisual records of the family groups were analyzed using categories that investigate the types of interactions and conversations that may take place in scientific‐cultural venues. The results suggest that, throughout the visits, family members were driven by their observation and contemplation of the animals on exhibit to interact with each other to share information about marine biodiversity and its conservation. The adults, children, and explainers all had fundamental roles in the construction of dialogues on scientific topics. The adults adopted behaviors that facilitated learning, made associations with previous experiences, read panels, and contextualized the information to their family's reality. The children were notable for their protagonism, asking questions, giving explanations, and sharing their previous knowledge, experiences and opinions about the animals and the conservation of marine biodiversity based on scientific reasoning. Therefore, this study provides evidence of the important role that AquaRio could play in providing opportunities for families to have conversations about biodiversity and conservation while raising awareness about the impacts of human activities on the oceans.

O presente trabalho teórico tem como objetivo apresentar articulações entre os estudos de Paulo Freire e o campo da educação científica. Para tal, nos centramos na perspectiva da Alfabetização Científica (AC) e nas mediações da Educação CTS/CTSA. A alfabetização e o papel do diálogo em Freire são destacados para a compreensão de paralelos e tensões com a alfabetização científica e CTS/CTSA. Reconhecemos que uma fundamentação em Freire é presente em estudos CTS/CTSA, entretanto ainda existe um distanciamento de correlações teóricas entre Freire e AC no Brasil, principalmente em seus sentidos sociais mais profundos. Tal fato, configura-se enquanto um desafio teórico e prático; é necessário que seus pressupostos sociopolíticos ganhem ênfase na educação em ciências diante da constatação de um cenário desfavorável para a educação brasileira em sua totalidade.

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The year 2020 celebrates the centenary of Paulo Freire, which takes place in the midst of the rescue of the founding concepts of his work and demonstrates the relevance of his critical thinking. His ideas have been present in Museology since the 1970s, influencing museological research and practice. In natural science museums, several works from the 1990s seek to identify theoretical and methodological trends in science education in exhibitions and educational activities. Within these trends, one can see the absence of productions that are based on critical theories and on Paulo Freire's ideas, which has been occurring more recently. This text discusses the articulations between research and practices in the fields of education and communication and science museums, questioning whether and how Paulo Freire's ideas became present. It was also intended to discuss the use of Freirean ideas in the context of science museums, focusing on two movements: scientific literacy and the relationships between science, technology, society and the environment. At the end, we propose some paths and argue in favor of a more intense use of some of the key concepts of Paulo Freire's work in the research and practices of natural science museums and problematize, given the complexity, conflicts and tensions that permeate today's world, about what science and what science education and communication we want to support in science museums. Key words: Paulo Freire; Education; Dissimination; Science museums