As a key population group in the construction of public science literacy, the level of scientific literacy of the elderly has been in a state of low level and low growth for a long time. Meanwhile, it is affected by multiple factors such as gender, urban and rural areas, education level, access to scientific and technological information, interest, needs and attitudes towards science and technology. Based on the data of the 12th National Civic Scientific Literacy Sampling Survey, this paper describes the current situation and characteristics of scientific literacy of the elderly in China, analyzes the characteristics of the scientific literacy development of the elderly in different regions and different classification groups, and holds that the foundation of scientific literacy of elderly people is weak. There are differences in education level, gender, and urban-rural distribution among elderly people with different levels of scientific literacy, and their grasp of relevant dimensions of scientific literacy is also different. Traditional media such as television are the main channels for the elderly to obtain scientific and technological information, and the elderly's support for science and technology and utilization rate of various science venues are lower than that of all citizens. Social participation is also an important factor to improve the scientific literacy of the elderly. Based on this, we should pay attention to raising the scientific literacy of the elderly by focusing on their primary needs, especially health literacy and information literacy; continue to popularize scientific knowledge and methods, and highlight the guidance of scientific spirit to adapt to the characteristics of the development of scientific literacy of the elderly; promote the transformation of science popularization services to adapt to aging, and improve the ability of science popularization and services for the elderly.

the elderly  /  scientific literacy  /  healthy literacy  /  information literacy