For the present work, the objective is to strengthen critical thinking through the dynamics of the problem situation as a didactic strategy for the teaching of the origin of life, with students of the eighth grade of the Institution Edcativa Pio XII, Mocoa, Putumayo. The use of two rubrics is proposed: Critical Thinking Skills (CTS) and Argumentative Ability (AA), in order to evaluate the Characteristics of a Critical Thinker (CCT) during the application process of the didactic unit. The activities of the didactic unit focus on the management of the regularity-disturbance binomial, structured in the stages of approaching the problem, shock, latency, inquiry, and reflexivity until the formation of new representations. The analysis is made considering the performance levels that students reach by item. Evolution is evident in the characteristics of a critical thinker from the first stage, gradually mobilizing thought towards coherence, clarity, association, discrimination, construction of hypothesis, exemplification, among others. The application of this dynamic of the problem situation is relevant, not only in the area of Natural Sciences, but also in other areas of knowledge, to strengthen the critical thinking skills in the individual and their abilities to interact in different contexts.