<p>The acquisition and retention of nature of science (NOS) are crucial for promoting students’ scientific literacy. This study examined the changes in elementary students’ understanding of NOS by tracking a group of elementary students, starting from their participation in a science camp, the short-term retention after 4 months, and the long-term retention after 5 years. We utilized the VNOS series questionnaires and conducted individual student interviews with seven elementary students at four time points: pre-camp, post-camp, 4 months later, and 5 years later, to track the changes in their NOS views. Our findings indicated that for elementary students, the developmental and retention patterns differ across the six key aspects of NOS: (1) Empirical and Inference are relatively easy to develop and retain; (2) Tentative and Subjective are moderately challenging to develop and retain, whereas Subjective requires ongoing instruction to prevent regression; (3) Creative and Social-cultural Embedding are difficult to develop into informed understanding. After 5 years, students recalled nearly all science camp activities, and demonstrated comprehensive understandings of most target NOS aspects, except for Tentative, which showed regression. Additionally, students attributed changes in their NOS views over the 5-year period to increased knowledge and family guidance. This study suggested that for elementary students, NOS learning should follow the teaching trajectory from the specific to the abstract. Pre-teaching (i.e., providing foundational experiences and concepts before NOS instruction) may contribute to students acquiring an informed understanding of Social-cultural Embeddedness and Creative. Additionally, various scientific resources, including schools, families, media, and science camps, play roles in developing students’ views of NOS.</p>