Bill Nye: A Modern Day Renaissance Man

Through the analysis of the major televised debate, held February this year, between the popular science communicator, Bill Nye, and the US-based Australian creationist, Ken Ham. It has come to light that through careful analysis and research it is my belief that scientists should not be involved within any debates “scientific” or otherwise regarding topics pertaining to creationism or any other religious perspective. The inappropriate use of the loose definitions of science and religion lead to the intertwining of the two subjects that are extremely different in methodology, leaving the audience up for misinterpretation. While the debate did bring about the topic to the forefront of the public, which in itself was a positive, I do not believe that the post debate result was a win for science. Bill Nye’s derogatory demeanour represented post debate towards Ken Ham was in turn a representation of institutional science. Leading to which the validity of the debate and post debate could be brought into question.

The New Yorker is a celebrated magazine that is known for its reporting, essays, and political commentary. Its exemplary status is also attributed to its cartoons and illustrative covers, which are often satirical reinterpretations of current affairs. The demographic of the people who read the New Yorker provides a clue as to the whom the advertisement’s target audience is. They tend to be on the liberal spectrum, mostly college educated people in their early 30s to late 50s.

Bill Nye is a major voice in Global Climate Change. Global Climate Change is a major problem that needs to be dealt with on Earth. Bill Nye has been advocating to the government and public to become more aware of these problems and do something about them. President Obama invited Bill Nye to visit the Everglades National park with him on Earth Day April 22nd, 2015. President Obama and Bill Nye discussed how to make Science more successful in schools. Bill Nye believes that children either learn to have a love of

Nye talked about the possibility that alien species may be more advanced than humans, and that they might not even use DNA. Scientists always look for DNA or RNA when determining whether or not a species is of Earth or not if there was a suspected alien event. He believes that there must be life somewhere else out in the visible universe, because it is extremely improbable that Earth is the only planet that has life, and I agree with him. I think reading Nye’s argument about aliens and astrobiology will make me more aware of my surroundings and have a more open mind to ideas that seem impossible, but actually are probable. I think everyone can benefit from this information because everyone needs to be a little more open minded and accept things they don’t think should be

“Steven Johnson proposes that what is making us smarter is precisely what we thought was making us dumber” ( 1 ). Television shows, reality shows, and even games are way different from what it was thirty years ago

His first book was The Garden of Abdul Gasazi in 1979. He showed the world that he was a talented storybook writer. The public responded by buying more than a million copies. This book also received a Caldecott Medal Award. He would follow up with wonderful books such as The Mysteries of Harris Bur*censored*.

The sequel was even better than the first. Evaluating it as a fantastic medical drama, bringing trauma and delight to the ever changing plot, never fails to thrill the reader through a roller coaster ride of suspense (Ufowriter, Amazon.com). But without a doubt his Alex Cross series is his best work. He creates a world that keeps building upon itself with each book. With each book the characters develop again and again. Enemies from past books will resurface to terrorize Alex once more. Old enemies will rise again and some main characters will die. He has even said that “I’m much heavier into the telling of the story and a little less careful with the writing of good sentences.� (Author & Artists, page 212) The series has changed the way an action/mystery novel is written today.

These people, who do not have all the knowledge scientists have, cannot possibly learn about science unless it has been simplified from its much complex form to one that can be comprehended by this audience. Popular science is therefore used to educate these people through means such as stories, which is much easier for them as well as scientists that are not specializing in that area of expertise to understand (Perrault, 2013).

It was a pleasure to read your Week 1, Discussion Board Thread. I don’t concur with Bill Nye reasoning for creation and evolution. However I strongly believe we must study science from every angle and grasp the data aligns with the holy scriptures. The studies of evolution to don’t support nor give substantial role for God.

Artifact 1, “Action Research Article Critique,” is a critique of the research article, “Dramatising Science Learning: Findings from a pilot study to re-invigorate elementary science pedagogy for five- to -seven-year olds,” in which I reviewed the study and findings to reflect on the benefits of implementing the use of dramatization techniques in teaching science.

As an early childhood teacher, I tend to favor child-friendly videos, so I chose Bill Nye the Science Guy: Earth’s Crust. Bill Nye takes a somewhat abstract concept for younger students to conceptualize and explains it in a way that is entertaining, yet extremely effective. He starts by introducing vocabulary that is essential for later understanding. When children are learning new material, not knowing the terminology causes frustration and/or disinterest, making the understanding of later concepts virtually impossible. Nye continues building on the subject little by little, (as not to overwhelm learners with too much new information) demonstrating ideas with examples, and making comparisons to situations and objects relevant to their lives.

Although “Leviathan” is the first book I have read, he has written a total of thirty-eight books. I look forward to reading some more of Scott Westerfeld’s creations with how great the first book is.

Climate change has undoubtedly become one of the most prominent debate topics in the world today. With that being said, there are multiple aspects of climate change currently being discussed; causes of climate change, the idea that climate change may be a hoax, and whether or not climate change affects human health are three of the many ongoing debates about climate change. Climate change is surrounded by negative connotations, but Jay Leno, former host of NBC’s The Tonight Show, shed some light on the darkness of climate change, saying "According to a new U.N. report, the global warming outlook is much worse than originally predicted. Which is pretty bad when they originally predicted it would destroy the planet.” Although his first statement is rather true, Leno manages to lighten its load with a less true, but hilarious, comment. His words force one to realize that climate change impacts everyone in any area of the health triangle, whether it be through a joke such as Leno’s, or directly through issues such as pollution and pollen; the areas of the health triangle include physical health, mental/emotional health, and social health. Therefore, climate change is a threat to all aspects of human health; social health, mental/emotional health, and physical health.

Thirteen year old Megan Meier befriended and began exchanging messages with someone who she thought was a cute 16 year old boy named Josh Evans on Myspace. The messages from Josh started out complimentary but quickly became hostile, soon leading to other forms of cyberbullying. Meier, already struggling with depression, grew even more depressed as the online harassment continued. On October 16, 2006, Meier hanged herself in her bedroom closet, dying a day later. Soon after, news surfaced that the “Josh Evans” Meier had been communicating with was not an actual person, but simply a fake account. A mother in Meier’s neighborhood ran the account, claiming that she made it in order to ascertain how Meier felt and what Meier was saying about her daughter. Due largely in part to a mother’s deep entrenchment in her daughter’s personal life, Megan Meier committed suicide, serving as an extreme example of the dangers of an overbearing parent. George Saunders’s 2009 short story first published in The New Yorker (later republished in his 2013 collection of short stories The Tenth of December: stories) also relays the dangers of overbearing parenting, but in a more direct manner.

In Te Whariki (Ministry of Education [MOE], 1996), it is reported that science creates opportunities for children to learn strategies for active investigation, thinking and reasoning (p 98). Children are naturally scientists” is one we hear often. There curiosity and need to make the world a more predictable place certainly drives them to explore and draw conclusions and theories from their experiences. Kilmer & Hofman (1995, p 44), cited in Eliason & Jenkins (1999, p 263), stated the benefits of science for young children include the promotion of intellectual growth, greater potential for success in school, and opportunities for development. Science in early childhood education for young children should be encouraged to develop them as they participate in science. Therefore, children need guidance and structure to turn their natural curiosity and activity into something more scienctific. They need to practice science – to engage in rich scientific inquiry. Scientific inquiry provides the opportunity for children to develop a range of skills, for example; explore objects, materials, and events, describe (including shape, size, number), identify patterns, share and discuss ideas and listen to new perspectives.