Black hole classroom activities — Quick reference guide (Chapter 2)
Following chapter 1 of the Quick reference guide for activities about black hole formation, this second chapter, called Gravity, Space-time and Black holes, will provide you 4 more classroom activities.
1. WHAT DOES A BLACK HOLE LOOK LIKE?
Age: 6+
Learning objectives:
To make an edible model showing what the outside of a black hole might look like in space.
Comments:
- Building an edible model is a fun and tasty activity for young children.
- Make sure that children understand that the black hole itself is invisible. What is observed through the telescope i.e. what this model recreates, is the region just outside of the black hole.
Instruction:
- https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/seuforum/einstein/resources/ JourneyBlackHole/JourneyBlackHoleManual.pdf (Page 17–18)
- https://www.dropbox.com/s/3izytmw42aasvec/cfa%20harvard. pdf?dl=0 (Page 17–18)
2. IS A BLACK HOLE A THREAT TO THE EARTH?
Age: 6+
Learning objectives:
The activity provides answers and illustrations to questions like what happens to space and time around a black hole and what would happen if the Sun became a black hole.
Comments:
- Activity is well ordered and able to explain well the concepts of space-time and gravity.
- Good discussion section before starting the activity.
Instruction:
- https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/seuforum/einstein/resources/ JourneyBlackHole/JourneyBlackHoleManual.pdf (Page 19–24)
- https://www.dropbox.com/s/3izytmw42aasvec/cfa%20harvard. pdf?dl=0 (Page 19–24)
3. GRAVITY AND THE FABRIC OF SPACE
Age: 7+
Learning objectives:
To understand what gravity is and how it works. To learn about black holes using the understanding of gravity.
Comments:
A series of small activities explaining gravity in different ways relating astronomical phenomena, including black holes.
Instruction:
- https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/docs/BHManual.pdf
- https://www.dropbox.com/s/j4n919ey9hzikly/Activity%20 guide%20-%20Nightsky.pdf?dl=0
4. MODEL OF A BLACK HOLE
Age: 8+
Learning objectives:
To introduce to students the important astronomical concepts of space-time, gravity and black holes using an interactive, hands-on activity. Students will be able to describe what happens to an object passing by a gravity well, if the gravity well is too deep (like a black hole’s) and its velocity is not high enough.
Comments:
- Good illustration for how a massive object like a black hole deforms space causing other objects to fall in and not escape.
- The background information includes the concept of space-time, but does not explain clearly what it means to say ‘gravity distorts space-time’. This concept might be confusing for younger audience, so space-time can just be referred to as space.
Instruction:
http://astroedu.iau.org/activities/model-of-a-black-hole/
You can download the pdf of the entire booklet here, the e-book here and the zip-file with all needed files to make a translation here.
