Black Hole Junior

Black Hole Junior

Peering into the darkness: modelling black holes in primary school Teach article

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Having difficulties explaining black holes to your students? Why not try these simple activities in the classroom?
Many young people have heard of black holes and understand that if something falls into one, it cannot get out again – even light cannot escape. That is how a black hole gets its name: it is a point in space that does not emit any light (figure 1). This is not an easy concept to explain. In this article, therefore, I briefly introduce black holes and then describe two simple activities to help school students to visualise what is happening. Each activity should take about an hour; both are suitable for pupils aged 10-14 (although note that the reviewer suggests using the activities with students aged 10-19).
Black holes form during the death of very massive stars (at least several times the mass of our Sun).
A star consists of a hot core surrounded by many layers of gas w1 . In the core of the star, lighter elements such as hydrogen and helium are joined together by thermonuclear fusion to form heavier elements such as metals. The heat created in this process exerts an outward pressure, which counteracts the force of gravity pulling the gas towards the centre of the star and gives the star its large size. When the star runs out of fuel in its core, however, it is unable to support these heavy outer layers of gas. If the dying star is very massive, gravity will pull on the gas and cause the star to become smaller and smaller until its density reaches infinity at a single point, which is called a singularity (figure 2).
Close to the singularity, gravity is so strong that nothing can escape. The escape velocity would need to be higher than the speed of light – so not even light can escape, which is why the black hole is black. (It is not actually a hole, though: there is a lot in there, although we cannot see it.)
At a certain distance from the singularity, gravity is weak enough to allow light to escape, thus objects beyond this distance are visible. This boundary is called the event horizon. Objects outside the event horizon still feel the black hole’s gravity, and will be attracted towards it, but they can be seen and can potentially escape falling in. Once objects are sucked inside the event horizon, however, there is no return.
After the black hole forms, it can grow by absorbing mass from its surroundings, such as other stars and other black holes w2 . If a black hole absorbs enough material, it can become a supermassive black hole , which means it has a mass of more than one million solar masses. It is believed that supermassive black holes exist in the centres of many galaxies, including the Milky Way.
Usually, astronomers observe objects in space by looking at the light; this, for instance, is how they study stars (for example, see Mignone & Barnes, 2011 ). However, since black holes do not emit any light, they cannot be observed in the usual way. Instead, astronomers have to observe the interaction of the black hole with other objects. One way to do this is to look at the motions of stars around the black hole, since their orbits will be altered by its presence w3 .
This activity will demonstrate to students how a black hole is formed through the collapse of a massive star, once the core of the star is unable to support the weight of the outer layers of gas surrounding it. The time needed should be about one hour.
Building the star with more layers of gas (represented by the foil) would make the star more massive. It would also result in the formation of a more massive black hole, since there would be more material with which to form the black hole.
In this activity, students will build a model of a black hole to help them visualise how a black hole can ‘bend’ space–time and affect nearby objects. The activity should take about one hour.
Each working group will need ( figure 3 ):
Activity 1 was adapted from the ‘Journey to a Black Hole’ demonstration manual on the Inside Einstein’s Universe website w4 . That activity was in turn adapted from the ‘Aluminum Foil, Balloons, and Black Holes’ activity on NASA’s Imagine the Universe website w1 .
Activity 2 is adapted from a resource in the UNAWE database by Ricardo Moreno from Exploring the Universe, UNAWE w5 Espagna.
Monica Turner received her BSc in physics from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and then completed her master’s in astronomy at the University of Victoria in Victoria, Canada. She is currently working on her PhD in astronomy at Leiden Observatory in the Netherlands. Monica has experience as a teaching assistant for astronomy classes, as well as working with young children in science camps, and is currently involved with EU Universe Awareness (UNAWE) w4 .
In this article, the author briefly describes how black holes are formed in space and how they interact with what is known as ‘space–time’. She then describes very simple but impressive experiments to demonstrate the formation of black holes and how they can influence the space around them.
Suitable comprehension questions after the activities include:

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Breakthrough Junior Challenge 2019:Black Holes

This is for the junior break through challenge and I am one of the contestants and this video will be in depth about a black hole and what it can do to an object or person if he or she entered. If you guys like the video smash that like button and subscribe.Also, I will post this on Face book so if u do like it on face book too that would be really helpful.
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#breakthroughjuniorchallenge

#breakthroughjuniorchallenge

Breakthrough Junior Challenge 2019:Black Holes

3.5K views 5 years ago

This is for the junior break through challenge and I am one of the contestants and this video will be in depth about a black hole and what it can do to an object or person if he or she entered. If you guys like the video smash that like button and subscribe.Also, I will post this on Face book so if u do like it on face book too that would be really helpful.
Thanks for watching and hope u enjoy

#breakthroughjuniorchallenge … Show more

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0:56 / 2:59 • Watch full video Live
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Breakthrough Junior Challenge 2019:Black Holes

This is for the junior break through challenge and I am one of the contestants and this video will be in depth about a black hole and what it can do to an object or person if he or she entered. If you guys like the video smash that like button and subscribe.Also, I will post this on Face book so if u do like it on face book too that would be really helpful.
Thanks for watching and hope u enjoy

#breakthroughjuniorchallenge

#breakthroughjuniorchallenge

Breakthrough Junior Challenge 2019:Black Holes

3.5K views 5 years ago

This is for the junior break through challenge and I am one of the contestants and this video will be in depth about a black hole and what it can do to an object or person if he or she entered. If you guys like the video smash that like button and subscribe.Also, I will post this on Face book so if u do like it on face book too that would be really helpful.
Thanks for watching and hope u enjoy

#breakthroughjuniorchallenge … Show more

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Black Hole Junior

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