Black Hole Anxiety

The Orion Nebula

We just started a mini(ish) unit on stars and our minds are already spinning. The universe is such a mystery! Today we watched an awesome Brainpop vid about the life cycle of a star. My kiddos were furiously note taking the entire time (they seem to have this thing with note-taking. I never require it but I think they feel cool or college-y or mature. Who knows.). We talked all about nebulae (the plural of nebula--duh), and the formation of stars. Although hard to fathom, by the end of the lesson we seemed to have a pretty good grasp on how dust and gas contract over time, heat and densify as they contract, and eventually ignite through nuclear fusion.

The video gave us just a tid-bit of information on the explosion of a huge star that collapses to form a black hole. (Did you know a black hole is called a singularity? Seriously--this job makes me dorkier by the day.) We spent the rest of the day trying to understand what the heck a black hole is and how scientists have discovered anything about it. Some of our questions included:


So...humans can't get near a black hole? What if I took a space ship? Would it suck me in?


You mean it basically eats whatever comes near it? How dare it!? (Yes...Caroline did, in fact, question the black hole's intentions)


Could the sun become a black hole? Will it suck in the earth? When will this happen? (Frantic pacing ensued)


If an asteroid came near the earth, would a black hole suck it up and protect us from harm? (I then had to break up a black hole vs. asteroid battle between two imaginative dudes)




So, overall we are super excited and somewhat in awe of the kind of stuff that is happening in our universe. It is pretty stellar. (get it?!)