Skip to main content

Black Hole Facts; Plus a Free Student Handout from AccessScience

Help students stretch their minds and understand the gravity of the black hole phenomenon.

Download PDF

Access to this content is available to Ward’s World readers for free from McGraw Hill’s AccessScience, an award-winning, digital STEM resource that provides immediate, authoritative answers to students’ thirst for scientific knowledge on topics such as climate change, virology, pollution, and more. Ward’s World and McGraw Hill have partnered to offer educators a no-obligation, free trial subscription to this product. Request your free trial today and discover how valuable AccessScience can be for you and your students.


High School 

 


Calling all astrophiles!

You’ll be sure to excite the astrophiles, budding astronomers and scientists in your class by including spacey facts and far-out lessons about black holes.

Your students will be mesmerized by such mind-bending facts like

  • A black hole is not really a hole at all! It’s an enormously dense object. Anything falls into can never escape. Never!
  • Our Milky Way galaxy has a black hole (4 million times the Sun’s mass)! However, it’s light years away from earth, so we’re safe for now.
  • Based on Einstein’s theory of general relativity, if someone fell into a black hole, time would slow down for them relative to an outside observer. But slowed time would be the least of their worries, considering the black hole’s extreme gravitational force.
  • The first black hole imaged by researchers was found in the M87 galaxy (55 million light-years away) and is 6.5 billion times the Sun’s mass.1

These are mind-boggling facts for sure! But, with your help, students can stretch their minds and understand the gravity of the black hole phenomenon.

Download McGraw Hill's AccessScience article, Black Hole, to develop your lesson plans that help students understand the key concepts about this region of spacetime. The free download also includes assessment questions and answers you can use to test student understanding. Download teacher key here.


1. Nasa.gov

Recommended Products

[StartProductBlock]

Ward's® Gravity and Orbits Lab Activity

Investigates the effect of gravity on a moving body, then determines the relationship between a celestial object’s period of revolution and the force pulling on the object.

Shop Now

[EndProductBlock]

 

[StartProductBlock]

Show Me Science: Advanced Video Series

Exploring the world of science for high school and beyond. The award-winning show me science advanced series examines the most recent developments and discoveries in science and technology. 

Shop Now

[EndProductBlock]

 

[StartProductBlock]

Celestron PowerSeeker 60 Refractor Telescope

An ideal combination of quality, value, features, and power, this telescope is well-equipped for both celestial and terrestrial viewing. Uses a 3X Barlow lens.

Shop Now

[EndProductBlock]

 

[StartProductBlock]

The Milky Way Chart

Vivid color imagery showing the detail of the Milky Way Galaxy. The easy-to-read chart information will expand students’ knowledge of the Milky Way, while additional photos and callouts describe the different styles of galaxies shown. Size: 20" x 30".

Shop Now

[EndProductBlock]

 

[StartProductBlock]

CPEP History and Fate of the Universe Charts

Illustrates and summarizes what is known about the history and fate of the universe. The chart is crammed with information covering a broad range of cosmological topics.

Shop Now

[EndProductBlock]