STAR TREK LIVE! - Ontario Science Centre

Teachers Resource Manual
Experiment: It’s Dark Down There
8 Give each pair one piece of tape. Instruct the
pairs to place the piece of tape at one of the
colored lines that meets the cone and to secure
in place. Have the pair unroll their cone so
that it lies flat against Sheet #1.
9 Instruct the class to use their rulers to continue
the colored line onto the circle. Have them
roll the circle back into a cone shape without
disturbing the piece of tape.
K Instruct the pairs to repeat the line extension
with the other colored line.
L Discuss how the two parallel lines cross after
passing through the black hole.
J Instruct the students to look for the point on the
cone’s edge where the colored line touches the
paper. Give the pairs a second piece of tape so
that it connects the cone to the paper at this spot.
M Encourage the students to experiment to see
what happens to other parallel lines after they
pass through the black hole. The black hole
traps any lines that pass within the event horizon
(the 2cm (3/4”) circle. The students should
roll the cone to spiral the lines’ tips inwards
until they touch the dark black hole circle in
the center.
Instruct the students to unroll the cone and to
use the ruler to continue the line from the cone
onto the paper.
It’s Dark Down There
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