Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope Education and Public Outreach

Fermi Telescope Black Hole Resource Area

• PBS/NOVA Television Show: Monster of the Milky Way

  • 
    The Milky Way's light distorted at the event horizon of a black hole.
    Developed by Thomas Lucas Productions, this 1- hour show for PBS/NOVA entitled "Monster of the Milky Way" takes a sweeping look at the many lives of black holes. From studies of the supermassive black hole in the center of our Milky Way Galaxy to the birth of black holes in gamma-ray bursts and their seeming ubiquity in the universe, NASA and NSF funds provided support for this exciting hour of high-definition television. Thomas Lucas Productions has extensive experience in developing astronomy shows for public television: they produced Mysteries of Deep Space (which featured the Hubble Space Telescope), Voyage to the Milky Way, and the NSF-co-sponsored documentary entitled Runaway Universe (which is about dark energy and the cosmological constant).

• Denver Museum of Nature and Science Planetarium Show: "Black Holes: The Other Side Of Infinity"

  • This large format planetarium show, "Black Holes: The Other Side Of Infinity" premiered in January 2006 at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science (DMNS) The program was produced at DMNS with Tom Lucas and the NASA E/PO Group. Dr. Lynn Cominsky served as Science Director, and Dr. Philip Plait was the Science Consultant. An accompanying set of classroom exercises has been developed at DMNS for educators to use when their classes see the planetarium show.

• Black Holes FAQ Sheet: From Here to Infinity

  • English Version (PDFs)
  • - Full color version.
  • - Printable version (no background, with color pictures, 508 compliant).
  • Spanish Version (PDFs)
  • - Full color version.
  • - Printable version (no background, with color pictures).

• Black Holes Educator Workshop: From Here to Infinity

  • The SSU group, in collaboration with DMNS, has created an educators' workshop based on the program, complete with an educators' guide with well-tested activities from different Astrophysics division missions to teach the basic concepts outlined in the planetarium program.
  • - Download the Draft Guide (PDF).
  • - Disability accessible Draft Guide(PDF).
  • - FTP the full CD with Power Point Presentations and educator guide.
  • Guide Presentations (PPTs)
  • - Section 1 - The Formation of Black Holes Presentation.
  • - Section 2 - The gravity of the situation (around black holes) Presentation.
  • - Section 3 - Travel Inside the Black Hole at the Center of the Milky Way Presentation.
  • - Section 4 - The Search for Black Holes.

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• Black hole science web sites

  • The following websites have excellent scientific descriptions of black holes, designed for curious minds of all ages.
    • For young readers.
    • - http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/universe_level1/black_holes.html
    • - http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l1/black_holes.html
    • - http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/capture/blackholes/
    • - http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/cs_space.shtml
    • - http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/sp/kids/cs_space.shtml (in Spanish)
    • - http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/what-is-a-black-hole-k4.html (Grades K-4)
    • - http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/what-is-a-black-hole-58.html (Grades 5-8)
    • For average adult readers.
    • - http://chandra.harvard.edu/xray_sources/blackholes.html
    • - http://chandra.harvard.edu/xray_sources/quasars.html
    • - http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/seuforum/blackholelanding.htm
    • - http://hubblesite.org/discoveries/black_holes/
    • For advanced readers.
    • - http://casa.colorado.edu/~ajsh/home.html
    • - http://cosmology.berkeley.edu/Education/BHfaq.html

• Black hole activities for the classroom

  • Black holes are an excellent way to engage your student and increase their curiosity and wonder of the world around them. Here are some sites that have classroom activities which explore the concepts of how black holes behave, and teach basic concepts in science and math. Interactive education matrix for educators interested in teaching about black holes (this includes links below and more).
  • - http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/teachers/blackholes/blackholes.html
  • - http://einstein.stanford.edu/
  • - http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/resources/explorations/blackholes/lesson/index.html
  • - http://swift.sonoma.edu/education/index.html#grb
  • - http://www.adlerplanetarium.org/education/resources/gravity/index.shtml
  • - http://cgwp.gravity.psu.edu/outreach/activities/

• Cool black hole games for all ages

  • What better way to treat the endpoints of all matter, space, and time, than with a game? These websites features games - both online and board/card games - that are not only fun to play, but are educational and standards-based.
  • - http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/blackhole/index.shtml
  • - http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/sp/kids/blackhole/index.shtml (in Spanish)
  • - http://mystery.sonoma.edu/live_from_2-alpha/index.html
  • - http://glast.sonoma.edu/teachers/race.php
  • - http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/seuforum/bh_popup_spacetimelab.htm
  • - http://www.universeforum.org/einstein/resource_BHExplorer.htm
  • - http://www.universeforum.org/einstein/resource_journeyblackhole.htm
  • - http://www.universeforum.org/einstein/resources_visual.htm

• Great black hole resource pages

  • There are many more great sites on the web dealing with black holes, how they work, how they affect their neighborhoods, and what scientists hope to learn from them. Listed below are a few of these places where you can learn even more about black holes.
  • - http://www.astrosociety.org/education/resources/scifi02.html
  • - http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/gifcity/bh_pub_faq.html
  • - http://www.phys.vt.edu/~jhs/faq/blackholes.html
  • - http://chandra.harvard.edu/resources/faq/black_hole/bhole-main.html
  • - http://www.astro.keele.ac.uk/workx/blackholes/index3.html
  • - http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases/category/exotic/black%20hole/
  • - http://www.scienceface.org/

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A service of the Astrophysics Science Division at NASA/ GSFC
Fermi Project Scientist: Julie McEnery
Responsible SSU Personnel: Lynn Cominsky
Web Curator: Kamal S. Prasad

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