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Narrator: This is a kinesthetic model to help participants

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understand the effect that a black hole has on objects in its neighborhood of space.

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All participants should be assigned one of four roles: black

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hole, orbiting star, nearby star, or distant star.

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You should scale the number of people in each role appropriately to the size of your group.

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A four or five foot diameter circle should be marked-out

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on the floor. Using a rope or cord is an excellent temporary way to do this.

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Participants assigned to the role of black hole should stand in the

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center of the circle. The circle represents the black hole's event horizon, the

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point of no return. Anything that comes within the circle cannot escape the black

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hole. Participants assigned the role of orbiting star should start

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orbiting just outside of the roped circle. These objects are fully under the influence

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of the black hole's gravity but still remain separate objects. Those

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assigned the role of nearby star will be orbiting a bit farther away from the circle.

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They are still influenced by the gravity of the black hole, but may also have other influences

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on their motion. They may at times come closer to the black hole while at other

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times moving much farther away. The last of the participants

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are assigned the role of distant stars. They are even farther from the black hole and are

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too far away to be affected by its presence. For the most

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part, these objects continue in their roles with little deviation. A nearby

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star might very occasionally come close enough to bump an orbiting star into the black hole,

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but it's a rare occurence. Contrary to popular mythology, the black hole

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does not immediately suck up everything in its neighborhood, so in our activity

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want everyone to end up in the black hole. Just as it plays out in the universe,

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not much changes, even if you've got a black hole in your distant neighborhood.

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