The 4 inch model is meant to display the conic sections in mathematics on a 3D scale. The conic sections come from 2 cones, stacked on top of each other (tip to tip), being cut by planes in a 3D space, and the resulting cuts create 2D graphs. With the help of this model, the origin of these conic shapes can be seen more clearly and manipulated by mathematicians and students. Those who use the model can see the different types of shapes that are created as well as how they relate to each other in the cones they were created from.

The use of conic sections in the classroom is one of the Maine mathematics standards as dictated by the Common Core Mathematics Standards. Standards CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.HSG.GPE.A.1, 2, and 3; all discuss the idea of conic sections graphically as well as through equations. Yet the conceptual ideas of the conic sections and where they come from is not as easy to understand. Even if students are given a set of equations and how to work with them, it doesn’t help the students see how it relates to cones. By having this model in the classroom, students can see where the planes cut the cone to make the different 2D shapes from a 3D model.

(A. Reynolds - MAT 363, December 2014)