Class 9 Conic Sections

Legend has it that Apollonius of Perga, around 200 BC, was approached by a wealthy patron who asked him to build a sundial that would accurately show the time throughout the year.  Intrigued by the challenge, he came up with the idea of using a certain type of shapes called “conic sections”, which are shapes that are formed by cutting through a cone with a knife at various angles. 

As Apollonius dug deeper into these shapes, he found he could describe these shapes using the mathematics of geometry and algebra.  Last term, our Class 9 students sought to understand the shapes that can be called “conic sections” or “conics” for short. During the Conics Maths Main Lesson, we, like Appolonius, dug deeper into the details and nature of conic sections. These shapes include the perfect circle, the earthy ellipse, the connecting parabola and the manic hyperbola.  Through imagination, observation, some drawing and the occasional story our Class 9 students saw, drew and imagined all the conics.

Geometry is an important part of the maths curriculum at Parkerville Steiner College and although there was some reference to the algebra of conics, the emphasis was on their form and design. During the course of the rest of the year, we will be making reference to some of the shapes that have become so familiar.  We have all come to appreciate the nature and form of conic sections.

Bill Bennett