Conical sections,parabola

In mathematics, a conic section is a curve obtained as the intersection of a cone with a plane. Traditionally, the three types of conic section are the ellipse and circle (the circle is a special case of the ellipse), the parabola, and the hyperbola. The circle is of sufficient interest in its own right that it is sometimes called the fourth type of conic section.

The project is to design a model of a parabola as a conic section. Additionally the instructor can specify the parameters of the section and ask the students to show the necessary calculations. As a further design challenge each part of the cone can be designed interlocking so that they can be assembled to a complete cone.