Solstice Shadow - Mt. Auburn Cemetery: Conic Sections and Geometric Construction

①This example demonstrates how the shadow of an object at the winter solstice forms conic sections (such as ellipses or hyperbolas) and related geometric figures in a cemetery setting. ②Core mathematical concepts include conic sections, parametric curves, trigonometric functions, inequalities, quadrilaterals and polygons, and eccentricity. ③Construction highlights: Using GeoGebra commands such as Line, Sequence, RemoveUndefined, Conic, Length, Polygon, and Eccentricity, the model builds objects labeled r, j, c, f, A, B, g, b, d, l1, C, l2, l3, l4, e, l6, i, l7, p, l, poly2, text1, m, h, text2, k, poly1, l5, a, and text variants, with parameters controlling the shadow shape and position. ④Suitable for high school or early college students to explore the geometric meaning of conics, parametric equations, and trigonometric functions, and as a cross-disciplinary project combining mathematics with art and real-world observation.