Today we spent the first 30 minutes doing math to calculate the equation of a parabola so that its focus would be 18 inches above its vertex. We then spent four hours building a physical parabola one foot wide and almost six feet long out of plywood, 2 x 4s and mirror tiles. The idea is to create a parabolic mirror that will focus the sun light to one set of points above the mirror.
After lunch we had a visit from the first grade. We gave demonstrations of our ovens and the parabolic mirror. Unfortunately the sun was covered by clouds, and it did not heat up very much. Hopefully we will get a sunny day soon or maybe have to wait until after break.