A parachute drop is a fun way to engage students in science while sneaking in a lesson on average velocity, wind resistance, and gravity. The following hands-on activities ask students to first build and then test parachuting paraboloids (the larger half of an egg-shaped hosiery container, attached with threads to a parachute) to determine how different materials, sizes, and weights affect the average falling velocities of their creations. During these activities, students practice observing, measuring, and inferring, and gain self-confidence and a sense of satisfaction by creating their own working lab equipment.