Chapter 2: Christmas Tree Science

After going down the slide, Rocky got to work. Looking at the tree, he needed to measure it, but it would be challengjng to measure the whole thing! Maybe if he started with a smaller measurement he could work his way up!

"Maybe if I measure the tallest pup, that could help me. Hmmm. Chase? Can you come here please?" Rocky said before calling out to his friend. Luckily, Chase was nearby.

"Yes Rocky? What do you need?" Chase asked as he ran over to the mixed breed.

"I need to get your height. Hold still please," Rocky said politely. He then went to get measuring tape from his truck before returning.

"Okay. And you are ... twenty inches tall. Thank you Chase. Can you send Marshall over if you see him?" Rocky retorted.

"You're welcome Rocky. Yes I can, hold on!" Chase replied before leaving. After a while, Marshall came running over to Rocky.

"Hi Rocky. Chase said you needed me for something?" Marshall asked as he approached.

"Yes, could you please get your fire truck? I need the ladder to measure the tree," Rocky explained. Marshall was slightly confused.

"The tree we decorated? Sure. Be right back!" Marshall replied before going to get his fire truck. Within minutes, he drove it over, and let Rocky get on the ladder. They measured the height and width by every twenty inches. It took a while, but they soon got done.

"Good. Thank you Marshall. Hold on," Rocky said before going to get a calculator. He punched in some numbers and came to a total.

"Our Christmas tree is twenty feet tall, by eighteen feet across. Thank you Marshall," Rocky said kindly.

"You're welcome Rocky," Marshall responded before driving his fire truck back to The Lookout.

After getting the calculation, Rocky went inside The Lookout to find out more information on the computer. He wanted to make sure he had everything ready for his Christmas parachute.

"Okay. So far I got the Christmas tree height and width. Now how does that compare to other trees. Let's see...The average indoor tree is seven feet, and five feet across ... and the average pine tree is one hundred fifty to two hundred ten feet. Well our tree fits the size. Any eco friendly trees?...none. Hmmm. What about parachutes?" Rocky said to himself as he looked at the info on the computer.

Unfortunately, as he looked on the computer, finding a way to make a parachute into a tree was harder than he thought. Not only were there very little eco-friendly materials to make a parachute, but the shape wasn't exactly fitting for skydiving. Hence, finding a way to create a Christmas tree parachute seemed all but impossible.

"Seriously?! Nothing?! No tree shaped parachutes of any kind?! ... triangular parachutes still can be used, but originally designed for tests until the more significant and effective round shaped parachute became more common due to how successful it was with skydivers. Augh! Pup biscuits! Is the world just determined that for me to not make my Christmas gift?!" Rocky said in frustration. The research he had looked up didn't help much at all.

Despite his research being a downer, Rocky then thought of something else; could parachutes be stacked on top of each other, but still work? The mixed breed did more research and found out this could happen. However, there was a catch.

"Average five feet or about that size needs a three foot hole in parachute to help release air trapped in the chute material. This helps slow the object down at a straight angle, and steady speed. The hole is also added to help for speed control so the object slows down and isn't affected by the wind completely. The hole helps so the air under the parachute doesn't go to either size, pushing the parachute to either direction with no way to control the landing or direction of the parachute. Well, those sound good," Rocky said happily. At least there was some good news for his parachute design.

After some more research, Rocky felt like he had everything he needed. He just had to test out a parachute to understand how a tree shaped one would affect his fall from the air. Luckily, he knew just the pup to help him.