Phoenix Ulloa, 7, of Exeter Township carries his pumpkin to his work table during a Pumpkin Science event at The Nature Place at Berks Nature, 575 St. Bernardine St., on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026. (BILL UHRICH/READINGEAGLE)
Phoenix Ulloa, 7, selected the largest pumpkin available at The Nature Place education center in Reading, then carried the fruit, weighing nearly half his body weight, to a table while his father acted as a spotter.
Then the fun began.
During Saturday’s Pumpkin Science Lab at The Nature Place, Michael Griffith, Berks Nature’s education director, quizzed participants, mostly children accompanied by their parents, about the parts of a pumpkin.
“The hard outer orange skin is … ? Think Ninja Turtles,” Griffith asked.
“The shell!” the youngsters responded in unison.
“What about the stringy, gooey part you’re going to have to play with in a little while?”
The answer was pulp.
“And the long, curly part that travels along the ground?”
The vine.
After those warmup questions, Griffith presented what turned out to be the toughest challenge.
“I want you to take a guess,” he said. “Will it sink or will it float? Anybody brave enough to raise their hand?”
Romeo Valentin, 11, carves a pumpkin with his mom, Christine Betances of Reading, during a Pumpkin Science event at The Nature Place at Berks Nature, 575 St. Bernardine St., on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026. (BILL UHRICH/READINGEAGLE)
The children were divided.
One boy predicted the pumpkin would float because, aside from the pulp, “there’s not much inside,” reasoning that the fruit is mostly hollow.
Romeo Valentin, 11, of Reading, predicted it would sink, recalling how heavy the pumpkin felt when he first picked it up.
The theme of the Pumpkin Science Lab was “a hands-on adventure: observe it, test it, carve it.”
Like scientists, the group tested their hypotheses by carrying their pumpkins to a water-filled tub and taking turns dropping them in. After making a splash, the pumpkins bobbed back to the surface.
Osman Altun, 7, tests whether his pumpkin floats or sinks during a Pumpkin Science event at The Nature Place at Berks Nature, 575 St. Bernardine St., on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026. (BILL UHRICH/READINGEAGLE)
Griffith explained that pumpkins float because they’re less dense than water.
Saturday’s session marked the first time Berks Nature hosted the Pumpkin Science Lab at The Nature Place. Griffith previously led the program at Olivet Boys & Girls Club and said it quickly became one of his favorite seasonal activities.
Science sometimes requires a little digging, literally, as Phoenix and his parents discovered.
The fourth of five stations challenged participants to count the seeds inside their pumpkins. There was only one way to do that: scoop out the seeds along with the pulp.
For a 22.5-pound pumpkin, that meant a lot of goo.
“I apologize for how many seeds you’re going to have to count,” Griffith joked to Phoenix’s parents, Emmanuel Ulloa and Sheilla Martinez of Exeter Township.
The couple said the hands-on educational programs and abundance of outdoor space frequently draw them to The Nature Place, a nearly 100-acre park along Angelica Creek in southwest Reading that serves as Berks Nature’s headquarters.
“I’m always looking for ways to get him out in nature,” Martinez said of her son.
Berks Nature is a nonprofit conservation organization focused on land preservation, water protection, trail management, community gardens and environmental education. Founded in 1974, the organization serves communities throughout Berks County.
Omer Alton, 5, and his brother Osman, 7, take their pumpkins to be weighed during a Pumpkin Science event at The Nature Place at Berks Nature, 575 St. Bernardine St., on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026. (BILL UHRICH/READINGEAGLE)
Phoenix Ulloa scoops out his pumpkin during a Pumpkin Science event at The Nature Place at Berks Nature, 575 St. Bernardine St., on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026. (BILL UHRICH/READINGEAGLE)
Romeo Valentin, 11, carves a pumpkin during a Pumpkin Science event at The Nature Place at Berks Nature, 575 St. Bernardine St., on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026. (BILL UHRICH/READINGEAGLE)
Rulie Griffith, 4, of Cumru Township, begins counting seeds as her mom, Angela, scoops them out during a Pumpkin Science event at The Nature Place at Berks Nature, 575 St. Bernardine St., on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026. (BILL UHRICH/READINGEAGLE)