{"id":313574,"date":"2026-10-24T20:56:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-24T20:56:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/313574\/"},"modified":"2026-10-24T20:56:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-24T20:56:14","slug":"pumpkin-science-lab-combines-messy-fun-learning-at-the-nature-place-in-reading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/313574\/","title":{"rendered":"Pumpkin Science Lab combines messy fun, learning at The Nature Place in Reading"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"PhoenixPhoenix 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)<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Then the fun began.<\/p>\n

During Saturday\u2019s Pumpkin Science Lab at The Nature Place, Michael Griffith, Berks Nature\u2019s education director, quizzed participants, mostly children accompanied by their parents, about the parts of a pumpkin.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hard outer orange skin is \u2026 ? Think Ninja Turtles,\u201d Griffith asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe shell!\u201d the youngsters responded in unison.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat about the stringy, gooey part you\u2019re going to have to play with in a little while?\u201d<\/p>\n

The answer was pulp.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the long, curly part that travels along the ground?\u201d<\/p>\n

The vine.<\/p>\n

After those warmup questions, Griffith presented what turned out to be the toughest challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want you to take a guess,\u201d he said. \u201cWill it sink or will it float? Anybody brave enough to raise their hand?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"RomeoRomeo 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)<\/p>\n

The children were divided.<\/p>\n

One boy predicted the pumpkin would float because, aside from the pulp, \u201cthere\u2019s not much inside,\u201d reasoning that the fruit is mostly hollow.<\/p>\n

Romeo Valentin, 11, of Reading, predicted it would sink, recalling how heavy the pumpkin felt when he first picked it up.<\/p>\n

The theme of the Pumpkin Science Lab was \u201ca hands-on adventure: observe it, test it, carve it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"OsmanOsman 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)<\/p>\n

Griffith explained that pumpkins float because they\u2019re less dense than water.<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Science sometimes requires a little digging, literally, as Phoenix and his parents discovered.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

For a 22.5-pound pumpkin, that meant a lot of goo.<\/p>\n

\u201cI apologize for how many seeds you\u2019re going to have to count,\u201d Griffith joked to Phoenix\u2019s parents, Emmanuel Ulloa and Sheilla Martinez of Exeter Township.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s headquarters.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m always looking for ways to get him out in nature,\u201d Martinez said of her son.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"OmerOmer 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)
\n\"PhoenixPhoenix 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)
\n\"RomeoRomeo 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)
\n\"RulieRulie 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)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Phoenix Ulloa, 7, of Exeter Township carries his pumpkin to his work table during a Pumpkin Science event…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":313575,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[349,857,182,139,28,736,128,130,129,706],"class_list":["post-313574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-berks-county","tag-essential-reading","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-reading","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news","tag-top-stories-reg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=313574"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313574\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/313575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=313574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=313574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=313574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}