It’s fall, and that means it’s time for the harvest! Many fruits are ready to be picked and enjoyed, including pumpkins. Pumpkins are not only delicious but also fun to carve into jack-o-lanterns. Did you know that pumpkins are actually a type of fruit? Even though they’re hard on the outside and not very sweet, they protect the plant’s seeds inside, just like other fruits do.
Before we cut open a pumpkin, let’s take a look at its outside. At the top, there’s a stem that connects the pumpkin to the vine, helping it get nutrients. Pumpkins can grow really big, and people even have competitions to see who can grow the largest one! The outside of a pumpkin is hard, like a suit of armor, and it’s called the rind. The lines on the pumpkin are called ribs.
To see what’s inside a pumpkin, you’ll need a grown-up to help you cut it open. Once you cut a circle around the stem, you can lift off the top. Inside, you’ll find lots of seeds attached to long, gooey strings called fiber strands. These strands help the seeds get nutrients while the pumpkin is growing. Once the seeds are fully grown, they can be planted to grow new pumpkin plants.
Seeds need to get out of the pumpkin to grow into new plants. Animals help with this! They eat the seeds and later leave them on the ground in a new place, where they can grow without competing with bigger plants for sunlight and water.
Even after taking out the seeds and strands, there’s still a lot left inside the pumpkin. The thick part between the rind and the hollow inside is called the pulp. It’s the tasty part that animals like deer and squirrels love to eat. People also enjoy pumpkin pulp in pies, muffins, and other treats. The seeds are yummy too, but it’s a good idea to save some for planting next year’s pumpkins.
Once you’ve emptied the pumpkin, you can carve it into a jack-o-lantern! Have you ever looked inside a pumpkin? What other fruits would you like to explore? Ask a grown-up to help you try dissecting different fruits and see what you find!
Seed Sorting Adventure: Gather a few different types of seeds, including pumpkin seeds, and place them in a bowl. Ask the children to sort the seeds by size, shape, or color. Discuss how each seed might grow into a different plant and what conditions they might need to thrive. Encourage them to think about how animals might help spread these seeds in nature.
Pumpkin Observation Journal: Provide each child with a small notebook to create a “Pumpkin Observation Journal.” Ask them to draw the outside of a pumpkin, noting the stem, ribs, and rind. Then, with the help of an adult, observe the inside of a pumpkin and draw what they see, including the seeds and fiber strands. Encourage them to write a few sentences about their observations and what surprised them the most.
Fruit Exploration Challenge: Choose a few different fruits, such as apples, oranges, and cucumbers. With adult supervision, cut them open and explore their insides. Ask the children to compare and contrast these fruits with a pumpkin. What are the similarities and differences in terms of seeds, pulp, and rind? Encourage them to think about why each fruit might be designed the way it is.
