🧟 Join Emily “The Space Gal” Calandrelli as she brings a dented ping-pong ball “back to life” while exploring air compression, heat, and air pressure. In this interactive digital STEM activity, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students watch Emily’s Zombie Ping-Pong Ball experiment and investigate how heating the air trapped inside a ball can help push a dent back out.
No science unit required! ⭐ This activity is designed to stand on its own, so students do not need prior knowledge of air compression, heat transfer, or pressure. Background information and science vocabulary help students understand and enjoy the investigation.
Big science concepts made simple. ✨ Clear, kid-friendly explanations help students explore how air takes up space, what happens when it is compressed, and how heating trapped air can increase its pressure.
📢 This no-prep STEM activity is an easy way to bring an engaging science experiment into your classroom—even when you do not have the time, materials, or capacity to conduct experiments yourself! Students can watch Emily’s experiment and complete the digital activities without gathering experiment materials.
In this digital science activity, students will explore:
✅ How air is all around us and fills spaces inside everyday objects.
✅ What is inside a hollow ping-pong ball.
✅ How denting a sealed ball compresses the trapped air into a smaller space.
✅ How heat moves from hot water into the ball and warms the air inside.
✅ How heating trapped air can increase its pressure and push outward on the ball’s shell.
✅ How differences in air pressure can cause a sealed water bottle to bulge during an airplane flight.
✅ How scientists make predictions, record observations, and use evidence to explain what happens.
✅ How changing materials or variables could affect an experiment’s results.
Students begin with kid-friendly background information and science vocabulary before joining Emily for the Zombie Ping-Pong Ball experiment. They observe what happens when a dented ping-pong ball is placed in hot water and investigate how changes inside the ball help explain its changing shape.
Throughout the activity, digital science notebook responses, prediction questions, drag-and-drop activities, and interactive checks for understanding keep students actively involved. Students explore where air is found, compare the ball before and after heating, and connect air compression and increasing pressure to the dent popping back out.
Students also think like scientists by considering what might happen if something changed. They sequence the events inside the warming ball and apply their understanding to a real-life question: Why can a sealed water bottle bulge on an airplane?
After the experiment, students complete a quiz to show what they learned.
This activity provides elementary students with meaningful exposure to air compression, heat, and pressure without requiring connection to a larger science unit. The goal is not for students to master gas laws or calculate changes in pressure. Instead, students use a surprising, high-interest experiment and interactive activities to build curiosity, practice scientific thinking, and begin to understand how trapped air can affect an object’s shape.
Perfect for:
🧟 Zombie or Halloween-themed science activities
🧪 STEM lessons or science enrichment
💨 Air compression and pressure investigations
🌡️ Heat and temperature connections
🔬 Scientific method practice
⭐ Fun Friday or special science activities
💻 Digital centers or independent learning
🚀 Gifted enrichment or extension activities
📚 Sub plans or low-prep science days
🏠 Homeschool science
✨ Anytime you want to add fun, meaningful science to your day!
This engaging resource makes it easy to provide elementary students with a colorful, memorable science experience through Emily Calandrelli and MagiCore.
✨ MagiCore WebLink Digital Resource – This science activity uses the power of MagiCore’s WebLink for an interactive browser-based experience that is easy to use and keeps students engaged and learning. Students click the link or snap the QR code to access the activity on their device. No prep. No copies. No logins. Once you try a MagiCore WebLink activity, you’ll never look at Google Slides the same way again. CLICK HERE to experience it for yourself!
About Emily ‘The SpaceGal’ Calandrelli
Emily Calandrelli is a science communicator, author, engineer, and space traveler who makes science exciting and accessible for kids. MagiCore is proud to partner with Emily Calandrelli to bring interactive science lessons, experiments, and activities to students everywhere. Through Emily’s Science Lab activities by MagiCore, students explore big science ideas in fun, engaging, and easy-to-understand ways that spark curiosity and deepen understanding. Emily’s passion for STEM inspires young learners to ask questions, think like scientists, and discover how science works in the world around them.
NOTE: This science activity is digital. It is NOT printable. The final screens include a summary of student responses and an option to view or print a completion certificate with the student’s name.
*Videos are not hosted on YouTube. This resource does not require YouTube access.
Key Features:
⚡ Immediate Student Feedback! Students will see if their answers are correct or incorrect for each question or activity.
What’s Included?
This activity is self-correcting and provides students with immediate feedback.
This resource is suitable for the following grade levels:
Time to Complete:
This science activity takes approximately 45 minutes to complete. The time it takes to complete can vary based on your students.
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