This guide provides curricular resources for study of the history and science of the quest for ever colder temperature. Designed for teachers and informal educators of middle school students. this guide offers hands-on demonstrations, questions to encourage student participation, suggestions for class activities, and ways to encourage students to continue studying the science. Topics include low-temperature physics and the impact of technologies such as air conditioning, refrigeration
and liquefied gases.

This material is related to a two-part public broadcasting special, Absolute Zero, produced by Meridian Productions and Windfall Films. Absolute Zero is underwritten by the National Science Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and is based largely on Tom Shachtman's acclaimed book, Absolute Zero and the Conquest of Cold.