Schools take on Frozen Dessert Challenge


It was all about the dessert at DuPont Teijin Films site in Cargenbridge, Dumfries recently where the final of the Frozen Dessert Challenge has taken place.

2015 is to be Scotland’s Year of Food and Drink, and linking up with that initiative, all primary schools throughout Dumfries and Galloway received a kit called “Science on the Menu”.  This kit was developed by the Scottish Council for Development and Industry (SCDI) and contains a variety of equipment and materials to deliver and support science education in upper primary.  The project has been supported by a series of CPD events, and supported by major local employer DuPont Teijin Films (DTF).

In addition to the kit, a competition was held based on the production and packaging of a frozen dessert.  There has been in-school competitions and cluster finals, the winners of which formed the Regional final, with prizes for the winning desserts.

The Challenge was to create a product that tastes great but also consider what attributes a product needs to stand out in the freezer or ice cream stall and could include:-

  • Locally sourced ingredients
  • Healthy, nutritious ingredients
  • A product that meet specific diet requirements
  • Uses free range or organic ingredients
  • Packaged using recyclable materials
  • Unusual flavour combinations.

Alongside creating the new frozen dessert, the students carried out consumer surveys, design marketing materials and considered storage issues.

Making ice cream is a fun and delicious way to build science skills.

Students  experienced hands-on change of state, as the liquid ingredients turns into a frozen solid dessert. They also experienced why adding salt to ice causes a reduction in the freezing point of water and that cooling can change the properties of a material.

The final involved twelve  primary schools from right across the Dumfries and Galloway area, who come to the Dumfries site to make their dessert bringing along ideas for packaging, marketing, sustainability etc. 

And the winners were Kirkgunzeon Primary, who narrowly edged out Leswalt and Sandhead in a very close competition

All those schools which had made the final received a certificate of participation.  The prizes, presented by Councillor Jeff Leaver, included guided tours round the DTF plant at Cargenbridge, a “Go-Pro” camera, a bird box with linked camera and a digital microscope.  In addition the top schools will be asked to attend the food tents at agricultural shows throughout the summer, to demonstrate their culinary and scientific skills.

Well done to all involved it was a truly “cool” event.