b'10|IET Futures FundFIRST LEGO League SUBMERGED SMSpotlight: the Jelly Friends journeyAmong the many impressive teams, the Jelly Friends from season in the UK and Ireland Penpol Primary School in Cornwall made waves with their innovative approach to jellyfish safety. The nine Year 5 and 6 students spent hours during lunchtimes developing a jellyfish-detecting wristband that tells swimmers whether nearby jellyfish are safe or potentially dangerous.Their project addressed a real problem they discovered through research: over half the students at their school were scared to The 2024-2025 SUBMERGED SM swim in the ocean because of jellyfish. The team realised that most jellyfish season brought ocean explorationare harmless and set out to challenge into classrooms across thethis misconception through technology.UK and Ireland, challengingBuilding on their schools proud legacy in students aged 4-16 years tothe competitionhighlighted by Penpol PumpkinsImpact Beyond Competitionprevious success in securing IET Futures FundSMthink about life underwater.support and reaching the international final, twoThe SUBMERGEDseason demonstrated years agothe Jelly Friends combined machinehow effective hands-on learning can be A total of 66,605 young people took part acrosslearning with practical engineering. They trainedwhen students tackle real-world problems. all age ranges. Older children taking part in thealgorithms to recognise venomous speciesTeams didnt just build robots; they became Challenge division (ages 916) took a deep divewhile building and coding their LEGO SPIKEmarine researchers, technology developers, into marine science and robotics, with 28,200Prime robot to tackle competition missions. and problem-solvers. The ocean theme aspiring engineers working on underwaterproved particularly engaging, connecting missions and marine conservation projects. Their hard work paid off when they came first overall onenvironmental awareness with technical skills.day two of the 2025 Cornwall regional finals, earningStories like the Jelly Friends show how the This years theme connected young peopletheir place at the UK national final in Harrogate. Butprogramme develops not just technical with real ocean challengesfrom marinetheir achievements went beyond regional successtheyabilities but also research skills, teamwork life conservation to underwater technology.secured an invitation to represent the UK and Ireland and the confidence to tackle complex Teams researched everything from jellyfishat the international competition in Massachusetts. challenges. Their journey from identifying a behaviour to deep-sea exploration, thenlocal problem to developing an innovative designed and programmed LEGO robots tosolution exemplifies the programmes goals of complete underwater themed missions on theinspiring young engineers and innovators.competition mat.The seasons success across the UK and Ireland reinforces FIRST LEGO Leagues role in building The programme continued its mission of making excellent STEM learningthe next generation of STEM talent, with accessible to all, with 41 sponsors and donors supporting 18,300thousands of students experiencing authentic engineering challenges while contributing to our underrepresented students to take part by removing financial barriers. understanding of ocean science and technology.11'