CHEVY CHASE, Md., April 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, National 4-H Council is pleased to announce that 18 4-H Robotics teams will compete at the FIRST Robotics Championship, the world finals for the international FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics organization. The teams will compete among 400 others for the title on April 26-29 at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis.

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The event is the culmination of a six-week build season, where teams designed, engineered and constructed a 120-pound robot that can play basketball in this year's challenge "Rebound Rumble." Teams qualified for the finals by winning local and regional competitions throughout the spring, controlling and maneuvering their robots in a high-stakes a 3-on-3 basketball game.

This year's competition marks a record number of teams representing 4-H's growing robotics program, nearly doubling the teams who competed in the 2011 world finals. With help from sponsors jcpenney and Lockheed Martin, 4-H has launched a new robotics curriculum and grown 87 robotics teams in cities as varied as Atlanta, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City and West Palm Beach. From urban to suburban, 4-H youth in FIRST Robotics come from incredibly diverse backgrounds to unite under a shared passion for engineering.

"We congratulate our incredible 4-H youth who have stepped up to the challenge this season, and devoted their time, energy and talents in the name of great engineering," said Donald T. Floyd Jr., National 4-H Council president and CEO. "Their incredible success is a testament to 4-H's targeted efforts to actively  address the nation's scientific workforce development challenges by expanding our STEM programming, sparking an early youth interest in the sciences and providing an environment where young people can explore the possibilities of pursuing degrees and careers in science."

In fact, according to a longitudinal study conducted by Tufts University, when compared to their peers, youth in 4-H are two times more likely to excel in science, engineering, technology and applied math, and are more interested in pursuing future science careers.

The 18 teams who will travel to St. Louis to compete in the FIRST Robotics Championship include:

• Air Strike (Team 78- Newport County, Rhode Island)
• GreenVillians (Team 281- Greenville, S.C.)
• Team Thrust (Team 1501- Huntington, Ind.)
• Team EMS (Team 1649- Winter Park, Fla.)
• Exploding Bacon (Team 1902- Windemere, Fla.)
• Apple Pi (Team 2067- Guilford, Conn.)
• The Corps (Team 2164- Harrisonville, Mo.)
• Ninja Monkees (Team 2395- Oklahoma City, Okla.)
• pwnage (Team 2949- Batavia, Ill.)
• Prototype X (Team 3230- Salt Lake City, Utah)
• Rogue Robots of 4-H (3585- Charlestown, N.H.)
• Hard Botties (Team 3634- Bridgeport, Conn.)
• Bit by Bit 4-H (Team 3784- Verona, Mo.)
• SUITS (Team 3951- Honeoye, N.Y. )
• RoboKronos (Team 4203- Oneonta, N.Y.)
• 4-H Techno Clovers (Team 4240- Accident, Md.)
• SEMO (Team 4356- Chaffee, Mo.)
• TechnoTornadoes (FLL Team from Idaho)

About 4-H:

4-H is a community of six million young people across America learning leadership, citizenship, and life skills. National 4-H Council is the private sector, non-profit partner of 4-H National Headquarters located at the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) within USDA. 4-H programs are implemented by the 111 land-grant universities and the Cooperative Extension System through their 3,100 local Extension offices across the country. Learn more about 4-H at www.4-H.org or follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/4-H.

Related Link:
National 4-H Council's Website

SOURCE 4-H