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Our Impact
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Program Overview
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About Tournaments
Destination Imagination is a 21st century learning program that encourages
11 Global Finals
students to have fun, take risks, focus,
13 Technical Challenge
and frame challenges while incorporating
15 Scientific Challenge 17 Structural Challenge
STEM (science, technology, engineering,
19 Fine Arts Challenge
and mathematics), the arts and service
21 Improvisational Challenge 23 Service Learning Challenge
learning. Our participants build on their
25 Early Learning
strengths while learning patience, flexibility,
29 Instant Challenges 30 The Creative Process
persistence, ethics, respect for others
32 Success Stories
and their ideas, project management and
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rapid prototyping. Teams showcase their
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solutions at a tournament.
37 Get Involved 39 Thanks to Our Sponsors
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Destination Imagination速
“ Creativity now is as important
in education as literacy, and we should treat it with the same status. - Sir Ken Robinson
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Destination Imagination®
OUR IMPACT
200,000
1,500,000
Every year, Destination Imagination, Inc. impacts more than 200,000 participants.
Since our incorporation as a non-profit in 1999, our programs have reached more than one million participants.
ALUMNI
PARTICIPANTS ANNUALLY
38,000
VOLUNTEERS Our programs receive support from 38,000 volunteers, who help run our programs around the world.
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48 STATES 30 COUNTRIES Participants from more than 48 US states and 30 countries have participated in DI.
Destination Imagination速
PROGRAM OVERVIEW WHO
WHEN
Up to seven members can be on a team, and students from kindergarten through university level participate. Each team needs an adult Team Manager. Team Managers help students stay on track and learn new skills, but do not directly help the team develop its solution to the DI Challenge.
Each season takes place during the school year, culminating with Global Finals in May. Depending on the Challenge, teams typically spend two to four months developing and practicing their Challenge solutions. WHERE
WHAT There are seven new competitive Challenges to choose from each year. Each of the Challenges is developed by a team of educators and industry experts who target a particular area of the curriculum and its related standards of content and performance. The areas of focus include: Technical, Scientific, Structural, Fine Arts, Improvisational and Service Learning. There is also a non-competitive Early Learning Challenge that allows participants to develop social and problem solving skills.
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The teams’ solutions are assessed at regional, state and country tournaments. While most schools run DI as an after-school program, some school districts incorporate the program into their elective curriculum. Every year, local volunteers help run 200 tournaments around the world. WHY Teams in our program learn higher order thinking and improve in creative thinking, critical thinking, team building and project management skills. Our participants learn and experience the creative process, develop new friendships and learn to work together.
Destination Imagination®
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Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand. - Albert Einstein
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Destination ImaginationÂŽ
ABOUT TOURNAMENTS HOW TEAMS ARE APPRAISED Teams will solve two types of Challenges: Team Challenges and Instant Challenges. The Team Challenge is the combination of the Central Challenge and Team Choice Elements. Team Choice Elements are team-selected elements that are incorporated into the Central Challenge to showcase additional strengths, interests, skills and talents.
INSTANT CHALLENGE
25% TEAM CHOICE ELEMENTS
60%
15%
LEARNING OUTCOMES Every Challenge is designed to teach students:
After solving Team Challenges, teams can attend tournaments to showcase their solutions in front of Appraisers and live audiences. Teams are also given Instant Challenges, where they must think on their feet to produce a solution in a period of just five to eight minutes.
• Project Management
The pie chart on this page is a breakdown of how teams will be appraised at the tournament.
• Risk Taking
• Creative and Critical Thinking • Teamwork • Interpersonal Skills • Management Skills • Perseverance • Self-Directed Learning • Digital Literacy • Citizenship Skills
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CENTRAL CHALLENGE
Destination Imagination®
GLOBAL FINALS
ABOUT Destination Imagination teams that advance past regional and state/country (Affiliate) tournaments are invited to participate in Global Finals—the world’s largest celebration of creativity. Global Finals is the culminating event of every Destination Imagination season. In May, more than 1,400 teams from 45 US states, 7 Canadian provinces and 17 countries gather in Knoxville, TN to showcase their Challenge solutions. More than 17,000 people attend Global Finals to celebrate creativity and have fun. “We’re at Global Finals because this generation is going to be doing the next generation of exploration for our nation. These students will be the ones taking these rockets that NASA is working on to destinations unknown.” - Tammy Rowan, Manager of Academic Affairs Office at NASA
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WHAT TO EXPECT The road to Global Finals is one that involves a tremendous amount of teamwork, creativity, perseverance, courage and talent. During the four-day event, participants will have the chance to perform their Challenge solutions, interact with DI teams from all around the world, and enjoy an experience that is like no other. We expect Global Finals 2015 to be the largest Global Finals in history. In addition to the tournament, the scheduled festivities include the 3M Duct Tape Costume Ball, High School and College Graduation, the International Passport Party and the Innovation Expo. Some of the popular exhibitors at last year’s event included NASA, National Geographic, U.S. Space and Rocket Center, ThinkFun, DataWind and CitiBlocs.
Destination Imagination®
TECHNICAL CHALLENGE
LEARNING OUTCOMES • Mechanical Engineering • Technical Design Process • Construction • Effective Storytelling Skills • Theater Arts Skills • Visual Arts Skills • Presentation Skills POINTS OF INTEREST
The world is yours. The choice is yours. Take action! Find your creature and begin the great adventure!
• • Build a creature that uses technical methods to perform teamchosen actions. • • Present a story of adventure with the creature as a character. • • Use technical methods to demonstrate features of a world where the story is set. • • Create and present two Team Choice Elements that show off the team’s interests, skills, areas of strength, and talents.
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Destination Imagination®
SCIENTIFIC CHALLENGE
LEARNING OUTCOMES • Science of Acoustics • Cymatics (Study of Visible Sound) • Physics of Sound • Mechanical Engineering • Effective Storytelling Skills • Theater Arts Skills • Technical Design Process • Visual Arts Skils POINTS OF INTEREST • Design and construct an incredible sound machine that produces two different sounds. Hey, slow it down! NO, wait, speed it up! At this rate, how will your incredible sound machine EVER produce sounds?
• Create and integrate two visible displays of sound waves into the presentation. • Create and present a story that includes a change to a faster or slower narrative pace. • Create and present two Team Choice Elements that show off the team’s interests, skills, areas of strength, and talents.
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Destination Imagination®
STRUCTURAL CHALLENGE
LEARNING OUTCOMES • Structural Engineering • Technical Design Process • Construction • Architectural Design • Effective Storytelling Skills • Theater Arts Skills • Presentation Skills • Visual Arts • Material Science • Applied Mathematics POINTS OF INTEREST • Design and build the lightest structure possible that continues to support the weight of the pressure board while parts of the structure are removed. Remove the weight and transform your thinking. Sometimes, you have to Lose to Win.
• Design and build a removal device that enables you to safely remove the structure parts. • Tell a story about how something is transformed and revealed to be something completely different. • Create a prop or set piece that transforms as parts of it are removed during the presentation. • Create and present two Team Choice Elements that show off the team’s interests, skills, areas of strength, and talents.
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Destination Imagination®
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Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep. - Scott Adams
FINE ARTS CHALLENGE
LEARNING OUTCOMES • Fairy Tale Styles Research Skills • Art Form Research Skills • Effective Storytelling Skills • Technical Design Process • Engineering Concepts • Presentation Skills • Theater Arts Skills POINTS OF INTEREST
Phobophobia is the fear of being afraid. The question is: What are you afraid of? Anything is possible in your team’s Feary Tale.
• Present a team-created fairy tale about a character that faces and deals with a phobia. • Create an expressive artwork that conveys a thought or feeling. • Create a functional artwork that serves a practical function. • Design and create an illusion that makes the impossible seem possible. • Create and present two Team Choice Elements that show off the team’s interests, skills, areas of strength, and talents.
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Destination Imagination®
IMPROVISATIONAL CHALLENGE
LEARNING OUTCOMES • Improvisational Skills • Effective Storytelling Skills • Theater Arts Skills • Effective Integration Skills • Presentation Skills POINTS OF INTEREST • Create three independent improvisational sketches. With street performance as your tool, may the odds be ever in your favor… in The Improv Games.
• Research and incorporate improvisational games and street performances. • Practice integrating randomly selected situations and settings.
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Destination Imagination®
SERVICE LEARNING CHALLENGE
LEARNING OUTCOMES • Service Learning • Community Partnerships • Branding • Product Marketing • Presentation Skills • Graphic Art Design • Research Skills POINTS OF INTEREST • Use the creative process to identify, design and carry out a project that addresses at least one real community need. PROJECT OUTREACH Round up your team and identify a community need. Once you piece the puzzle together, you will unlock the world of Brand Aid.
• Use graphic arts and sounds to create an effective brand to help meet the project goal(s). • Create a live presentation that highlights the project and project evaluation. • Design and create a project puzzle to be put together during the presentation. • Create and present two Team Choice Elements that show off the team’s interests, skills, areas of strength and talents.
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Destination Imagination®
EARLY LEARNING
RISING STARS!
PATHWAYS FOR EARLY LEARNERS
A non-competitive Challenge for 4- to 7-year-olds.
STEM & Literacy program for 3- to 6-year-olds.
Learning Outcomes • Research Habitats and Animals • Life Science • Design and Mechanical Engineering • Storytelling Skills • Theater Arts Skills • Visual Arts Skills
Learning Outcomes • Social and Emotional Learning • STEM and Literacy concepts Points of Interest
Points of Interest • • Learn about animal characteristics and their habitats— the home and area in which they live. • • Design a new animal and its new habitat. • • Construct the animal and its habitat in 3-D, including moving parts on both. • • Create a play about the movements your new animal makes and the adjustment your new animal makes in its new habitat. • • Create and present two Team Choice Elements that show off the team’s interests, skills, areas of strength and talents. 25
• • Organized into 16 themes • • Five activities for each theme • • A take-home component for every theme • • Includes fun and engaging activities for school and at home • • $199 per unit • • Call 888.321.1503 for volume discount pricing
Destination Imagination®
INSTANT CHALLENGES
Team members must think under pressure by applying appropriate skills to produce a solution to an Instant Challenge in a period of just 5 to 8 minutes. In a world with growing cultural connections, increased levels and types of communication, and a new need for real-time teamwork and problem solving, the ability to solve problems quickly and efficiently is becoming increasingly critical. Instant Challenges require teams to engage in quick, creative and critical thinking. At a tournament, a team will receive an Instant Challenge and the materials with which to solve it.
Instant Challenges are performance-based, task-based, or a combination of the two. Although each Instant Challenge has different requirements, all Instant Challenges reward teams for their teamwork. Instant Challenges are kept confidential until the day of the tournament.
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Destination Imagination速
THE CREATIVE PROCESS
Destination Imagination gives students the chance to learn and experience the creative process. The creative process is about thinking and doing in no prescribed order. Below are the components of the creative process that our participants experience while solving our Challenges. The process integrates Blooms Taxonomy, the scientific method, 21st century skills, creative problem solving, the stages of practical inquiry and whole child education.
RECOGNIZE
IMAGINE
• • Becoming aware of a challenge or opportunity within a domain of interest
• • Applying thinking skills to develop ideas for solutions
• • Possibility thinking; problem finding • • Maintaining a healthy state of mind (alertness, attitude, brain health)
INITIATE & COLLABORATE • • Using process and design thinking
• • Learning to think flexibly between divergent and convergent processes
• • Taking risks and learning to control behavior
• • Learning fluency and future thinking
• • Learning and practicing interpersonal and leadership skills
ASSESS • • Monitoring progress; sometimes requires starting over or admitting failure
• • Working in a collaborative manner
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Destination Imagination®
EVALUATE & CELEBRATE • • Reflecting on the experience, resources, teamwork, and celebrating the solution
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Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way. - Edward De Bono
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Destination Imagination®
SUCCESS STORIES
CHRIS COLFER The “Glee” star and Golden Globe winner got his start doing DI in California. In 2011, TIME magazine named him one of the most influential people in the world. He is also a New York Times best-selling author.
RACHEL HALE Rachel was a finalist on “American Idol” Season 12 and has opened for musicians such as Tracy Byrd and Joe Nichols. She says DI gave her a space to thrive and credits the program with much of her success.
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Destination Imagination®
MAELLE RICKER Maelle became the first Canadian woman to win gold at home in the 2010 Winter Olympics. She learned competition, teamwork and goal setting at a young age as a DI team member from British Columbia.
PROVEN RESULTS
Researchers from the University of Virginia Curry School of Education conducted an independent research evaluation of the DI program. Among other findings, the researchers reported, “Students who participated in the activities and tournaments provided by DI outperformed comparable students who had not participated in DI on assessments measuring creative thinking, critical thinking, and collaborative problem solving.”
“We can’t teach our children everything that they need to know, but Destination Imagination provides opportunities for them to think, take risks, and work together to solve common problems— traits that will get them to rule the world.” Raymond Simon – United States Department of Education, Deputy Secretary
Visit DestinationImagination.org/ditv to watch our participant testimonials and educator interviews.
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Destination Imagination®
START A TEAM
1 Choose from these packages depending on
the number of teams you plan to start as well as their age levels. ONE TEAM: $95 2-7 members / Kindergarten through University About $14 per student with a team of seven
2 Purchase your Team Pack. Call us 1.888.321.1503 Monday–Friday 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM (ET)
3 Select your team location. ADDITIONAL TEAMS: $80 2-7 members / Kindergarten through University About $12 per student with five teams of seven Once a Team Number is purchased, the purchaser may buy additional Team Numbers at this discount price. RISING STARS! TEAM: $60 Non competitive, Preschool through 2nd Grade 2+ members About $6 per student with a team of 10
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Destination Imagination administers its program through state and country Affiliates worldwide. Some of our state and country Affiliates have directed us to collect their Affiliate fees with the purchase of your Team Pack. Your Destination Imagination local representative will contact you about any training and tournament fees that may also apply. There are additional fees for Affiliate administration, Affiliate tournaments and Challenge budgets.
Destination ImaginationÂŽ
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DI is where you learn all the elements that school does not teach you; life skills that will benefit any human being for the rest of their life. Your life has endless possibilities when you do DI.” – Marshall Rainey, DI Alum
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GET INVOLVED
VOLUNTEER
STAY CONNECTED
Destination Imagination is a volunteer-led organization, so we depend heavily on the efforts and energy of our volunteers around the world. There are a variety of options, with varying degrees of time commitments. A couple of our key roles are:
“Like” us on Facebook at Destination Imagination, Inc. to share content and interact with the DI community
Team Manager: In this role, you can mentor the students on a DI team.
Follow us @IDODI for program updates
Tournament Official: As an Official, you can play a part in bringing a Destination Imagination tournament to life.
Follow us on Pinterest for inspiration and creative ideas
If you’re interested in being a part of Destination Imagination, please contact us at askdi@dihq. org or 1.888.321.1503.
Share your photos @boxandball
Training for volunteer roles is available at DI University online at DIuniversity.org
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Destination Imagination®
OUR SPONSORS & PARTNERS
“NASA’s education program has the same goals and objectives as Destination Imagination. We are trying to identify talent that is creative and innovative and we are also trying to nurture that talent.” - Dr. Roosevelt Johnson, Acting Associate Administrator for NASA Education
Destination Imagination, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) Nonprofit Education Organization. Copyright ©2014 by Destination Imagination, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America.
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Destination Imagination®
START A TEAM TODAY
DESTINATIONIMAGINATION.ORG
1.888.321.1503
ASKDI@DIHQ.ORG