Destination Imagination recently celebrated its 25^th anniversary of encouraging the 21^st Century skills of creative thinking, teamwork, self confidence, mutual respect, research, innovation and leadership. The organization's global finals drew a record 1,032 youth teams from throughout the world. The highly structured, demanding competitive challenges each team faces are developed by educators and subject matter experts, with assistance from the Center for Creative Learning in Sarasota, FL. Descriptions for the five main challenge themes reveal the event's playfulness.

Obstacles, of Course
Young or old, big or small, we all face obstacles in everyday life. Things are always getting in our way! Overcoming these obstacles, and how we do it, helps all of us grow and reach our goals. To solve this Challenge, your team's vehicle will need to go over, under, around and through obstacles that it encounters on its path. Calculate carefully: your final score will depend on the choices your team makes - to overcome obstacles, of course! It's all up to YOU!

Hit or Myth
Is there really a Loch Ness Monster? Is it possible to stop a shark attack by punching the shark in the nose? If Rapunzel really "let down her hair" could someone actually climb up her hair into a tower? Myths, folk tales and urban legends exist in many nations around the world. How do we know whether they're truth or fiction? By using the Scientific Method! So get on your lab coats - now it's your chance to find out, with the help of science, whether it's a Hit or Myth.

DI've Got a S!ecret
What's my secret? I'll never tell! But your team gets to tell all. Nothing is as it seems as your secret unfolds. Sometimes people or things appear to be one thing, but they turn out to be something very different. Your team will turn a secret into great entertainment and dazzle everyone with an optical illusion and set pieces that connect to become part of the big surprise. Will you have the audience on the edge of their seats? Will everyone beg to know more? We'll all have to wait....until your secret is revealed!

Chorific
It is just a simple, ordinary chore. You've done it a thousand times without a problem. Not this time! Now you have to overcome obstacles, and famous figures of the past and present suddenly appear. With an artful sound design to accompany you on your mission, you must use your keenly honed improv techniques to tackle a chore no longer ordinary, but extraordinary! Only you can conquer everything that gets in your way and complete your chore. Only then will you be Chorific!

Switch
Did you ever have to make up your mind? Choose one thing and leave the other behind? Not this time! You don't have to make up your mind - you get to try something two different ways! You will test your Structure's strength one way, and then...SWITCH! You test your Structure another way. You will also pull some other SWITCHES to show how one item can do different jobs! So get ready - SWITCHING has never been so much fun!

Teams of students compete for the surprise, timed challenges. The fun of that competition is stressed far more than the outcome, but the website does list results as well as brief explanations of how the students approached their challenges.

Source: Destination Imagination Global Finals