From May 25-28, 2011, Tennessee played host to some of the most imaginative students in the world today. Destination ImagiNation is a nonprofit organization that provides educational programs for students to learn and experience creativity, teamwork and problem solving.
As its core program, Destination ImagiNation provides the backdrop for schools to host an after-school activity where students work in teams to meet challenges and present their solutions at tournaments. Over 100,000 students from across the U.S. and 30 countries take part in the after-school challenges within their local areas. Of those students, roughly 8,000 of them took honors in regional and statewide competitions. Those students earned their way to the finals in Knoxville, Tenn. At the 2011 finals, there were over 1,100 teams representing 43 states and 15 countries.
NASA was on hand at the Global Finals 2011 with a number of exhibits and NASA representatives. One such exhibit was a large inflatable dome, NASA's Driven to Explore exhibit. The exhibit is a mobile, multimedia dome that immerses visitors in the history of NASA. Visitors learn why we explore, discover the challenges of human space exploration and experience firsthand how NASA provides critical technological advances to improve life on Earth.
