DI regionals – The bean baggers!

What is DI? And what is this post?

In this blog post, I will explain how our DI regionals went, and how we tackled problems and issues along the way. But first, what is DI? DI stands for destination imagination, and it is a global non profit organization dedicated to (As they explain) inspiring the next generation of innovators. You can read more about them on their official website here:

The challenge

In destination imagination there are multiple categories of challenges, including engineering. Which is the challenge category my group got! Our task with the engineering challenge was to make a beanbag launcher which can effectively and consistently launch a beanbag over a certain distance, without using aerosols or electricity. So after knowing this and getting familiar with the rules, we started dividing up roles between our group, where I would get the job of planning the modular device that would launch the beanbag itself, and some general brainstorming. (I would show the planning and design but I don’t want to give anything out) We would also practice small challenges called instant challenges, where you would follow a set of rules to complete a task. (Instant challenges are worth quite a large portion of your final score!) 

What went well? 

What went well? We got first place! Despite our lack of preparation and our rehearsal runs being… not the best, we pulled it all together on the day of and we did everything nearly flawless. We organized our backstage, and did our background swaps smoothly. We all memorized our lines and didn’t mess up. Basically everything went well! You can watch our performance here! :

What could we improve on though?

Although everything went well, some things that could go to the next level include the following. Our offstage could be better even though it wasn’t so unorganized, and the same goes for our transitions, they were better than they were in rehearsals but they could still use some work, lastly I could improve on the timing of when to put on my costume (because I put it on a little too early.) 

Conclusion

Overall, my group worked well, we collaborated and communicated well and did a good job at everything. I feel like we will do well in provincials, and continue to make our script better! I learned team building skills through this portion of DI and also how to respectfully communicate/receive ideas.