The four Corvallis teams that have earned a shot at the Destination ImagiNation Global Finals, to be held later this month in Tennessee, are hard at work raising money to cover the cost of the trip.

In all, the four teams need to raise $30,000 to travel to Knoxville, Tenn., where they'll compete against students from across the nation and the world for global titles in brain-busting team challenges.

Kim McIntyre, who's working with the teams, says much of that money is in hand, but organizers would like to raise about $6,000 to cover remaining expenses.

Hence the fund-raising efforts, which include a yard and garden sale scheduled for this Saturday, from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Cheldelin Middle School, 987 N.E. Conifer Blvd.

In all, 20 Corvallis students are competing in the Global Finals, scheduled for May 23-26. They'll be traveling with six coaches, McIntyre said.

Here's more information about the teams and the events in which they'll compete:

• Hoover Elementary's team is competing in the Destination ImagiNation challenge titled "Card-DI-ology," which requires teams to build a structure from playing cards that can support a substantial load, and to present a skit which has a card theme. In the state finals, the Hoover team's structure supported 210 pounds.

• A team from Cheldelin Middle School also is competing in "Card-DI-ology," but in the middle school level. In the state finals, the Cheldelin team's structure supported more than 700 pounds.

• A second team from Cheldelin is competing in the "CSI DI" challenge, which requires teams to develop and present an original story about a crime-scene investigation. The team's theatrical presentation includes a "CSI"-style gadget that it designed and built using properties of light to analyze evidence.

• The fourth Corvallis team is a combined team from Corvallis and Crescent Valley high schools; in last year's Global Finals, this team took third place. The high school team's challenge is "Switching TraDItions," which blends story development, theater studies and social research to reveal through all the senses how life in other cultures differs from ours.

The competition also includes "Instant Challenges," in which the teams work together to solve challenges within minutes.

Direct financial donations to support the teams may be made to the Corvallis Schools Foundation, specifying Corvallis DI as the recipient.

At a glance

To learn more about Destination ImagiNation, go to www.oregondi.org or www.destinationimagination.org.

A yard and garden sale to benefit the Corvallis Destination ImagiNation teams headed to the global finals is scheduled for from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Cheldelin Middle School, 987 N.E. Conifer Blvd.