Putting on Robotics Demonstrations
A guide to interactive robotics demonstrations for people with disabilities.
Getting in Touch
Robotics demonstrations are an easy and fun way to reach out to your community and
make a positive impact! Through demonstrations, your team can make the world of robotics and STEM more accessible to people with disabilities and give them an opportunity to learn hands-on about FIRST. While it may seem like a daunting task at first, organizing a demonstration is much easier than you'd think.
The first step is contacting a local school or organization. Think: do you or one of your
teammates have any connections to other schools in your area? There are plenty of schools who either are dedicated to or have classes for people with disabilities, you just need to find them. Most public schools likely have a special education class, and it's easy to find a contact for those classes on the school's website. Maybe there's a local camp for kids with disabilities, or a Non-Profit is hosting program near you. Any of these options would be great to reach out to.
​
Once you've found a contact, draft an introductory email: introduce FIRST, your team,
and pose the question of putting on a demonstration for the school or class. Keep the email brief and formal, but be friendly in your approach! Chances are most teachers would love to have you.
​
That's really all it takes to get in touch -- simply find a contact, send an email, and
you've fulfilled the first steps of organizing your team's own robotics demonstration. Still unsure about how to go about contacting schools and organizations? Check out our example email.
Making an Agenda
1) Decide Who's Going.
Once you're in contact with a staff member at the school or organization you'll be visiting, you should ask for an estimate of how many people are expected to attend the demonstration -- this way, you can ensure you have a suitable amount of team members going. We usually stick with a group of around four or five of our team members.
2) Brainstorm.
Once you have your contact and your group set, it's time to start thinking: do you have a special goal you want to accomplish? Topics you want to speak about? We recommend incorporating educational and interactive aspects into your demonstrations. If there's one really important thing to consider while drafting an agenda, it's this: don't lecture. Lecturing or getting to complex/technical is an easy way to lose interest, especially with kids. The more hands-on your demo is, the better.
3) Type It Up.
No matter what, don't go into this demonstration with the mentality of "winging it." Once you know what you want to talk about, what you want your robot to do, and any activities you may want to include, draft up a "script" of sorts for your group. While you don't want to follow it word for word, it's important to have a good idea of what you'll be doing and saying. Review this with your group a few times before the demonstration to make sure everyone's prepared.
Your Demo Should Be:
1
Interactive
Taking a hands-on learning approach will make your demos more engaging and keep people's interest. One way to do this is through fun activities!
2
Educational
It's important to ensure that while your activities are hands-on, you keep them educational about STEM.
3
Fun!
Make your demonstration fun to keep people's attention -- no one really wants to sit through a thirty minute lecture.