STEM Activity: Flag Day

Celebrate Flag Day with the National Inventors Hall of Fame^® (NIHF) by designing your very own flag while learning about logos and trademarks!

Materials:

• Craft items (e.g., foam sheets, patterned tape, stickers)
• Dowel or stick
• Glue
• Markers (or other drawing utensils)
• Paper or fabric
• Tape

Instructions:

1. Consider how flags often have colors and symbols that tell a story. The United States flag, for example, has 13 horizontal stripes that alternate red and white. The stripes represent the original 13 colonies and the stars represent the 50 states.
    
2. Think about how products and companies also have a special design that represents them and tells their story. These special designs are called logos.
    
3. Grab paper and markers (or other drawing utensils) and design a logo that represents your family. Logos can be made up of letters, words, symbols, colors and other details. While you are designing your family’s logo, consider some of the following questions:
   1. What is your favorite way to spend time together?
   2. What are some unique or special features about your home?
   3. Do you have a favorite shared food, hobby or activity?
   4. What colors or patterns best represent your family?
   5. What are the special talents within your family?
   6. When people think about your family, what comes to mind?
   7. How might you represent important family values, like kindness or patience?
       
4. If it is challenging to get started, consider using a shape, such as a circle, square or oval, as your base.
    
5. Once you have designed your logo, create a flag that features the logo as the main symbol. You can draw it on copy paper and tape it to a dowel (or stick). Alternatively, put your crafting skills to the test by drawing your logo on a piece of fabric and attaching it to a piece of rope or string.
    
6. Place your family’s flag in a prominent place and let it remind you of the special connections that you share.

What Are We Learning?

Celebrated on June 14, Flag Day commemorates the Flag Resolution of 1777 that adopted the Stars and Stripes as the official flag of the United States. Just as flags distinguish countries and states from one another, logos are often used on products and packaging to help differentiate one business or product from another. For a logo to be successful, it should communicate information about the company or product through its font, color palette and imagery. Logos can be protected with either a trademark (^TM) or a registered trademark^® symbol if the owner is able to demonstrate that the logo can identify or distinguish the source of goods and services. For more information on trademarks and other forms of intellectual property, visit USPTO.gov.

Looking for more STEM activities?

We invite you to check out our brand new at-home learning resources page for STEM activities, activity sheets and challenges from our very own NIHF Inductees.