Patch Lesson

Last Updated: February 13, 2025

Objectives:

By the end of the lesson, students will have a basic understanding of the history and use of patches that represent human spaceflight missions, recognize common design elements, be able to identify the Space Shuttle mission related to an STS mission patch they are holding and understand the meaning of elements and symbols used in the design. In addition, they will be able to initiate basic research to answer essential questions.

Lesson Materials & Preparation:

  1. Mission patches from STEAM4SPACE
    Request your free classroom set of mission patches.
  2. Chromebook or other device connected to the Internet
  3. Student Documents:
    Available in English Only. (Spanish and Portguese coming soon)
    Note: Completed worksheets will be useful for a later patch design activity.
    • Worksheet - Design Analysis
    • Worksheet - Essential Questions
  4. Educator Documents:
    Available in English Only. (Spanish and Portguese coming soon)
    • Answer Key - Essential Questions
    • Space Shuttle Orbiter Names
  5. Presentations:
    Use one of the following presentations that best fits your needs and instructional goals. Most slides contain presenter notes to guide the educator on using the slide, fun facts to share with students and stepwise instructions for navigating some slides that are animated.
    • Slides - Mission Patch (Full) - Block One & Two
      Supports two 30-40 minute sessions.
      Available in English Only. (Spanish and Portguese coming soon)
      An overview of the history of artwork and emblems used throughout U.S. led space programs (Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Skylab Space Shuttle and Artemis), emblems related to ISS Expeditions, video on how NASA crews design their mission patch, design analysis of STS mission patches, and exploring Space Shuttle payload patches. Concludes with a lead-in to a hands-on classroom activity and answering gessential questions related to the patch that the student is holding.
    • Slides - Mission Patch (Short)
      Supports one 30-40 minute session.
      Available in English Only. (Spanish and Portguese coming soon)
      A brief history of mission patches and emblems used during the Space Shuttle and Artemis programs, video on how NASA crews design their mission patch, design analysis of STS mission patches, and exploring Space Shuttle payload patches. Concludes with a lead-in to a hands-on classroom activity and answering essential questions related to the patch that the student is holding.
    • Slides - Mission Patch (Quick)
      Supports one 20-30 minute session.
      Available in English Only. (Spanish and Portguese coming soon)
      View emblems used during the Space Shuttle and Artemis programs, show video on how NASA crews design their mission patch, design analysis of STS mission patches. Concludes with a lead-in to a hands-on classroom activity and answering essential questions related to the patch that the student is holding. This lesson can be used as an introduction to a separate patch design activity.
    Comparison of presentations:
     
    Presentation Type Full Short Quick
    Session Blocks 2 1 1
    Total Duration (minutes) 80 40 20
    First mission patches ✓ ✓ ✓
    Project Mercury ✓
    Video: Cece Bibby Painting Insignia On Mercury Spacecraft
    How early spacecraft names were represented.    		 ✓
    Project Gemini ✓
    Project Apollo ✓
    Skylab Program ✓
    Space Shuttle Program ✓ ✓ ✓
    Video: What's In A Name?
    The origin of the names for the Space Shuttle orbiters.    		 ✓ ✓ ✓
    Artemis Program ✓ ✓
    ISS Expeditions ✓ ✓
    Video: Our World: Mission Patches
    How NASA crews design their mission patch.    		 ✓ ✓ ✓
    Activity: Patch Design Analysis ✓ ✓ ✓
    Space Shuttle Payload Patches ✓ ✓
    Activity: Mission Patch Examination ✓ ✓ ✓
  6. Videos:
    One or more videos used in this lesson plan are embedded in the above presentations; however, separate links to each video are provided here for your use. None of the videos contain ads and you can use them for educational purposes in accordance with Fair Use as stated by the U.S. Copyright Office and Section 107 of the 1976 Copyright Act.

Lesson Instructions:

  1. Use one of the above presentations: Mission Patch (Full, Short or Quick).
  2. Facilitate the presentation and stop on the slide titled "Design Aanalysis."
  3. Facilitate the presentation and stop on the last slide titled, "Hands-On Activity."
  4. Lay out all of the mission patches on a table. Allow students to pick them up and look at them, noticing similarities and differences. Allow informal discussions to take place amongst each other. After 5 minutes of casual viewing, ask students to choose one patch that they really like or connect with and take it back to their seats.
  5. Direct students to the MissionPatch.info site to complete the Match-A-Patch activity.
  6. Direct students to answer the Essential Questions on the web page that describes their specific patch.

Assessment:

Feedback:

Please provide any comments to confirm how the lesson plan is working for you and offer any suggestions for improvement or something new to add value to this lesson plan. Mission Patch Lesson (Feedback)

Important: