Pharos Terminal · Curriculum
Lesson Packets
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Safe and Adequate? The Huntington Crash and the Warning Device
On Nov. 14, 1970, a chartered jet carrying the Marshall University football team crashed near Huntington. Students read the federal safety
Hotter Than Boiling: Water’s Critical Point and the SUPERHOT Well Test, 2026
On Nov. 12, 2026, the Energy Department’s ARPA-E selected eight projects, up to a combined $30 million, to test whether a geothermal well
Why Loiter First? ESCAPADE’s Powered Earth Flybys, 2026
In November 2026, NASA’s two ESCAPADE spacecraft spent about a year near Earth, then used a powered flyby to start a 10-month cruise to
Outrage by Design: The Feed, the Business Model and a Divided Country
Students can’t judge whether the internet is pulling Americans apart until they understand how platforms earn money from attention, so this
A Long Ladder in the Shop: Auto Technicians in West Virginia
West Virginia’s auto technicians have a median wage well below the U.S. median, and a long climb from the 10th percentile to the 90th.
Who Sees the Workers? Life in the Iron-Mills, 1861
Rebecca Harding Davis’s story of a furnace worker in a mill town modeled on Wheeling, read in exact excerpts. Students trace how Davis makes
Who Gets to Sound the Alarm? Hawaii’s False Missile Alert, 2018
On Jan. 13, 2018, phones across Hawaii lit up with a warning that a ballistic missile was inbound. It was false, and the correction took 38
Liberty Enlightening the World: October 28, 1886
French citizens paid for the statue and Americans paid for the pedestal. Read the official record of the day it was unveiled, then check it
Honest and Wise Men: Adams, Jefferson and the First Transfer of Power, 1800–1801
In November 1800 John Adams moved into an unfinished President’s House and prayed that only “honest and wise Men” would rule there. Students
Steinbeck’s Salinas Valley, Part 2: East of Eden and The Pastures of Heaven
The last ten days of a 21-day course: the second half of John Steinbeck’s great family novel of the Salinas Valley and the last stories of
Steinbeck’s Salinas Valley, Part 1: East of Eden and The Pastures of Heaven
The first eleven days of a 21-day course: John Steinbeck’s great family novel of the Salinas Valley and his early book of valley stories
Steinbeck’s Monterey: Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday
John Steinbeck’s two novels about one street in Monterey, California, read beside a government survey of a real cannery, a 1945 report on
Cleared to Test: The Kaleidos Microreactor
On Oct. 29, 2026, the company Radiant said the Department of Energy had approved the safety analysis for its Kaleidos microreactor to run at
A Penny a Paper: The Stamp Act of 1765
On Nov. 1, 1765, a British law began taxing nearly every printed or legal paper in the American colonies, from newspapers to playing cards
Who Runs the Election? Federalism on the Eve of a Vote
A week before the 2026 election, the U.S. Justice Department went to federal court against two states over how their votes are cast and
When the Machine Makes It Up: AI Hallucinations
In 2023, lawyers in a federal case in New York filed a brief that cited six court decisions an AI tool had made up. The judge fined them
Rights on Paper: The 1936 Soviet Constitution and the Great Terror
In 1936 Stalin’s government adopted a constitution that promised free speech, a free press, freedom from arrest without a court and a secret
The Signal-Man: Danger, Take Care
Charles Dickens’s railway ghost story, read whole, beside a red-signal crash in Spain. Students trace the spectre’s three warnings and the
The Rate Dropped. Did the Jobs Grow?
West Virginia’s jobless rate fell from 4.1% to 3.5% in a year, yet fewer West Virginians were working. Students learn who counts, recompute
Sure Can’t Beat the Measles? How Americans Saw Measles, 1960s to Today
In 1969 a TV family laughed off the measles. That year CDC’s table counted 25,826 cases and 41 deaths. Students line up what Americans said
West Augusta Divided: West Virginia’s First Counties, 1776
In its October 1776 session, Virginia’s General Assembly split the District of West Augusta into Ohio, Yohogania and Monongalia counties.
Two Records: Teapot Dome, 1929
In October 1929 a jury found Albert Fall, a former secretary of the interior, guilty of accepting a $100,000 bribe. Students read the
The Record and the Claim: France’s October Riots, 2026
Arrest records, official statements, news reports and propaganda, read side by side. What happened in France, and how each side told the
Seen from Space: El Niño, 1997 and 2026
NASA’s satellite maps show a bulge of warm, high water across the Pacific in October 1997, 2015 and 2026. Students read the sea from space
Rotation Day: Why AI Stocks Fell and Utilities Rose
On Oct 22, 2026, chip and AI-hardware stocks dropped hard while power companies climbed. Students rebuild a stock basket by hand, trace
Reflection and Choice: How Publius Argued in Public
On Oct 27, 1787, the first Federalist essay asked whether a people can choose good government by careful thought. It also showed how to
One Clear Answer: Reading a Heart-Drug Trial, 2026
A large trial tested an experimental blood thinner against a look-alike placebo, and its report was printed on Oct. 22, 2026. Students read
In Accordance with the Law: Cuba’s Churches, 2026
Cuba’s constitution says the State guarantees religious liberty. A religious-freedom group reports that in September 2026 a pastor was
Ghosts in the Machine: How Influence Operations Work
The U.S. Army made a recruiting video about persuasion and put its name on it. The hidden campaigns in these U.S. records did not. Learn to
Free Speech or Weak Spot? Wartime Falsehoods and the First Amendment
A July 2026 essay argues that democracies at war should punish some false statements. Students read the First Amendment, Justice Holmes’s
A Few Words to Say: John Brown Before the Court, November 2, 1859
On Nov. 2, 1859, in the Charlestown courthouse in what is now West Virginia, John Brown spoke before he was sentenced. Students read his
West Virginia’s 2026 General Election: A Civics Lesson Pack
Dates, the ballot, the amendment text and lessons through the canvass.
Two Letters: White Plains at 250
Washington lost a hill on October 28, 1776, and kept his army. Students compare what he told Congress with what he told his brother.
The Wounded and the Words: A Farewell to Arms
Hemingway's 1929 novel of a wounded American volunteer, read beside how the wounded are written about today.
The Worth of a Worker: Of Mice and Men
John Steinbeck’s 1937 novel of two ranch hands and a shared dream, read beside this fall’s court case over what farmworkers are paid and the
Rivers to Ridges: The West Virginia Cipher Road Trip
A family weekend across West Virginia: four stops, about 285 miles and one message to decode, from the 1774 battlefield where the Kanawha
Power Up: The Space Station's Last Solar Arrays
Two spacewalks, eight roll-out arrays and one $20 experiment: measure the physics that keeps the station alive.
Who Decides? Power, Petition and a Permit in Mason County
The founders wrote that power comes from the people and that the people may petition. A gas-powered data-center campus on the Ohio River
Twenty Jobs or Six Hundred: Testing a Headline With Real Data
Does a job's exposure to AI predict whether it will grow in West Virginia? Students test the question on 20 familiar jobs, then on all 601
The Paycheck Puzzle: Prices, Jobs and Your First Budget
September's numbers say prices rose faster than pay. Students read the official data, test what it means for a West Virginia family, and
The Crossing: Trenton at 250
Read the letters of December 1776 and judge for yourself how a beaten army turned the war.
Counting Fire: The Geminids at Watoga
A family field night in West Virginia's first International Dark Sky Park, and the science of counting meteors.
Built Here: Trades That Are Hiring
A West Virginia steel mill and a Weirton battery plant are hiring now. Students read the real pay and job numbers, map a path into a trade
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Pharos Terminal lessons are aligned to West Virginia Department of Education academic standards for English language arts, science and social studies.
Standards alignment is provided for planning and record-keeping. Pharos Terminal is not endorsed, approved or accredited by the West Virginia Department of Education or the West Virginia Board of Education.
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