music) (theme - welcome to teen kids news, i'm veronique. (theme music) there's an old saying that the more things change, the more they stay the same. well, when it comes to the new sat, that may not be true. amelia tells us more. s of standardized tests for - e students looking to go to college, the sat or the act,

to learn more about that, we're joined by rob franek. he's with the college prep company called the princeton review. welcome! - thank you, good to be here. - so what's changed? - there are four big changes that have happened for the sat and these big changes happened in march 2016. the four changes are the sat will no longer be testing on obscure vocabulary words. one of the most difficult things that i'd have for a princeton review student is to give them 500 words that so that fear goes away. number two is that we've eliminated one full answer choice on the sat. so previous to march 2016, there were five answer choices for each of those questions on the sat, now there will be four answer choices. number three is that the writing section, which was required for the sat before march 2016 is now optional.

wrong answer that you get, there are no points off. on the previous sat before march 2016, you were penalized a quarter of a point for every incorrect answer that you submitted, those are the four changes. - are there any other changes or is that it? - those are the only changes that have affected the sat for this year. now it's been ten years since the sat changed, so i think that these changes are going tofind thior quite a while.- o s new sat easier at? - erentwell it's certainly going to be diff from the old sat. scores are just recently have come out for that march administration of that sat and we're going to be following this along over the next year of time, but students are tending to do about the same or a little bit better on that new exam, but i think that we'll have a full lens to look into about how students are doing certainly over the next couple of months.

- that's a good question. the truth is that out of the 4,000 schools that are in our universe of four-year colleges and universities, about 900 of those are test optional, which mebmans that you don't have to suit the sat or theis act scores for academic admsion.si an admisons counselor won't require to look at them on your college application. however, many of those schools may look towards those sat and act scores combined with your high school gpa for financial aid, but there are some lucky students that won't - can you take both tests? - absolutely, students can take both the sat or the act and here's the thing and this is so important for students to remember is that admissions teams at schools large and small will treat the sat and the act exactly the same, so you could submit either of the exams or both. - is there a limit to how many times you can take either of the exams? - no, there's no limit to the amount of times that you can

we've seen at the princeton review is that students tend not to do better after the third administration of the exam. but they tend to do dramatically better between that first exam and that third exam. - great information, thanks rob. - you're welcome. thanks for inviting me. - whether you plan to take the sat or the act, one thing hasn't changed and that's the fact that you shouldn't obsess over the test. your test score is just one of many factors colleges kids news, i'm amelia.

- visiting a zoo or aquarium is a great way to learn about the many species of animals that share our planet. scott got a first hand look. - [scott] here at the national aquarium in baltimore, an citing transformation has taken explace. sea creatures that have been here for years were carefully transported to safety.l then the aquarium was drained and a corareef was created. add 250-thousand gallons of salt water,

you get? the amazing blacktip reef, a unique museum experience. with5 different underwater species 6it's as close as you can get to seeing a south pafic coral reef,ci without going to the south pacific. - [jitack] coral reefs are like the cies of the ocean. it's an ecosystem that's all balanced. - [scott] to recreate that balanced ecosystem, all the sea life was carefully selected. the only thing that's not really from the pacific is the - coral is actually a living animal. it looks like rock and it's related to jellyfishy and it actuallforms a limestone cavity around itself, so it's basically the outer edge of the coral is living and building on the limestone skeletons of it's ancestors. and the coral in this exhibit however is recreated real coral has to have intense sunlight so it's also very fragile.

and there's a lot to view. there's more than 700 fascinating mane animals.ri one of the crowd favorites is calypso, the giant sea turtle. when she was found she had a badly hurt fin. after some delicate surgery, it was decided that calypso wouldn't be able to survive in the ocean. so blacktip reef became her new home. the exhibit also has plenty of sharks. particularly the kind it's named for, what's called an apex predator. so, what is an apex predator? - an apex predator is a top predator in an ecosystem. for example, lions in africa, sharks in the ocean, these are the top of the food chain. these are the animals that all the small fishes eventually work up and are food for these larger fishes. - [scott] sharks are part of the cire of life.cl without these predators, fish would eat up all the coral.

depend on the reef for survival. so don't be taken in by the movie hype. - hollywood has done an incredible de to sharksisservic making everyone afraid movies like jaws and all the take offs of that movie. they really create an irrational fear of sharks. sharks are an important part of the ecosystem and actually sharks have more to fear from us. - [scott] this guy has something to fear? he sure does, because humans are the biggest apex predators of all. - some cultures actually have some ed shark finhat happens is that people actually catch these sharks, cut the fins off and throw the sharks right back in, only using those fins, which is not only wasteful beca but quite cruel.cially l - [scott] espeuse sharks can'e their population fast enough tkeep up.o - sharks have a very long time until they're actually mature enough to reproduce, a lot of times it's not until they're 15 years old until they can have pups.

- [scott] sustainable seafood is a term the national aquarium would like you to know. it means becoming aware of fishing methods that hurt other creatures.t it also means not eating seafood tha may be in danger of extinction. - and there's actually a free app you can get called seafood watch, you can go on your smartphone and download it for free. and what you actually do, you simply type in the type of seafood or sushi that you enjoy and it'll tell you what the - [scott] of course, pollution and climge threatenate chan all creatures great and small, including the coral. this exhibit is meant to be educational and inspirational. so we all do what we can to help. - one thing we want to do is first of all show people a very special aquatic treasure of the planet and that is the indo-pacific reef. - it was really cool seeing all the different kinds of fish

interacting with each other. - [scott] and what did you learn from it. - that like, the animals can be with each other - visiting an aquarium is a and not rt them.hu special kind of sightseeing. you can call it sea sighting. at the national aquarium in baltimore for teen kid news, i'm scott. on teen kids news,- next a tip that will brighten your homework habits. in this week's make the grade report.

- when it comes to good study habits many of us are in the dark. especially with regards to proper lighting. let's start with the right bulb. we'rth the triede all far wi and true incandescent bulb. it gives good, even white light. but leds are becoming more popular. they last longer and use less energy. they also don't get as hot as halogens nor do they contain mercury, like cfl bulbs do.

and not so dim that it'll cause eyestrain. brightness is measured in lumens. the experts recommend a bulb that gives off about 1,100 lumens. that's equivalent to a traditional 75 watt bulb. you can check out the lumens on the package. next is the position of your light source. if you're using a desk lamp don't put it alongside the hand you write with, instead put it on the opposite side. and be sure it doesn't cause glare on your computer screen. actually make us smarter that would be a bright idea. i'm christin, here to help you make the grade. - every state has one, but most of us don't know why they look the way they do. here's eric with flag facts.

it's also our least densely populated eastern state. almost 90% of maine is covered by forest, which is why it's called the pine tree state. but maine is also known for its long rugged coastline. in fact, it competes with florida for having the most but shoreline alongnown for its the atlantic ocean.ne. maine's first state flag appeared in 1901. it was a very simple design. then in 1909 a new flag wed.as creat flag in that, in recent ye saw it as an improvement.n ig a- maine is a there have been two attempts to return it to its former, simpler design, which was just a pine tree and the north star. what thave now is the state coat of arhey ms, which features still the pine tree still the north star,s, but also a moose resting beneath the pine tree.

maine is kno for its blueberries and potatoes. to the right you see a sailor. - [eric] the sailor symbolizes maine's connection to the sea, including its fishing aserved as a guidindustries.as the north star hg light for sailors since ancient times. just below the star is the state mottrigo.o di latin for "i lead". a knotted fringe of yellow silk gently surrounds the state seal. unlike other states, maine's first european explorers were it's believed that nordic sailors arrived here almost 600 years before columbus. we know these seafaring adventurers by a more familiar name, vikings, with flag facts, i'm eric. - if you've been trying to watch your weight, try watching the salt. studies show that when a food is salty we tend to eat more of it. one reason may be that the salt interferes with the

to tell our brain that we're full but if they're inhibited by salt then we don't get the message that we're full. and so we want to keep eating. to help maintain a healthy weight try to shake the salt habit. (theme music) - we've got to take a short break but don't go away because

to brush your teeth? well, jacelyn has the answer. - you'd think that if you don't brush correctly, you'd just end up with dirty teeth and bad breath. not true. dr. gerry curatola is a dentist and professor at new york university, hi. - hi, thanks for having me. - our pleasure, doc. so what's one of the problems poor brushing can cause? - well as you said it's more than about dirty teeth,

but it could be far worse. - so give me an example of how a problem that starts in yourrw mouth can actually cause a problem fohole body? - well studies have shown that diseases in your mouth can increase your risk of a heart attack by ten times. it can increase your chance of getting adult type diabetes by seven times. and if you're a young pregnant woman, it can have very bad - wow, you know i'd love to ask you a few more questions, doctor, but i think i better go and brush my teeth. see you later. - that (laughs)'s a great . (patriotic music) - here's a law that's still on the books.noy if you own a lion, you can't take him to the movies.

tiger to the movies should also be illegal. if it were up to me, i'd make it illegal to bring a giraffe, for obvious reasons. hey down in front! - it's time for another important message, brought to you by the national road safety foundation. - cool party! - what do you guys wanna drink?a - can i have a head on collision with concussion twist? in accident with no survivors. - make mine a fatal (sirens wailing)- and y? - a designated driver, please you know, just a bottle of water. - awesome! - you're a lifesaver!heme ) (t - it looks and sounds like a fancy de i'll showssert, but

to your kitchen, here's another fun recipe from the culinary institute of america! - if you want to impress your friends the next time you hang out, this recipe is an easy way to do it. today we're making puff pastry apple tarts. let's get started. i've picked out this granny smith apple here, but you can use red or delicious, ginger gold, whichever apple is your favorite. granny smiths th this puff pastry tart are nicen (frantic music) takes a little practice. gonna cut the apple directly in half, just on the side of the stem. you'll see how close i got to the seeds. seeds here, no seeds here. the way we want to cut this applethin sl.

help of your parents, you too can do this. make slices about a quarter an inch thick. a little bruising is fine on your apple, itweeter. just means it's a little s you want to put all of your apple slices into a bowl with water and lemon juice. this will keep them from turning brown. you can start with the puff pastry dough. you can find this at your local grocery store, supermarket, wherever you go to find puff pastry dough. they come in big long rolls just like this one, but we're only gonna use about half. can use the other half for later. you want to cut the puff pastry dough into rectangles. i use a pizza cutter, it's safer than using a knife. e you want to cut right down thmiddle of the puff pastry,

that makes six rectangles. you want to take these and move them over to your parchment lined baking sheet. i line my baking sheets with parchment paper, it's easier to clean up. from there, our next step is to add the apples. you want to take the apples out of the water mixture once you have the excess water shaken off, yoivu want to take the apples and lay them indidually, shingledwhich means one over the other, , like a roof onto the puff pastry dough.

once you have your apples laid down, the next step is brush the entire pastry, including the dough stick of butter in a dish.aba i've melted and you just paint just like you're painting a picture. you want to coat the entire pastry evenly so that it browns evenly once we cook it. the next step is my favorite. i have about two tablespoons of white sugar. i'm just gonna sprinkle it over the apples and the puff pastry. this will create kind of a crust and make the apples a little sweeter.

o it's time for them tcook. i'm going to place them in an oven about 350 degrees foro about 15 t20 minutes or until they're golden-brown. now our apple tarts are done and they're cool and they smell great. at the culinary institute of america for teen kids news i'm fletch.(theme mus) t look - wow, thas really good. you can find the full recipe on our website. teen kids news will be back next week, you won't want to miss it. bye for now.

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