(Describer) In computer animation, different news scenes in rectangles move fast around a turning globe.

♪

(Describer) In front of a blue background with a triangle and circle, title: Teen Kids News. A girl sits at a desk with monitors behind her.

Welcome to Teen Kids News. I'm Livia. Here's our top story for this week.

(Describer) The word “top” casts a shadow on a surface. Title: Teen Kids News Top Story.

♪

History is often divided by milestones, such as the Bronze Age or the Space Age. Today, many experts are saying that we're about to launch into another new age. Jacelyn tells us more. The official name is UAV. That stands for "unmanned aerial vehicle." Unless you sleep with your science textbook, you probably know it by a simpler name: drone. It's the hottest development in flying. The age of the drone is taking off. Joining me from Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi, are two experts on drones: Dr. Luis Cifuentes and senior Cody Torno. Welcome! Hi. Hello. Cody, so that we're all on the same page, what's so special about drones? The interesting part about it is that it is unmanned. We don't have a pilot inside a cockpit flying the vehicle. It's done in an exterior location, which is a safer option. So how's it controlled? It's controlled via satellite, usually, or some type of external communication link, kind of like a long-distance R.C. plane, except it also can be used autonomously, which means without any kind of user input. Doctor, the military has been using drones for a while to take out terrorists. How else can drones be used? Well, there are a tremendous number of applications. One of them is called precision agriculture. It will make it possible for us to grow food much more efficiently. Wildfire monitoring. If you want to enter the marine environment and follow whales, you could use unmanned aircraft systems to do it. If you want to check structures which are very tall, like smokestacks or windmills, you can do that. If you want to monitor hurricanes, you can use drones for that. The opportunities are endless. And Amazon is talking about delivering packages to people with this kind of technology. It may not happen immediately, but it might down the road. Fascinating. Cody, how did you get interested in drones? I'm in my senior year, being a mechanical engineer here at Texas A&M, and Dr. Luis Garcia, one of our incoming professors, offered me to get in on the ground floor in his lab. That's how I became acquainted with this whole program. Doctor, will this new technology offer future career opportunities for kids in school today? Absolutely. Any kid who's interested in science, engineering, and mathematics should look into this because it's the third Kitty Hawk moment in aviation. If you are interested in going into engineering in college or computer science or geospatial science, these are all going to be opportunities for young kids to enter the new market, the new industry, the new commercial environment coming out of unmanned aircraft systems. Cody, what should middle or high school students study to pursue a career in-- I guess you could call it dronology? One of the most important things is math and science. Also, one of the bigger things is computer science. That has a large role in controlling these vehicles autonomously. Doctor, do you think we'll have our own personal drones? Say I forgot my homework. Could my drone bring it to me at school? Actually, I think it might become that someday. The notion of people having drones, or unmanned aircraft systems, to provide services like going to the market and bringing something back, but also people are thinking they might eventually be used as mechanical pets for folks. Today everybody has a cell phone. Twenty years from now, it's likely that people will have their own drones in the garage and use them for different things. Cody, does a student have to be a genius in math and science to be able to pursue a career in this field? Not at all. They have to have the interest and motivation to get focused on this kind of research in this field because it is a bit different than what's been done before. Just having the interest and drive to be part of it is the most important part. Well, Cody Torno, Dr. Cifuentes, thank you both for being so informative. Thank you for not... droning on. Thank you. Thank you. Another use for drones is searching for cattle caught in a drought area. You could say, "Oh, give me a drone where the buffalo roam." For Teen Kids News, I'm Jacelyn.

(Describer) Titles: Teen Kids News. Coming Up, Heads Up! A football quarterback is tackled. Livia:

♪

It happens on fields, rinks, and courts all across the country. Thousands of times a year, a player takes a hit and suffers a concussion. Even after getting back up again, the damage can be serious. Nicole reports on a national effort to make sure players, parents, and coaches know what to do about these injuries.

(Describer) Andre:

I got hit from behind, then somebody came from the side and hit me helmet-to-helmet.

(Describer) A player with the ball tries to dodge another, who brings them down.

(Nicole) Football is a contact sport. Kids get hit...and hurt. So USA Football, a youth league organization, is joining forces with the Centers for Disease Control. They're educating coaches, parents, and players about concussions.

(woman) A concussion is any hit to the brain

(Describer) Katherine Vlasica, DO:

which changes how your brain works. It's your brain getting rattled inside your skull. What happens with a concussion-- football players are examples of this-- is that, while they're protected by helmets, protective gear, and padding, the helmet itself does a great job in stopping the skull from getting injured, however the brain within the skull moves forward and hits the inside of the skull.

(Nicole) The most obvious symptom of a concussion is a loss of consciousness. But that doesn't always happen. Other symptoms might include... Be checked out by a doctor. Remember, the damage to your brain can continue, even if the symptoms go away. Some symptoms can present a day later without any warning, so be on the lookout for that.

(Describer) Someone on a gurney is moved.

(Nicole) Football is just one of the activities that puts young people at risk. Emergency room visits for sports-related concussions in kids ages 8 to 13 doubled in a decade.

(Describer) A boy hits a tackling dummy in practice.

The good news is that some of that increase is attributed to more awareness about the dangers of head injuries. People realize that when you bang your head, you don't just get up and keep going.

(Describer) Another boy tackles. Andre:

If you bang your head, you tell the coach you're not feeling well and your head is ringing. They'll make sure that you sit out and you're okay. Head up!

(Describer) Another boy tackles.

(Nicole) Here's something many kids and parents don't know. Having one concussion increases your risk for another. This man's son suffered six concussions.

(Describer) John Rovet:

If I would have known what I know now, I wouldn't have allowed my son to continue playing all the way to his last game, when he got his last one.

(Describer) Older kids play lacrosse, and one falls as players go for the ball.

(Nicole) Now there's a united effort to address concussions on all kinds of playing fields.

(Describer) Scott Hallenbeck, USA Football:

This is a multisport issue, so we have U.S. Lacrosse and soccer and even hockey and the NCAA and the National Federation of State High School Associations working together to come up with a common standard when it comes to signs and symptoms and an action plan for concussions.

(Describer) Nicole:

Recently, young concussion victims came here to Washington to tell their stories to Congress. Teens testified about trouble concentrating in the classroom because of head injuries on the field. With increasing awareness of long-term damage from concussions, some states are enacting tougher rules about when you can return to play if you show symptoms of a concussion.

(Describer) Vlasica:

You need to, at the least, go see your doctor and be cleared back to activity. Your brain needs to be fully recovered before going back to play. Even when you do go back, it should be a gradual introduction back. Do not be a hero.

(Describer) Coach Dan Bevilacqua:

Your well-being throughout your life is more important than a game. On Capitol Hill, for Teen Kids News, I'm Nicole. This strange-looking contraption is part of a new interactive exhibit on submarines. I'll have a report.

(Describer) He looks into a periscope.

Dive, dive, dive!

(Describer) Spinning with the triangle and the circle, title: Teen Kids News. Outside a huge military ship, Scott:

♪

We're here at the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum to check out their new exhibit, Submerged.

(Describer) Inside...

Megan Bednarz is a museum educator, and she'll be our guide.

(Describer) They shake hands.

Hello. How are you? Good. Let's look at Submerged. Let's do it.

(Describer) They go to a display wall behind a replica sub.

So this is it? Yeah. This is an overview of the history of submarines.

It started with the Turtle during the Revolutionary War. That little thing? Yeah, that little thing. It went deep enough to be below a wooden ship, poke some holes, hopefully sinking the ship. The submarine found at our museum

is the USS Growler, a Grayback-class. That could go about 300 feet. Since then, they have just gotten bigger and faster.

(Describer) They turn to the replica sub.

All right, what do we have here? Here we have berthing, which is the living area, the sleeping area.

(Describer) ...with two bunk beds with square lockers.

As you see, there's not a lot of space. This box here had to fit all of your prized possessions. Everything? Had to be careful. You had to be very, very choosy. And oftentimes you might be sleeping over torpedoes.

(Describer) One is under the bottom bunk.

There were bunks in the torpedo rooms for anyone on that watch. And these worked? Yes, they all work. The ultimate alarm clock if you don't wake up. Absolutely. If that goes off, you have to wake up. What do we have here?

(Describer) They move on to three steering wheels.

Over here, these are the controls. We have three yokes here for steering the sub. It took three people to operate. You have one yoke for going up and down, and the others for going right and left. Why are the lights red? In the control room, we have red lights because there isn't night or day inside the sub, but when looking through your periscope at night, you have to have night vision. This red glow helps your eyes adjust to view the horizon at night. This is the periscope. This is the periscope. You have to get behind the periscope. You rotate it with these handles. This gives you a view of the horizon because you can't see it from inside the sub.

(Describer) The viewer’s near the bottom of a pipe that goes upward.

It looks like I'm looking straight out. How does this really work? Let's check it out.

(Describer) They go to a diagram.

We have a diagram that shows how the mirrors inside a periscope work. You could see the horizon, but you're underwater. This is where your eye was. Light bounces off these mirrors to bring that image to your eye. The mirrors are set at 45 degrees. Whatever's on the horizon enters in, bounces down, and bounces again to your eye. Oh. Yeah. Pretty nifty. It reflects the whole thing below. Exactly, yeah. They didn't have windows on the submarines, so that's how they see? That was your eye into the outside world. No windshield, no nothing. That helped them steer? It's a little different. That helps them decide where they're going. There's more to it than just the periscope. We us sonar to detect objects.

(Describer) They go to a round screen with a green light going around.

So there's two ways to use sonar. One way would be active use of sonar. That's what being shown here. The submarine sends out a ping that bounces back to the sub. The pings are used to find objects that might be approaching. If you hear pings close together, there's something approaching you. If you hear pings far apart, something's leaving. But most subs like to stay very quiet because they're designed to be very stealthy. That's where passive sonar comes in. That's just listening. You're just listening for other sounds. You're not sending out any sounds. Sonar is what bats use to find out what's around it. Absolutely. A lot of wildlife uses this to map the space they're in. Sound bounces off of everything and comes right back.

(Describer) Further on...

Here is our mess area. This is where the enlisted men do all their eating, do all their lounging and relaxing. Storage was very, very scarce on the sub, so if you look below you-- Are those cans? Yes, these are the tops of cans.

(Describer) ...in the floor.

In order to save space, they filled up the walkways with canned food. It made everybody shorter, huh? Yeah, exactly. The more you ate, the shorter you get. Okay.

(Describer) They turn to a table with games of checkers on it.

And here you can see table settings. Board games were extremely important aboard a submarine, and movies were always shown in the mess area. This was the time where enlisted men could finally relax, let their guard down and enjoy some games. This is where they ate? Absolutely. Multipurpose was also a big deal because there's no space. It's a mess 'cause they don't eat cleanly? Messy eaters? Very messy, yeah.

(Describer) They move on.

What do we have over here? The last space here is the engine room. So a diesel-powered sub is going to have to surface to get power. While it's on the surface, it's set to diesel.

(Describer) ...on a switch with a lever.

It charges up its batteries that later power the engines when it's below surface. Below the surface, it can switch to electric power. Today's subs are nuclear-powered. They work differently. But the sub in our collection is an electric-diesel sub. It's like the hybrid of the old days. Yes, absolutely, very good.

(Describer) They walk to the back end.

Were men on a submarine just drafted on, or did they have a choice? The men enlisted in the Navy could volunteer to work on a submarine. Conditions are considered very extreme here. It's homesickness, it's not knowing day or night. You're underwater for months at a time. It's a small environment. Those stresses were so extreme that they wanted men there that would be up for that particular challenge. You were volunteering then. They weren't being forced into anything. Exactly. One last question. How does something that small power something that big?

(Describer) The propellor.

Yeah, well, submarines are underwater. It's easier to move once you're under the water, so you don't need a giant propeller. The Intrepid propellers would've been as tall as this sub and total four of them. Here it's a much smaller propeller for a submarine. Thank you so much. You've covered everything. I really appreciate it. Great to be here.

(Describer) They shake hands.

(Describer) Scott walks away.

A submarine's greatest asset is being able to travel undetected. The unofficial motto of the U.S. submarine fleet is "silent service." For Teen Kids News, I'm Scott. Want to volunteer a guess at the nickname for Tennessee? Here's a hint: I've already given you the answer.

(Describer) The state flag is shown. Livia:

Now we're going to run a state flag up the pole. Here are facts that make this one stand out.

(Describer) Different flags flash by, with various colors and seals. A couple dozen are shown together, then appear in the word “flag”. Title: Flag Facts. It’s on a flag.

[drumming]

(male) In 1796, Tennessee became our 16th state. America now stretched west to the shores of the Mississippi River. Then in 1812, the United States went to war with Britain again. Many Tennesseans volunteered to fight for their new country. They were commanded by general and soon-to-be president Andrew Jackson.

(Describer) Harry:

That patriotic spirit earned Tennessee its nickname, "The Volunteer State." Another 80 years would pass before it got its own state flag.

(Describer) Randy Howe:

(man) This is a favorite flag because it's simple. It's red, white, and blue, and its design was submitted by a soldier named Leroy Reeves. The three stars represent the three parts of Tennessee. There's Western Tennessee, between the Tennessee and Mississippi Rivers. There's Middle Tennessee, known for the Tennessee River and also bluegrass country. The Great Smoky Mountains are in Eastern Tennessee, and that's what the third star represents.

(Harry) The design celebrates unity by enclosing all three stars within a circle. The red, white, and blue colors celebrate Tennessee's unity with America. A distinctive blue edging ensures that the flag can be easily recognized, even on days when there's no breeze to unfurl it. With "Flag Facts," I'm Harry. Coming up, we go from a sheep's fleece to the wool of a scarf.

(Describer) Livia:

The way woolen cloth is manufactured today involves a lot of complicated machinery and technology. But have you ever wondered how it was done baa-ack in the day? Laura went to find out.

(Laura) Visiting Philipsburg Manor is like traveling back to the mid-1700s. Every year, the historic farm holds its Sheep-to-Shawl Festival. It shows how colonists made clothing and other cloth items out of a sheep's fleece.

The first step is called shearing. This is a once-a-year activity.

(Describer) Russ Hendelman:

What she's wearing is a one-year's growth, and that comes off this time of the year.

(Laura) While sheep don't love being shorn, it's not as bad as it looks.

(Russ) It doesn't hurt any more than having your hair cut. It doesn't have any feeling.

(Laura) The trick is to remove the fleece in a single section.

(Describer) ...with big scissors.

(Russ) It's taken off in one piece

because the best part, the staple, grows very thick. That's what's best for spinning and making into thread.

(Laura) The next step can get a little tedious. It involves getting the grass out of the wool.

(Describer) Sarah Cox:

We take our fingers, and we pick and pick. This is what children would be doing every single night.

(Laura) Once the wool is picked clean, it's spun.

(Describer) Lavada Nation:

I am right now using an 18th-century device, called a spinning wheel, to turn sheep wool into yarn. It's run by a treadle.

(Describer) ...with a pedal.

Down here's my foot, which controls this back arm, which runs the back wheel, like a bicycle. I'm going to pinch, pull, stretch, and release,

(Describer) ...the yarn.

and that feeds right into the machine.

(Laura) This device allows you to make a yarn called tape.

(Describer) Sarah McCullough:

Tape is used to tie clothing together.

(Describer) She pulls yarn between several strands of different yarn.

Might be used for shoelaces. Might be used for tying your jacket closed.

(Laura) In case you're dying to know how they color the yarn, here's where that's done.

(Describer) ...in pots of colored water over a fire. Laura Lee Keating:

In 1750, there were different kinds of dyes, some local, which would've been affordable, and some imported, which were expensive.

(Laura) Today, we use chemicals to create dyes, but in colonial times, all the colors came from Mother Nature.

(Laura Lee) Onion skins, daffodil heads, very affordable, gives you yellows and golds. You can mix and overdye them, like in art class. Blue and yellow make green.

(Laura) Now the different-colored yarns can be woven into cloth. This is our final stage.

(Describer) Diane Brewer Collier:

We are making fabric. This loom has four harnesses and four pedals, and so as I raise two of the pedals, we make what is called a shed. That's what our shuttle goes through.

(Describer) The shuttle has yarn.

When I change my feet, I change the threads on the warp, and then I'm ready to have the shuttle go through again. Again change my feet, so I've changed the warp threads.

(Describer) ...what the shuttle yarn gets woven through.

There we go. That's how it's done.

(Describer) Laura:

The next time you wear wool, think of all that went into making it. At Philipsburg Manor for Teen Lids News, I'm Laura.

(Describer) Livia:

See you next time on Teen Kids News. Thanks for watching. Have a great week.

(Describer) Accessibility provided by the U.S. Department of Education.

Accessibility provided by the U.S. Department of Education.