"teen kids news" is about to begin. here's what's happening. making a difference in the world starts with you. coming up, you'll see how easy and fun it can be. think you know what's in that hamburger and fries? you may want to think again. i'll have the story. the sport that's sweeping the muggle world. can you guess? i'll have the answer coming up. we'll take you to what was once the world's longest suspension bridge. >> and it all starts right now on "teen kids news."

welcome to "teen kids news." i'm mwanzaa. >> and i'm jessica. here's our top story for this week. changing the world is no small task, but as amanda tells us, making a difference can come in small steps and sizes. >> reporter: from a very young age, bilaal rajan thought that helping others in need was the natural thing to do. >> well, i started fund-raising in the age of 4 for an earthquake in india and, simply, i was reading through a newspaper and i saw how a priest from my own religious community had died under the rubble in india. and i decided that i had to do something. that it wasn't really fair. and i was eating a clementine at the time, and i was 4 years old, so the simplest thing to do was well sell clementines. and that's exactly what i did.

>> and so he grabbed a little box from the fridge and away he went. he made up a little sign and all that sort of stuff. and we knew from that point that a typical 4-year-old doesn't do that. >> reporter: at the end of the day, he had raised $350. this set off a passion in bilaal that has taken him all over the world to help those less fortunate. >> i've traveled to places like malawi, indonesia, sri lanka, the tsunami-affected regions, ecuador in south america. and some of the things i saw there i definitely won't forget. they had so little, yet they still had smile on their faces, while here we complain if our coffee is cold. and really that's what counts -- realizing that what we have here. another item to us is the whole world to other people. and i think that that's why it's really important to help out. to be able go out there and make a difference. >> reporter: and that, according to bilaal, is something anyone can make happen, not matter what your age. >> i'm just another kid that's taken action. and action is something that

everyone else out there in the world can do. it's the first step, and it's the hardest step, but it's the most important step in making a difference. >> reporter: but his resume is not one of just another kid. he's a motivational speaker, a fund-raiser, a unicef child ambassador, and now a published author. >> i said, well, why not give my message out to other readers, to other people, to other kids, through a book. and that's when i started speaking into a voice recorder, and i ended up getting that transcribed, and here's my book today. the message is about making change, about finding your passion and being willing to take chances. >> and you have to make sure that you're not afraid to be able to said no to. because it's part of life. and you have to just go ahead and keep on trying, no matter what it takes. and it might seem hard at the start, and it always will be hard. but you have to just keep on going. >> reporter: bilaal does work hard, but there is always room for some fun. >> i love to play tennis. i love to ski. i love to surf, and i still hang

out with my friends. i still get my own time off to be able to swim and do what i really want. but i realize that i had to put away some time for making a difference. >> reporter: and with the support he gets from his parents, there's no limit to what bilaal can accomplish >> one of my goals -- in my perspective, a small goal -- over the next three years, i want to inspire a million kids out there to make a difference in the world and just really help out in their own community or in the global community and just give back to the world. >> reporter: and it doesn't stop there. bilaal wants to be an astronaut and a neurosurgeon when he grows up. like his father says, he might be the first to perform brain surgery in outer space. a popular video game is getting a new use. the nintendo wii is showing good results as therapy for people with an illness called parkinson's disease. the disease affects muscle control. patients who play the games regularly seem to do better at controlling their movements. they're calling it "wii-hab." stay with us. there's lots more still to come

on "teen kids news." >> we'll be right back.

fast food -- it's as american as apple pie. but that doesn't mean it's good for us. to make healthy choices, we need more information. felipe tells us one place to find it. >> reporter: take your favorite fast food burger. according to nutritiondata.com, a whopper and a big mac each have more than half the amount of fat you're supposed to eat in an entire day. >> you've got to educate yourself about food, and a lot of what my book is about is just trying to tell you the difference between this industrial food and real food. >> reporter: eric schlosser spent two years researching the fast food industry. he wrote a book just for kids called "chew on this -- everything you don't want to know about fast food." it includes one surprising fact about those mcdonald's french fries many of us love. >> they're salty, and mcdonald's puts a little extra something in them. and when i was doing research for the book, i discovered that

little extra thing is beef flavor. so the fries have beef in them, and if you're a vegetarian, you shouldn't eat them. >> reporter: eric isn't a vegetarian. in fact, like most of us, he loves a good burger. but he stopped eating fast food after he did his research. he already knew most fast food is not made fresh. it's processed -- created in a big factory, frozen, packaged and shipped around the world. that's why the food tastes the same no matter if you buy it in china or california. but eric was shocked to find out the taste and smell of fast food is not natural. >> this fast food is so heavily processed that while they're processing it, it loses its flavor. so there's a whole industry that's sprung up and it's an offshoot of the chemical industry that's manufacturing these elaborate chemicals that they add to the food to give it its flavor. >> reporter: the way it's processed keeps the cost of fast food low. but it adds on the fat, calories, salt and sugar. we end up paying a bigger price

with our health. too many kids in america are overweight. and most overweight kids become overweight adults. >> you know, other purchases that you might make, like, you know, blue jeans or clothing or an ipod, if those turn out to be defective, you know, you can just get rid of them. if you don't like the clothes anymore, you can give them away, but this food enters your body and becomes part of you and has huge implications for your health. in a lot ways, the food you buy may be the most important purchase that you make, so it's really important that you figure out what's in it, where it comes from and whether it's good for you or not. >> reporter: there is some good news about fast food chains. more and more of them are displaying information about what's in their food, so consumers can make smarter choices.

how much do you know about presidential history? i'll give you four clues. try to guess the president. this president had been a diplomat, serving in germany, russia, and as secretary of state. he was voted into office by the house of representatives, because no candidate won a majority in the election itself. a major project of his presidency -- linking the states with a network of highways and canals. defeated for reelection, he went on to serve in congress for the next 20 years. john quincy adams, our sixth president, and the first son of a president to win the office himself.

our next story is about a sport most people would say doesn't really exist. that's because this sport requires magic. or does it? hannah went to find out.

>> reporter: no, this isn't hogwarts. and these people aren't wizards. but they are college students playing quidditch! that's right. the ingenious sport made famous in the "harry potter" books by j.k. rowling. at vassar college in new york, these muggles are spellbound by the game. >> it's the most bizarre and excellent sport i have ever participated in before in my life. >> i've always been a really big fan of harry potter and just kind of being able to be an adult playing quidditch is kind of really cool, from my childhood dreams. >> our heads could do with filling with some interesting stuff. >> reporter: the game was introduced to the muggle world in 2005. a student at another school, middlebury college in vermont, adapted it to real life. since then, its popularity has grown by leaps and bounds. now, there are nearly 200 teams across the country and abroad. here at vassar, students have been suiting up, or brooming up, since 2007.

recently, i was invited to a practice. before i could start, i needed to know the basics. although they haven't harnessed the power to fly, brooms are still a necessity. is that a nimbus 2000? >> oh, we wish. no, we're going to be placing an order for new brooms soon. these are our clean sweeps. >> reporter: what are the rules of earthbound quidditch? >> well, we take a lot from the movies and from the books. we have three chasers, two beaters, a keeper and a seeker, >> reporter: the object of quidditch is to get as many points as you can before the snitch is caught, but more on that later. first, let's understand the other players. the chaser is the main offensive position within quidditch. they are the ones scoring the goals. like in soccer, the keeper is the goalie and tries to protect the quaffle from getting through

the hoop of their own goal. >> i am a beater, and i have been for two years. they are the muscle of quidditch. their main job is to protect their chaser, and to defend their own goal through the use of bludgers. >> reporter: what position do you play? >> i'm the seeker. the seeker is a very important part of the game. >> their main job is to end the game. basically, how they do that is by taking down the snitch, essentially. which consists of ripping the sockball out of the snitch's pants. >> got it! >> reporter: in "harry potter," the snitch is a golden ball that flies. in real life, it's played by an agile cross-country runner. >> i'm actually a snitch. in the beginning of the game, i run around campus kind of doing crazy things or whatever i want -- climb trees, ride bikes, go on top of buildings, go in dorm rooms, just kind of taunt people basically. >> reporter: well, now that i have a handle on things, let's test out my skills. i've got the cape, i've got the broom, and i'm ready to play. >> cape team ready. >> ready! >> grey shirts ready!

>> the snitch is loose! >> impedimenta! >> beat her! beat her! >> sorry! sorry! i'm fine, i'm just scared! no one said this was easy! quidditch brings together a love of literature and athleticism, minus the magic. it's also a testament to the vast amount of opportunities colleges have to offer. >> oh, definitely. i would never have known, like, all these people, you know, were as interested in harry potter as i was. it's completely amazing, and if you're not going to put yourself out there, you're just going to stay in your room all four years, it's not fun, and then you miss out on things like this. >> reporter: reporting from the pitch at vassar college, for "teen kids news," i'm hannah. 

some history you read about. some history you look at.

but maybe the best history is history you can walk across. this lesson comes with a view, and siena's got it. >> reporter: these towers behind me were once the tallest structures in the western hemisphere. you may be surprised to learn that they are the support towers for the brooklyn bridge. to learn more about this beautiful structure, we met with architectural historian justin ferate. justin is internationally recognized for his expertise in new york city landmarks. why was this bridge originally built? >> in the 19th century, the city of new york was the largest in the country. and the third largest city was the city of brooklyn, directly across the water. but there was no way to connect the two cities. the east river was a tremendous shipping canal. so they had to figure a way to get from one side to the other and connect the cities and get over all the ships that came into the harbor. >> no one had ever attempted to

build a bridge like this before. for one thing, the towers that support the bridge would have to go deep beneath the sandy river bottom to make sure they rested on a solid surface. but that meant building underwater. so -- >> they created a rather amazing, simple, but amazing simple, essentially a box upsidedown, and they would sink the box and capture air in the box. and people would go down into the box, digging for the foundations for the bridge. basically, you're in an upside down box, underneath the river. an incredibly difficult job, but it was the courage of all of those great workers whose names we will never know, who dug the bridge that would give us this great construction. >> the achievement, though, came at a tremendous price. many men lost their lives building the bridge, including the bridge's designer.

>> the original designer was john roebling. the bridge, would not, however, be constructed by roebling, who tragically died of lockjaw. his son would be responsible for building the bridge, washington roebling. but washington roebling himself got sick. so, for many people, the heroine of the whole story is emily roebling, the wife of washington roebling, who supervised the construction. the original concept came about 1865. and by 1883, this rather amazing endeavour would be completed. >> the brooklyn bridge was built at a time when scores of new immigrants were coming to america. con artists often tried to take advantage of them by spinning talltales and selling merchandise they didn't even own, including the brooklyn bridge. there's an old saying that goes,

"if you believe that, then i have a bridge i want to sell you." well, here's the bridge. roebling was a brilliant designer. he created the bridge to last long into the future. in fact, it's as functional today as it was when he designed it more than a hundred years ago. >> because he overbuilt the bridge, the bridge is perfectly safe, perfectly strong. think about it. it's held automobiles, it's held horses and carriages, it's held trolley cars, and it's held pedestrians since 1883. right now there are cars beneath us, people jogging, running, roller-blading, and the bridge is just fine. >> this bridge is a classic example of what's known as a suspension bridge. that means the roadway is suspended from delicate looking steel cables.

those cables are in turn suspended from bigger cables, and the bigger cables are suspended from the towers. you can think of a suspension bridge as a kind of giant hammock hanging between two trees. that means even though it's safe, it does have one unusual characteristic. >> well, actually, when there are many, many people on the bridge, what often happens, it's just a human thing, people start walking in the same rhythm. and somehow it just happens, and people go left, right, left, right, and what happens is that everything starts moving left, right, left, right, and you can actually start feeling the bridge sway. when they built the bridge, there was actually a famous sign saying "break step," which you cannot walk left, right, left, right -- that everyone should go at a different pace, because of that. because the original construction would sway dramatically, and imagine being high above the new york harbor and having this bridge go whoooo-ooo! >> reporter: tell us about the towers.

>> the bridge is largely gothic. the shape of the bridge is a pointed arch, signifying hands in prayer. while it is not a religiously inspired bridge, it is a spiritually inspired bridge, and the point of the arch is to reach up heavenward. >> reporter: this bridge is steeped in history, both good and bad. but even today, it remains one of the world's most popular structures. just how popular? >> if you go to italy, ask for il ponte de brooklyn, or brooklyn bridge chewing gum. it's still the most popular chewing gum in italy. >> now, there's a statistic you can really sink your teeth into. reporting from one of our nation's most beautiful and enduring bridges, for "teen kids news," i'm siena. it's time for "word!" one definition is real. the others are fake. see if you can find the real one.

hydrology. for starters, it's a noun. does it mean the study of the waters of the earth? or is it the tendency of a dog to seek a watering place? or how about an illness resulting in constant thirst? hydrology is the study of the waters of the earth, as in, "her courses in hydrology at college made her an expert in evaporation." here's a verb. evince. what does it mean? maybe it's to make very clear. or perhaps evince means to make a fearful face or grimace. or just possibly evince means to conquer absolutely. give up? evince means to make very clear. "i intend to evince the meaning of evince!" how about bogus. is it a noun? a small particle of dust? or is it a verb? to borrow without permission. or is it an adjective? not real, phony. you got it right if you picked

phony. as in, "there are a lot of bogus definitions in that "word!" game on "kids news." hydrology -- the study of earth's water. evince -- to make clear. bogus -- phony. that's "word!" 

open a big box, and you'll often find it's filled with bits of plastic called peanuts. they're used to protect the valuable items in the box from breaking. but these plastic peanuts are a big problem for communities trying to recycle. because they're designed to take up a lot of space. the good news is that package filler can be reused. there's even a plastic peanut hotline to find out who in your area will accept them. for more information, check out our website. now here's louie with a look at a career you might consider

some day. >> do you have what it takes to hold someone's life in your hands? surgeons do it every day. they are doctors who are on the cutting edge of medicine. literally. a surgeon works in an operating room, leading a team of highly skilled doctors and nurses. the procedures are complex and require extensive knowledge of the inside of the human body. you need to have steady hands and great endurance. some operations take hours to complete. after college and medical school, surgeons train alongside experienced doctors. some surgeons specialize in particular areas of the body. they also learn to be good communicators. that way they can help patients and their families get through the operation and on the road to recovery. to learn more, visit acinet.org. that's a government website about all kinds of careers. i'm lily with "work it." that's all for now, but we'll be back soon with more "teen kids news." >> thanks for joining us, and

have a great week. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com write to us at