wind. >> these types of debris items, these large debris items that float, are starting to show up on our coastline on the west coast. >> asma is with noaa, the national oceanic and atmospheric administration. >> it's a scientific agency that works on everything from weather to coastal and resource management to fisheries, really taking a look at how we have an impact on the oceans and what we can do to restore them. >> noaa has been tracking debris from japan that's been reaching our shores. some debris is hard to miss, like a giant dock that washed up in oregon. this motorcycle made it all the way to canada. it was inside a container that floated. >> we're encouraging people that see tsunami debris to report it to noaa at disasterdebris@noaa.gov. so if this is an unusual type of debris that may have characteristics, like possible japanese writing on it, or specific identifiers, like a license plate, those are clues as to, you know, this might be an item that is actually from the japan tsunami. >> but the debris coming from japan is only part of the problem. our oceans are being choked with all kinds of marine debris. >> marine debris is any manmade material that is lost or thrown away into the ocean. so, for example, this fishing gear that we have here, if it's accidentally lost into the ocean, it can become marine debris. >> even everyday items thrown away on land can wind up in the ocean. the cigarette butts in this jar came from the streets of washington, d.c. >> what happens when it rains is cigarette butts go down the storm drain, and through the storm drain, they go out into the ocean. and cigarette butts are actually made of plastic, so this does not degrade in the environment. so just like this plastic ocean environment, it's there. >> marine debris comes in all shapes and sizes. >> some other examples of marine debris are... a toothbrush... a glow stick... a cigarette lighter... fishing line... plastic bottle cap... a fishing lure... styrofoam... and even a golf ball. >> all of it is dangerous for sea creatures and birds. they swallow the junk or get tangled in it and die. it's a big problem. but no matter where we live, we all can help. >> you can be in the inner-city, you can be in the middle of nebraska, but anyone can have an impact on marine debris. so here's somethieveryone can do. instead of using single-use plastics, you can use reusable water bottles. >> the point is, the less waste we create, the less waste will end up in our waterways and oceans. >> so teens can participate in beach clean-ups. they can start their own clean-up. anyone can participate or organize a clean-up to help stop marine debris, if it's at a beach, a park, your local neighborhood, or even at your school. >> marine debris caused by humans, so it's a problem that can be solved by humans. and we teens can help make that happen. >> american students take their language studies from the classroom to the great wall. i'll have the story. >> abu ahmed khattala pleaded not guilty to charges that he masterminded the attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi, libya, which left four americans dead. the suspected terrorist faces a charge of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists in the september 11, 2012 attack. khattala, a libyan national, remains in u.s. custody. the government is expected to file more charges against him. he was arrested in june and held at sea on the u.s.s. new york for two weeks while being questioned by u.s. officials. pope francis speaking out in his weekly address in st. peter's square in vatican city about the terrorist group isis' attempt to take over iraq, asking iraqi leaders for discussion and not warfare, saying, "the news from iraq is unfortunately very saddening. i join bishops from that country in calling on the rulers to preserve national unity and avoid war through dialogue." the pontiff's appearance comes after a number of his recent events were canceled. officials say it's a much-needed break before a planned trip to south korea in august. hundreds of thousands of people in cities from new york to seattle participate in gay pride celebrations. for new york city, it was the 45th anniversary of the stonewall riots, which started the modern gay-rights movement. so far, in 2014, 7 states have legalized gay marriage, bringing up the total to 19, plus washington d.c. for "teen kids news," i'm rick leventhal, "fox news channel in the classroom." >> you can learn a foreign language in school, and you can also learn about the country's history and culture, but as ellie reports, nothing beats the firsthand experience you get from actually visiting the country. >> [ speaking mandarin ] >> [ speaking mandarin ] >> these students at mamaroneck high school are learning mandarin, the official language of china. >> [ speaking mandarin ] >> i've been studying mandarin for about six years. >> we started studying mandarin every day starting in seventh grade. >> [ speaking mandarin ] >> we're very proud of our mandarin program. it started back in the late '80s with about 30 kids, and at its high point, recently, we had over 300 kids involved in the mandarin program. >> being able to speak a foreign language in class is one thing. the true test is seeing if you can communicate with native speakers in their own country. and that's exactly what some of these students did. as part of their foreign-exchange program, they got to try out their language skills in china. >> you're forced to think in chinese when you're in china. >> i can understand most people well, but at times, i had to definitely ask people to slow down or repeat what they said. >> like, go to stores and have shopkeepers, like, understand my chinese -- i think that was, like, really one of the funnest parts. >> today was a lot of fun -- messing with the chinese people. >> so what do you want students to learn from a trip to china? >> it's kind of really important for them to be immersed in the language. they should have a feel of the culture behind it and, you know, the people. >> [ singing in mandarin ] >> we're visiting students at dong twin primary school in rural xi'an. [ singing continues ] >> the students stayed with host families, learning firsthand what their daily routine is like. were you concerned that it would be difficult to communicate? >> absolutely. i was really terrified. there was a whole day that we had to spend alone with our host family with no one from our school, but it was absolutely fine, and there were not many problems with communication. >> the trip wasn't all work. there was plenty of time to take in the sights of modern and ancient china. the forbidden city -- closed to outsiders for centuries. today, its massive doors are open to visitors. at xi'an, they visited the dig where life-size sculptures were uncovered. these clay figures were made from terra-cotta. that's actually italian for "baked earth." when the first emperor of china died 2,000 years ago, a whole army of terra-cotta warriors, along with horses and wagons, were buried with him. they climbed the stairs of the great wall. built to protect china from invaders, it's incredibly long. in fact, it would stretch back and forth across the u.s. more than four times. >> we are in the pearl tea house, and right now, we are taking part in a traditional tea ceremony. >> they also sampled all kinds of foods, from the famous peking duck... to fried scorpions on a stick. yum. and they wandered through the marketplaces. >> i got lost in a chinese mall. [ chuckles ] and i only knew my host sister's english name, so i kept going around, going, "chloe zai nar?", which is like, "where is chloe?" and everyone was like, "i don't know who you're talking about." >> there was a lot that was wonderfully strange and a lot that was strangely familiar. >> and when i got to stay with a chinese family and see, like, what their daily routine is like and going to school and seeing that there's a lot more similarities than i thought between our two cultures. >> china was a lot more open than i expected. i expected it to be a lot -- you know, a lot more police and, like, a "government presence" kind of thing, but it seemed a lot more similar to the u.s. than i was expecting. >> and they did beautifully. whether it was from the schools that we partnered with to the vendors at the pearl market, the kids were really actively using their language and being understood. >> you can expect to see more u.s. students visiting china -- and not just visiting but attending school there. that's because our government has set a goal to send 100,000 students to study in china by the end of 2014. for "teen kids news," i'm ellie. >> coming up, we'll meet kids who help turn something you throw out every day into a real masterpiece. >> it's been said that one person's trash is another person's art. some elementary students are provithat's certainly true, but with a twist. harry has the story. >> from a distance, it sure looks like this museum in newark, new jersey, has one of the world's greatest paintings on display -- "starry night," by vincent van gogh. >> when vincent van gogh died, he became famous for his paintings. but when he was alive, nobody liked his paintings. >> he, like, uses bright colors in all his paintings, except for one of them when he was really mad. he used dark colors. >> yes, all true. but what's not true is that van gogh painted this picture. it's actuallycopy of his "starry night," made up of recycled bottle caps. >> some of these are from coffee, orange juice, and lots of things. we had trouble getting the yellow ones the most. and the blue ones are, like, from water -- like when you drink water. we had, like, trouble with these ones, too. >> first-grade teacher andrea arguello wanted the students to learn about two subjects that don't usually go together -- art and recycling. >> and then these color ones are, like -- some of these are from the cafeteria bottles and these, like... and then the green ones are mainly from, like, the sodas -- sprite. >> the book "bottlecap little bottlecap" gave the teacher the idea to create the mural. >> the brown ones are, like, from chocolate milk. these big ones are, like -- the big, yellow ones are from coffee. the white ones are from, like, water. you can see the transparent ones. the orange ones are, like, from orange juice. and...that's pretty much it. >> so it took about 300 students. it was october through march, we collected... >> ...the bottle caps for the "starry night" mural. >> and it took one month to make the mural. >> the picture needed about 7,000 bottle caps, so the kids began collecting. >> teachers, students, some people from maria's deli -- a lot of people helped. >> we put a little sign that said, "please help us to collect bottle caps for the 'starry night' mural." >> this is incredible. i never imagined such a tremendous impact. >> it sure was tremendous. with the help of the community, they collected not 7,000 but more than 50,000 caps. >> miss arguello first painted it, and then she screwed in the bottle caps on three large pieces of wood. >> sounds easy, but even with volunteers helping out, it was a lot of work. when the mural was finally finished, it was too big to display in their school. >> well, i wrote an e-mail to the museum and called them, and they called back, and within a day or two, they said that "we would love to display it," and we were so happy that they gave us that chance. >> newark museum's ted lind said the decision to display the mural was an easy one. >> it's an incredible work of art. we've already had some people come up and want to buy the mural. and i think that says a lot about the quality of it -- the craftsmanship, the hours of labor that were put into that. >> in fact, the museum is encouraging the school to take on a new project -- to create a bottle-cap mural to complement the work done by another important artist. >> his name is joseph stella, and we have a major piece that he created in the 1920s here called "voice of the city interpreted," and it's just a wonderful representation of new york city at the time when, you know, in the roaring '20s when everything was very exciting and dynamic. it's very colorful. so we're hoping to connect that artwork with the children at the school, and they'll create, you know, another major piece. >> the other goal of the art project was to get the community to become more aware of the importance of recycling. >> the messages that people could get is not only trash is trash. you can use trash to recycle and you can make brand-new things out of it. >> i will say that the thing that i really enjoyed the most was that children were teaching their parents about recycling. many parents were not recycling at home, and because of this, children told them and they are recycling now. >> there's a famous saying that "imitation is the highest form of flattery." in that case, vincent van gogh would no doubt be pleased to know that a painting he did more than 100 years ago still has the capacity capturegso much the the attention today. for "teen kids news," i'm harry. >> this report is brought to you by prudential financial. [ upbeat music plays ] these middle- and high-school students were chosen as the best of the best from thousands of young volunteers across the country and around the world. the 2014 prudential spirit of community awards honored kids whose projects ranged from helping victims of the boston marathon bombings to planting gardens to feed the hungry. >> your commitment to making this world a better place and the impact you've had on the communities near and far, all of these things set you apart from so many others your age and make you inspiring role models and not just for your peers but, frankly, for all of us. >> one of those role models is elijah evans of louisiana. abused as a child, he spent three years in foster care. now he shares his story to raise awareness and money for a yearly holiday party for foster kids. >> everyone feels like i'm an inspiration, but, really, i find the children i help are more inspiration to me to continue what i'm doing. >> elijah and the other top 10 u.s. award winners each receive a $5,000 prize for themselves and $5,000 for a charity of their choice. >> kaylee graham. [ applause ] >> it's part of a yearly program established by prudential financial and the national association of secondary-school principals. in addition, two top youth volunteers from each state, as well as the district of columbia, receive a $1,000 award. >> jasmine is the founder and editor of a quarterly girls magazine that promotes self-esteem and leadership. >> international student volunteers also receive awards, applause, and praise from an oscar-winning actor. >> you have so much potential. you will be the leaders and innovators of tomorrow. you will scale to such heights that my generation -- my generation, we can't even fathom what you're gonna do. >> if you want to apply for or to find out more about the prudential spirit of community awards, check out... for "teen kids news," i'm scott. >> the world health organization says snake bites kill thousands of people every year. in fact, snake attacks are so common in africa, they're actually opening a unique hospital in nigeria. it will only treat patients bitten by snakes. this might be the first such hospital hiss-tory. >> coming up next, i'll learn how to review a restaurant. >> if you like to eat, listen up. hannah reports on a teen who's making a career and a name for himself in the food world, one bite at a time. >> while most teens would be happy eating pizza every day, david fishman is different. he goes out to dinner, tries the most unique thing on the menu, and then writes about it. he's a food critic. to find out what it takes to review a restaurant, "teen kids news" invited david to a meal at "good enough to eat" in new york city. well, the breakfast looks really good. >> yeah. yeah, that's what they're known for. >> and david is known for reviewing restaurants. he's dined at world-class restaurants and sampled the rarest of delicacies. and he's only 13! >> i've always been very passionate about food. ever since i was really young, my love for food has grown above almost everything else. and i also liked writing a lot, more recently, and they kind of came together, and it became sort of a really passion/hobby for me. >> if eating food can be a hobby, then count me in. let's get this review started. bring on the food! >> enjoy. >> thanks. >> i review a restaurant by looking at the three different categories that i kind of customize to my own standards. so i have food, i have decor, and then i have service. >> what do you think of the presentation? >> [ sighs ] it's really interesting. i really like how they're actually combining, like, a lot of different elements here. >> well, let's dig in. next on the menu is skate tacos. skate is a fish -- a ray, to be exact. so you like fish a lot? >> i do. huge fish fan. i'm actually just gonna use my hands. >> so how do you grade the food? >> when i first get a dish, i first kind of look at the presentation and see kind of what feeling it gives me, how i'm meant to eat it, how big it is in comparison to the price, and then i'll take a bite of it. i'll write down some initial thoughts. then i'll take some more bites, and i'll finish the dish, and at the end, i'll give a more kind of in-depth review of it. >> to be a food critic, eating is only half the job. the other part is writing about it. david takes notes during his meal to remember the special details. >> so, hannah, what do you taste in the dish? >> i really like it. i like the sauce, and i like the fish a lot. what about you? >> one thing i like -- i mean, i love the fish in the dish. a really key thing about this dish is how the flavors kind of interact with each other. it sort of, to me, tastes the best when you eat it, like, all, like, with the -- combine it with the guacamole, combine it with the special sauce, which tastes like salsa, combine it with the lime. and i feel like all the flavors kind of match -- are a good match for each other. >> wow! he got all that from just a few bites! >> so here are tropical kool-aid cupcakes for dessert. >> served to us by the owner of "good enough to eat," carrie levin. >> it is an interesting and creative idea to put kool-aid in a cupcake, but, i mean, drinking kool-aid in my past and... i just hope it works out in a cupcake. >> well, let's try it. >> yeah. >> i wonder what the frosting is made out of. >> i'm actually gonna try the frosting first. the cupcake -- the ingredients in the cupcake actually work very well together. >> now, with our bellies full, it was time to hear what david had to say. >> okay, guys, how was it? >> really good. >> it was really good. it was quite a unique meal, truthfully --deliciously unique meal. >> after the food-tasting and note-taking, david is ready to write the review. >> so my blog is called fishmanfoodie.com. it basically has reviews from all over the city, all over the world, all over the country. >> well, i think david gets a perfect score for being a great dining partner. for "teen kids news," i'm hannah. >> well, that wraps it up for this week's "teen kids news," but we'll be back next week, so see you then. >> here's a shout-out to pr newswire for including "teen kids news" on their big screen in times square, new york city. steves: beautifully preserved lucca is contained entirely within its iconic ramparts. most cities tear down their walls to make way for modern traffic. but lucca kept its walls, effectively keeping out both traffic and, it seems, the stress of the modern world. the city is a bit of a paradox. while it has europe's mightiest renaissance wall, it hasn't seen a battle since 1430. locals, like my friend and fellow tour guide gabriele calabrese, treat their ramparts like a circular park. and with plenty of rental bikes available, visitors can enjoy a lazy pedal around its 2-1/2-mile circuit, as well. so, gabriele, this is a renaissance wall. what's the difference between a renaissance wall and a medieval wall? calabrese: the medieval wall is thin, because they had no problem with harrows or stones. but in the renaissance time, the cannons, they became very strong, and they became a problem, so that's why it was so thick. steves: lucca's wall didn't come cheap. but all that hard work and investment combined with clever diplomacy earned the city a long period of independence. and to this day, the proud lucchesi have a strong sense of identity. rather than showcasing famous monuments, lucca's appeal is in its relaxed old-world ambience. stroll around. take time to let the city unfold. romanesque churches seem to be around every corner, as do inviting piazzas busy with children at play. the main pedestrian drag is via fillungo. strolling here, past elegant old storefronts, you'll get a glimpse of lucca's rich past, as well as its charming present. piazza amphitheater was built around an ancient roman arena. while the arena's long gone, its oval shape is a reminder of the city's classical heritage. locals have been gathering here for 2,000 years. today's attraction -- a flower market. piazza san michele also has ancient roots. it's hosted a market since roman times, when it was the forum. today it's dominated by the church of san michele. towering above its fancy romanesque facade, the archangel michael stands ready to flap his wings, which, thanks to a crude mechanical contraption, he actually did on special occasions. in its heyday, lucca packed over 100 towers within its walls. each tower was the home and private fortress of a wealthy merchant family. towers were single rooms stacked atop each other -- shop, living room, and then the kitchen. this one, lucca's tallest surviving tower, is famous for being capped with a bushy little forest. those making the climb are rewarded with commanding city views, all in the shade of its amazing trees. nearby, the church of san giovanni hosts nightly concerts celebrating the music of hometown composer giacomo puccini. woman: [ singing operatically ] steves: he was one of italy's greatest opera composers. puccini's delightful arias seem to capture the spirit of this wonderful corner of italy. [ singing continues ] [dramatic instrumental music] ♪ - known for its rich world history centering around the massive roman empire, a history that's still alive and well in the eternal city today... [dramatic instrumental music] and can be explored in the many ruins... that's called the roman forum. - the colosseum is huge! - arts, classes, and reenactments. plus with pasta... - italian pizza. - yummy, fresh cheese and fruits, and... - gelato. - there's plenty of tastes to tempt tiny palates. conquer it all in... both: travel with kids: rome. female announcer: this program is made possible by sears vacations, the official sponsor of family fun.

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