The high school students take off their shoes and socks and step into the water of the North Branch of the Grasse River. They can’t see the bottom as the water is golden brown, steeped in tannins from bogs upstream.
Crossing the North Branch is the first challenge of their AP Environmental Science final exam. All year they’ve been studying at Canton High School with their teacher, Tom Van de Water. They’ve been on field trips, but never one like this. On this trip