I took this class with Brown during the Spring Quarter 2020 during quarantine . In general, this was a very great class and overall a relatively easy. There are two lectures per week along with one lab class.
The labs are very easy as the TA goes over everything with you, which means that you are usually finished with the weeks assignment just by attending the section. There are also assigned readings, which I would recommend skimming over them since I did find them somewhat helpful.
Brown assigns weekly quizzes, which are easy points since there are unlimited attempts. I would recommend paying attention during lecture and taking notes as you do NEED to know the material in order to perform well on the midterm and final.
STUDY THE STUDY GUIDE LIKE IT IS THE EXAM! Brown provides a study guide for both the midterm and final so make sure to take them filling everything out. Personally, I found the final to be easier than the midterm and Brown took the best score out the two exams for this quarter.
If you are looking for an easy GE, take this class!

Professor Brown made this class incredibly interesting and easy to digest, which I came to appreciate as I took this class as a GE outside my department. There are two books required for this class, but they can easily be found online through libraries, etc. I personally did the readings, from what the weekly MCQ quizzes (5 questions generally) are based on, but the quizzes (at least for this quarter) has unlimited tries leading up to the due date, so you could go back and look for your answer. A large part of your grade is lab, but the TAs are extremely helpful, they essentially guide you through all of the questions while asking for your insight. Go to your section and you will get full credit essentially! There were two exams in this class, not counting quizzes, the midterm and final, which were multiple choice plus one free response question at the end. I found both to be reasonable, nothing surprising if you attended lecture and understood the learning objectives, definitely nothing to fear. I am glad I took this class, it definitely has made me considered taking more GEs in this department and/or another class with Professor Brown.

I loved this class so much! Took it during spring 2020/covid-19 quarter.
This class seems to be really great for people with a preexisting interest in dinosaurs. Personally, I love Jurassic Park/World and this class satisfied all my dinosaur curiosities.
Well administered, tests and quizzes are easy, labs are easy, no homework other than reading (which you don't really have to do imo). Lectures are engaging.
I highly recommend this as a science GE. Learning about deep time/evolution really helped me understand humans' place in the universe.

I took this Spring of 2020 during the coronavirus quarantines/protests. Even so, it was a really easy class: there are easy quizzes every week with no time limit and unlimited retakes based on the books. The midterm was also easy (got 100%) and based mostly on lecture material. Didn't go to a single lecture or read a single slide after the midterm, and the final was made so that your midterm grade also counts for the final. Labs took longer since they were online but were also basically free points as I had a great TA who walked us through everything. Also, there are two textbooks required, but I barely read either of them and you can find them both online in PDF format!

Overall, if you need an easy GE during spring quarter, take this class! You'll learn a lot about dinosaurs!

I wanted to write an in depth review about this class because the bruinwalk reviews were old and not helpful to me when I enrolled. This review is mainly intended for Bio majors because the class does count for one of the evolution requirements, even though the course is for geology majors. I received an A+ in this class so succeeding is definitely doable, especially considering this was my hardest quarter by far at UCLA. The way the class operates is there is one midterm, two lab practicals, and one final. You do receive points for the labs you do each week, and there are two one page long paper literature review assignments that you do throughout the quarter. For lab, the most helpful thing to know is that you should learn the genus names of whatever study guide your TA makes for the lab practical. It seemed like no matter how much you ask your TA you never get a clear answer of what you should be studying, so definitely use the study guide as a resource. It is super helpful if you and your class decide to make a shared google photo album with all of the lab specimens so you can refer back to them when you are studying!! Prof Brown is incredibly kind, but does talk extremely fast, so I recommend either writing down notes of what she says on a paper/doc or directly on the slides if you have an ipad. I would get overwhelmed with trying to write down what was on the slides instead of what she said so be cautious not to overwhelm yourself. Also if you are taking this class in winter, DO NOT sign up for lab on Monday, it will not make your quarter nice. You are required to do a make up lab when there are Monday holiday's so do yourself a solid and do a Tuesday-Thursday lab. Also practice the geologic timescale and just commit that to memory. It isn't super difficult to memorize, but you'll get a better understanding of the time periods if you simply practice writing them down each day.

Took this as a GE and I loved, loved, loved this class. I have wanted to take it ever since I heard it was offered at UCLA, and it didn't disappoint. It was such a cool experience to be in a class about dinosaurs as a humanities major and Prof. Brown was great.

I took this in an online format due to covid-19 but if anything that just made the class easier. The books Brown assigns for reading are also GREAT, like seriously so well written and fascinating, I loved them. I had Valeria as a TA and she was fantastic, super kind, helpful, and also willing to share her experience in the field as a paleontologist which I really appreciate. Labs were really easy as long as you came to discussion, as we literally did them question by question with the TA's. Quizzes were a breeze because you could re-do them as many times as you wanted until you got a 100, and the midterm was ridiculously simple as long as you read and went to class (I got a 100). The final was also trivial because you could replace whatever you got on it with your midterm grade, so as long as you do well on that, you're set (and even if you do bad on the midterm, no worries, the final was just as manageable).

My only criticism is that I wish this class talked more about the ecology of dinosaurs, this class mainly talked about bone structure of fossils, bodily processes, identifying species, and stuff like that. As someone who has loved dinosaurs since they were a kid, I really wish we could have talked more about actual behavior patterns/ what it would have been like to live life as a dinosaur. But, this is just personal preference and totally subjective.

Overall, all you need to know is that this class is a super unique, fun, and easy GE, I could not recommend it enough!

My Cluster 70A and 70B professors were Petigura, Jewitt, Friscia, and Brown. This was my favorite class all three quarters. The topics of the evolution of the universe/galaxies/stars/planets/life/ecosystems were SO interesting. I would absolutely take this class again in a heartbeat. It has upended my life plan because now I am debating pursuing a career in astronomy/biology/ecology. Brown only delivered a few lectures during 70B, but they were engaging and very easy to understand if one pays attention. Great class, great professors!

To preface, I took this class online so it might have been a lot easier than it usually is. Professor Brown is one of my favorite Professors I've had at UCLA and I highly recommend taking a class with her any chance that you can. Her lectures were dense but super interesting and she loves what she does so it is super fun listening to her.
Recommendations: For her tests she takes exactly what she puts on her slides or says in class. She gives you learning objectives at the beginning of each lecture that are reflected on the midterm and that is all you need to study. If you take good notes during class you can fill out the learning objectives with little no effort whatsoever and then you're all set for the tests. She has three tests all weighted equally: midterm 1, midterm 2, midterm 3 (which is the the final). The first midterm was medium difficulty, the second midterm was supposed to be harder but I did better than I did on the first, and the last midterm/final is the easiest test which is supposed to boost your grade.

PS the TAs are great for this class and are super helpful answering study questions.

I came into the class literally feeling like I was thrown off a boat. The labs seem impossible at first but the TAs grade super fairly and you can find a lot of info on her slides and online to complete them. The tests were much easier than I expected. Mostly multiple choice and fill in the blanks, and one essay question that you could prepare for in advance. The only con I have is that it is quite a lot of work and material. Additionally, Dr. Brown likes to talk in riddles which makes it hard to listen. Rather than being straightforward about a fact, she will add in like 20 extra words for no reason. I had to listen to her podcast several times to just comprehend her sentences. I feel like the class ended up being an easy A for a lot of people at the end, but you definitely have to study a lot.

This class was sooooo much fun!! It was a light and easy GE and the labs were actually so fun I looked forward to them every week! This class made me realize I think dinosaurs are pretty damn cool and I want to learn more about them