Professor Caitlin Brown is a good professor who cares about the subject and her students. I would love to take another class with her, if it would count towards my major. I petitioned to take this class and it was an incredibly good decision. THIS CLASS IS NOT ONLY ABOUT DINOSAURS, IT IS MOSTLY ABOUT THE HISTORY AND OVERALL REVIEW OF PALEONTOLOGICAL HISTORY AND METHODS PALEONTOLOGISTS USE TO DATE ROCKS AND FOSSILS AND PLACE THEM IN SPACE IN TIME. This class goes over some really interesting stuff that I became even more passionate about as time went on, and Professor Brown made it more engaging. My criticisms of this professor are that her lectures are pretty dense, but the slides are really good for helping and following along, and reviewing. The labs were a big chunk of class, but to me, the content was super engaging and fun to learn, I wish I could have learned more but being online takes away from the rock examination portion of the class, no feeling for texture, orientating them correctly, seeing large vs small grained rocks, etc.. What I did not like is that most of the assignments in this class were groupwork to randomly assigned groups, and I have to say, I really did not like that, it actively detracted from a class I love and held me back intellectually, which was huge for me. I left lab early once out of frustration with my partners. Thankfully my TA, Deep, let me work in a group with some people I was compatible with. She assigns a really engaging and easy-to-read textbook, the 6th extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert. I would say that this class is a little bit too heavy on the homework, with 9 labs, 2 review papers, 2 lecture exams, and 2 lab exams, with 3 labs, 1 final, 1 lab exam, and 1 paper due in the last 2 weeks, in fact, allowing for an adequate time for labs to be completed thoroughly, some assignments were even due during spring break. I didn't have enough time to submit the final paper with all I had going on academically. I appreciated that there was a pre-uploaded syllabus because I needed it to petition for the class LOL. All tests, and assignments were fairly graded and ask fair questions, a bit on the lenient side for the labs I would say, but I haven't gotten a lot of grades back as of now, March 26th. Overall, take this class but be prepared for a bit more work than average.

While the concept of dinosaurs seems cool in general, I found this class to be extremely tedious and boring after a while. There also is a lot of memorize if this class were in person. For an online GE that will not stress you out much, it is not a bad choice. I did not really do the readings and I stopped attending lecture and I ended up in the A range of things. She is an extremely sweet professor but after seven weeks of extremely condensed information on dinosaurs and evolution, I reached my breaking point and could not go to class any further.
As classes become more in person, however, I think this is a way harder class than most are making it out to be. The labs are quite long and the information you need to memorize is very hype specific and dull. For a pass/no pass class, it is very manageable though.

Took this during COVID19 and hands down was the easiest class I had. Relatively, I did not have to study that much and was able to just skim the lecture and powerpoint slides the prof posted during both the midterm and final.

If you are looking for an easy GE, this is it.

If you're looking for a great GE, 10/10 recommend this one, if you're into dinosaurs of course. Every lecture was really fascinating and easy to digest, Dr. Brown has one of the most engaging lectures I've seen on campus. There are labs, which can be hard, but if you get a good TA there's lots of chances for help and guidance. The final wasn't that bad as long as you study the materials given and paid attention to the lectures. It wasn't the easiest class ever, you still do have to study and put in some work, but if you like the material it makes it a lot easier. Really fun class and you do learn a LOT about dinos.

Dr. Brown is an absolutely brilliant woman. There are few dinosaurs in this class, but it was still one of the most interesting and well-structured classes I've ever taken at UCLA. There are no curveballs on exams—everything you expect to be on them will be on them. The labs are super cool because you get to hold actual fossils!

Take this class!

This is the second class I've taken with Professor Brown and this class met my expectations as she is an engaging professor! Lectures were not mandatory and podcasted (no video), but she posts very detailed slides you can follow. It can be difficult to know what exactly she expects you to know as some of the exam questions were on small details but as long as you follow her learning objectives and study guides, you should be fine! The class was divided into three in-person exams, each noncumulative and each acted as a midterm (two during the normal quarter and one during finals week), and discussion assignments. Discussion assignments consisted of some weeks where you read a paper and reflect; the other weeks were group case study presentations for which you did not need to do any homework. Just show up and participate in the discussion and you'll be fine besides for the week your group is assigned to present. This class was very chill especially if you did the case study in the earlier weeks and never worried too much about it! Take this class with Professor Brown!

Grade Distribution:
Lab Assignments: 45%
Reading and Lab Quizzes: 20%
Final Exam: 35%
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The content of this class is so fun and engaging, and Dr. Brown presents it is an easy way to understand. She's a pretty good lecturer and is obviously passionate about her subject. I do not recommend buying the books for this class as her lecture slides alone should be enough to study for the exam. Overall, the labs were very easy and fun. It felt really similar to high school where the students were handed worksheets to fill out in the 2 hours given each week for lab. I worked in a group (which I highly recommend) and we did pretty well on all the labs, especially since the grader was pretty nice. The TAs main job is to help you in lab, so if you are feeling stuck go to them (especially Lauren Tafla who is very helpful). The reading quizzes each week were extremely easy, especially considering that you could infinitively retake them but the lab quizzes were harder. They were generally only 5 questions and based off 3D images from lab, but I was lucky that I did well on all of them. Also the lowest lab, reading, and lab quiz gets dropped for the class. This class did originally have a 15% midterm but because of the Palestine protests it was canceled, and the lab assignments and final exam's grade were inflated instead. The final exam is a little daunting considering all the specific dinosaurs and bones you have to know, but I found it easier than expected. It consisted around 55 multiple choice questions, with 3 write-in answers. However, the exam got extremely curved so don't worry too much. Overall, I highly recommend this class especially if you want an easy but fun lab science.
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GEs fulfilled by this class:
Foundations of Scientific Inquiry: Life Sciences with Lab Credit
Foundations of Scientific Inquiry: Physical Sciences with Lab Credit

This is a pretty easy class if you want to fulfill your scientific inquiry GEs. However, there is a lot of information to memorize. I just finished the final and it was honestly easier than I thought it would be; in fact, it may have been one of the easiest tests I've taken at UCLA thus far. I barely studied for it and thought I was going to do poorly, and got a 110/115. She curved the final and gave an extra 10 points, which was very generous of her. Although our midterm was canceled due to the ongoing protests and the final was worth 35% instead of 25%, it had some of the questions from the practice midterms, study guides, and followed conceptually from lecture slides. No tested lab material at all and the readings aren't necessary to do well. These questions are not designed to mislead you in any way, and at times you may even find the question giving you the answer (e.g., bipedal = ankles).

For labs, my TA, Lauren, was very nice and easygoing so my lab group and I almost got 100% every time. I heard other TAs in this class graded other labs harshly, but labs are always full points if you are collaborating with others and ask your TA questions.

For the quizzes, the lowest one is dropped and you get unlimited attempts for the lecture quizzes. However, you do not get unlimited attempts for the lab quizzes. I got 4s and 5s on the lab quizzes almost every time since some of the questions are tricky and can be misleading surprising. The lecture quizzes are 5/5 every time if you don't forget to do them. I had a friend who missed two quizzes and his grade tanked because of that so make sure to stay on top of them since they can creep up on you.

Overall, this is a pretty easy class. Make sure to prioritize labs, the quizzes, and actively engage in lectures and you should get nothing less than an A.

My favorite class I've taken, by far. It's not just obscure dino facts, but seeing through the eyes of a scientist how all these puzzle pieces of evidence can help us solve mysteries of evolution and ancient ecosystems. Prof Brown's lectures are good. They're recorded and pretty enjoyable to listen to. Labs are easy - look at fossils and answer questions about them. A good amount of reading, but you don't really need to do it to succeed on the quizzes. Final exam was a breeze. Go to labs, make flashcards using the slides, review using the study guides she posts, and it would be hard not to get an A. At the end of the day, it's a dino class. 10/10

i was worried about my grade in this class because of the closed book midterm/final on niche dinosaur facts, but the labs + online quizzes constitute a big chunk of the grade so that it didnt matter and ended up being a relatively easy A. recommend!