Professor Margot is phenomenal! He's one of the most amazing professors I had at UCLA so far. He makes ESS9 very reasonable, especially for North Campus majors. As a South Campus major (physics), the first half of the course was review of basic properties of nature from your average high school science class (Ex: What is science vs. what isnt?, atoms, light, Newton's Laws, etc.) But I still went to lecture since Professor Margot is a brilliant lecturer. He posts his lecture slides night before which definitely help. Even if you already know and understand, he is definitely able to captivate you... especially with the demo's. If you're a North Campus major and have forgotten all your basic science, don't fear! Professor Margot usually has multiple demos per lecture to help you understand the concepts. The second half of the curriculum was spent applying the principles of nature we learned from the first half of the quarter to understand the planets and our solar system. This way, Professor Margot shed light on properties of celestial bodies without having you memorize rote facts. Because he thoroughly explains the underlying principles, facts that you should know become logical. In addition, our TA (Sebastiano Padovan) was awesome! Attending discussion sections was mandatory since we had weekly quizzes consisting of 4 questions at the end of section. Quizzes, in-class midterm, and final were all very reasonable. Sebastiano did a great job with helping us understand key concepts that may have been briefly touched in lecture using "labs" (aka. worksheets). Perhaps the only drawback for North Campus majors are the little math that was involved. But honestly, you will see math in any physical science course. But dont worry since the scariest math you will see is your multiplication tables on your homework. Homework was always pretty simple. I usually started homework about 30 minutes before it was due every week and always finished on time.

Overall, Professor Margot was amazing! Great lecturer/professor! (His research is also quite fascinating and definitely relevant to the course!) If I had the opportunity, I'd definitely take him again. Took this class for fun and I don't regret it! Final Grade: A+

He's a great professor but its not as easy as the way people before me saying this is a really easy class. I got a 52 and 50 on my midterm and final (both slightly below the mean), aced all the quizzes and hw and ended up with a B-. This isn't an easy GE class like people say. If you are interested in astronomy, this is a great class to take but be warned about what grade you get.

Professor Margot is an excellent lecturer. He is very passionate and his lectures are fun. This course was easy, just basic biology, geology, and astronomy. TA's were excellent too. The textbook is not necessary, as the tests are based on the lectures. The book is a great read, but you'll be fine with a PDF or not buying it at all if you don't want to spend +$100 for it.
The homework and classwork is really easy, and is given every week by the TA during discussion, where the TA goes over the material discussed in the lecture. And there is a midterm and final of course.

JLM was absolutely terrific. He had a great presence in class and his lectures were pretty fun to attend. Great class, great material, great professor.

The co-instructor Tina Treude should be commended for her efforts as well.

One of the most passionate professors I've had. Take this class

Professor Margot was awesome. He was really enthusiastic and described what was going on in lecture in an organized way. He really cared that the students understood what he was talking about, and he's very approachable. ESS 3 was a little difficult, but just pay attention to what he talks about in lecture, because some random little things he talks about will be on the test. Make sure you know a good amount of bio & chem stuff, and pay attention to what the questions on the test are asking because they can be kind of tricky. I got a perfect score on the first midterm and I didn't do so well on the second midterm and final, and I got a B. If Dan is your TA this year, be prepared to have a couple pop quizzes and some projects that aren't hard, you just have to get creative with the concepts. I thought they were fun to write actually. Ask Dan questions because his discussion section is 30% of your grade.Overall, a very interesting class!

More interesting than the other professor.
Textbook is pointless.
Listen to his notes, and basically know science facts that he assumes you know. distances, ages etc.
I got a B, but only because i Re learned everything with my TA.

I was truly blessed to take Professor Margot for Astrobiology. He is EXTREMELY knowledgeable and is clearly very passionate about planetary physics/astronomy and the like. He always was able to answer student questions and had ample office hours for the class. When I talked to him he was friendly and welcoming, and very patient. His demonstrations were very applicable and taught the class a LOT about physics. What he taught in this class (which is a very easy GE geared towards north campus majors) helped me in my Physics 1 series classes. The best part was: he made it easy to understand and use.

I scored the mean on one midterm, and ranked in the top 15% for the other midterm and final. Somehow I pulled an A+, so I'm guessing his curve is a monster. I think he actually gave half the class an A of some form.

If you have the opportunity, take a class with Professor Margot.

Professor Margot's course is very easy if you have a background in science. Many students in my discussion had little background in physics and struggled as a result. I received an A on the midterm and an A on the final and an A+ overall. I put very little effort into the class.
As a lecturer, Professor Margot does well to keep your interest and tries and succeeds at making the material understandable for his students.

I took this class during fall 2012, and I would have to say that Professor Margot is probably one of the most energetic and passionate lecturers around campus. He really cares about what he is teaching, and truly believes in the wonders of space and science. *disclaimer* On the other hand his tests are ridiculously hard consisting of conceptual physics, earth science, and the formation of the universe. BUT! do not be discouraged because even though you get a low grade on the tests (the average for my class was 75%) there is Runnegars test whom he co-teaches with and his test is way easier dealing with geology, and planet structures ( average was around 82%) and then they only take the best score out of the two midterms then double it to boost your grade. Also there is a final, but NO LAB! They have a great EC option in this class and all it takes is to go to the natural history museum, La Brea Tar Pits, or California Science Center and you automatically get 10% EC to your OVERALL! grade (so 70% + EC = 80%). So trust me when I say that professor Margot makes his class challenging but definately fair to his students. Also remember if you take this class there are weekly discussions and those are super important to your grade b/c you have HW and weekly tests, but the tests are generally SUPER easy so no worries, they are just there to boost your grade. So I highly suggest this course as an EASY science GE for any incoming freshman or lazy 4th year. I got an A- in the class with some work but it was fun. Also the textbook is pretty useful because professor Margot based his test off both his lecture slides and the reading, but it was generally more on his lectures. so make sure to go to class, trust me its fun and you wont regret it!