The class is designed as an easy GE. In fact, I believe a lot of the lower divisions classes in EPS SCI department are. The homeworks and exams are all easy. The only minor problem is that Professor Margot sometimes talk about really confusing astrophysical stuff, such as the multi-stages of the Bigbang, that are kind of hard for me to grasp because I personally didn't take any physics in high school. But none of the difficult stuff are tested, so there's that. Professor Treude teaches the biology part and I find her content clearer than Margot's because the concepts are more concrete and finite and there are no extraneous untested things. I wouldn't take this course again personally to be honest because I find the physics part a bit boring and remote. But that's just me.

Jean-Luc Margot and Tina Treude jointly taught this class. Both professors are strong lecturers, and they explain concepts pretty slowly and clearly. This was by far the easiest class I have ever taken at UCLA. Multiple-choice homeworks and exams.

Jean-Luc is an okay professor. When he stays on topic, he's knowledgable and clear. He often goes off on tangents about the philosophy of science and logic. I understand it's important, but a class about something as interesting as biology shouldn't be hampered by one of the professors wanting to waste time on content out of the scope of this class.

The questions on the topics he taught (he and Tina did 1/2 of the total lectures) always wanted specifics that he wouldn't explain well or would merely gloss over.

I took this class as a science GE and would highly recommend it. It is the easiest of the science GEs I’ve taken, with easy (googleable) midterm and final, along with homework being not too difficult and very short. The teachers are engaging, the class is really interesting, and it is easy to do well. The policies are also very forgiving, and they drop your bottom 2 hw assignments (which is great because I forgot completely to do the hw twice) and you only have to go to 5 of the sections to get full credit. Kind teachers, easy AND interesting class, I can’t recommend this enough.

Margot and Treude are both very knowledgeable about their areas (Margot teaches the astrophysics parts and Treude teaches the biology parts). I never went to live lecture because they posted the slides and it was easy enough to just use the slides for weekly hw quizzes and the open-note midterm and final. If you know basic physics, chemistry, and biology, this class will be an easy A, but I know people who had a weak science background and struggled. I just slacked on the final because I thought the extra credit (museum visit) was worth more than it was.

Easy GE. Midterm and test were open note and take home online exams on Canvas. Easy to follow for non-STEM majors.

Started this class extremely worried about how well I would do being that I did not take Physics or Chemistry in high school and am also not a STEM major. However, I soon found that the class was not only incredibly interesting but also very manageable. Homework assignments once a week that are worth 25% of your grade (they are fairly easy just focus on them!) other than that just a midterm and a final each worth 25% (attending discussions were worth the other 25%). The first five weeks are taught by Jean and heavily focus more on the math/physics/astronomy part of the class and last five weeks are taught by Tina which focus on biology. I got a 78 on the midterm and a 94 on the final. Extra credit offered which really helped. I would take again and I highly recommend to anyone

This class is pretty chill, even though the lectures are very info heavy the homework is pretty easy to do. Also there's 2 exams on midterm then one final and they're both take home exams which are amazing and we're allowed to use notes and the textbook. Discussion participation is important to pass. Extra-Credit is offered and its worth a lot so do it!

Very easy GE -- highly recommend. Half of your grade is based on homework and participating in discussion. The midterm and final was also very easy, and the vast majority of the class got As. You can also get extra credit for going to the griffith observatory. This class was so easy I never had to go to lecture and ended with a very high A.