GEOG 2
Biodiversity in a Changing World
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, two hours. Biogeographic exploration of plant and animal diversity and conservation issues on continents and islands around world. Study of physical, biotic, and human factors responsible for evolution, persistence, and extinction of species and ecological communities. Analysis of effects of human activity. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 5.0
Units: 5.0
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2019 - If your're looking for an easy Lab GE, take GEOG 5, it's a better experience (with less work). I took GEOG 2 online and never interacted with the professor, she does record audio for the power points though. The labs are in person with a TA. The lectures were a little cluttered and the exams were very fact-based (at times they felt like trivia). The textbook is not essential - I skimmed even though I didn't really need to. I did well and enjoyed this class mainly because I love biogeography -- it's kind of my thing. Breakdown: Lab -30% Discussion posts - 10% Barrier Quizzes (you take them till you get 100%) - 10% Midterm -25% Final (not cumulative) - 25%
Spring 2019 - If your're looking for an easy Lab GE, take GEOG 5, it's a better experience (with less work). I took GEOG 2 online and never interacted with the professor, she does record audio for the power points though. The labs are in person with a TA. The lectures were a little cluttered and the exams were very fact-based (at times they felt like trivia). The textbook is not essential - I skimmed even though I didn't really need to. I did well and enjoyed this class mainly because I love biogeography -- it's kind of my thing. Breakdown: Lab -30% Discussion posts - 10% Barrier Quizzes (you take them till you get 100%) - 10% Midterm -25% Final (not cumulative) - 25%
Most Helpful Review
wow... do take a class with him, go to his office hours, talk to him and get to know him, he is THE most awesome prof you'll ever get to know here. totally cool, really great sense of humor, wonderful and very relevant stories relate to lecture and readings, love the exclamation marks!! loved the sloths and the coati and the porcupine and the fennic fox! i would probably never have had the chance to see them up close and personal like that if it weren't for his class. WOW! take as many of his classes as you can, easy reading, good lectures, covers everything you need to know, really flexible with students and totally accessible and easy to talk to, lab's a breeze, if you're in love with Hawaii and the tropics and every cool place on the planet this is the class & prof for you! like he says, as long as you go to lecture and you don't have a nasty heroine addiction there's NO way you can't get an A in his class. ccccccoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooolllll!!!
wow... do take a class with him, go to his office hours, talk to him and get to know him, he is THE most awesome prof you'll ever get to know here. totally cool, really great sense of humor, wonderful and very relevant stories relate to lecture and readings, love the exclamation marks!! loved the sloths and the coati and the porcupine and the fennic fox! i would probably never have had the chance to see them up close and personal like that if it weren't for his class. WOW! take as many of his classes as you can, easy reading, good lectures, covers everything you need to know, really flexible with students and totally accessible and easy to talk to, lab's a breeze, if you're in love with Hawaii and the tropics and every cool place on the planet this is the class & prof for you! like he says, as long as you go to lecture and you don't have a nasty heroine addiction there's NO way you can't get an A in his class. ccccccoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooolllll!!!
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2024 - Tbh I originally signed up for the course because I had a bad enrollment time but I ended up loving the class. The lectures were super engaging and I loved professor Illes short stories and personal anecdotes. The field labs were super fun and I enjoyed getting to look around Sage hill and the UCLA garden. The labs are graded the harshest out of any of the class material. My tip is to start them before class if you can, that way the material is more manageable during lab. The discussions overall are chill though. My TA was nice and knowledgable but didn't really understand personal space which as a woman (or really anyone) is kind of frustrating. Some things to be cautious about. The lectures ARE NOT recorded. If you don't go to class or have a very kind peer who records the lectures for you, you will not be able to obtain the material. There is no textbook for the class which is nice in terms of both having outside material to go over. There is also no actual homework which is a plus. The exams are pretty simple, mainly multiple choice and matching. For reference I studied for about an hour and got a 100% on the midterm. The final project was fun to complete and although I disliked it at the time I'm glad the professor had us turn in portions of it throughout the quarter since it made the end presentation SO much easier to complete. I'd recommend this class to anyone since an A is easily obtainable so long as you go to lecture, complete the labs, and put effort into the final project. Plus, you'll come out of the course with tons of fun animal facts :)
Winter 2024 - Tbh I originally signed up for the course because I had a bad enrollment time but I ended up loving the class. The lectures were super engaging and I loved professor Illes short stories and personal anecdotes. The field labs were super fun and I enjoyed getting to look around Sage hill and the UCLA garden. The labs are graded the harshest out of any of the class material. My tip is to start them before class if you can, that way the material is more manageable during lab. The discussions overall are chill though. My TA was nice and knowledgable but didn't really understand personal space which as a woman (or really anyone) is kind of frustrating. Some things to be cautious about. The lectures ARE NOT recorded. If you don't go to class or have a very kind peer who records the lectures for you, you will not be able to obtain the material. There is no textbook for the class which is nice in terms of both having outside material to go over. There is also no actual homework which is a plus. The exams are pretty simple, mainly multiple choice and matching. For reference I studied for about an hour and got a 100% on the midterm. The final project was fun to complete and although I disliked it at the time I'm glad the professor had us turn in portions of it throughout the quarter since it made the end presentation SO much easier to complete. I'd recommend this class to anyone since an A is easily obtainable so long as you go to lecture, complete the labs, and put effort into the final project. Plus, you'll come out of the course with tons of fun animal facts :)
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2015 - SELLING: Biogeography: Time, Space and Life, which you need for this class. Text me at ********** for more details! Book is in brand new condition. Overall this class isn't exactly easy, as you do need to know your stuff for the midterm and final. The information he tests you on is based on the a) his class slides and b) his book, so you need to have a very STRONG understanding for both of these. He will test you on details; he particularly likes asking you to label and fill out his graphs. Prof McDonald is a very nice and charismatic professor, and after one lecture you can immediately tell how passionate he is about the subject. Ask any question related/ not related to what he's discussing, and he'll be glad to answer it in great detail. He uploads his slides so don't worry about not catching something; but he doesn't go to fast so it should be okay. Labs take up 40% of your grade, so make sure you put effort into them! Consult your TA as they would most probably guide you in how to answer the questions. Also there's a report in which you write about any plant/animal, which shouldn't be too hard if you have enough resources i.e. use books and websites so it's kind of a freebie. Overall I wouldn't say this is an easy class, as I didn't do too well for the midterm and freaked out, so I studied really hard for the final, and got an A- in the end.
Fall 2015 - SELLING: Biogeography: Time, Space and Life, which you need for this class. Text me at ********** for more details! Book is in brand new condition. Overall this class isn't exactly easy, as you do need to know your stuff for the midterm and final. The information he tests you on is based on the a) his class slides and b) his book, so you need to have a very STRONG understanding for both of these. He will test you on details; he particularly likes asking you to label and fill out his graphs. Prof McDonald is a very nice and charismatic professor, and after one lecture you can immediately tell how passionate he is about the subject. Ask any question related/ not related to what he's discussing, and he'll be glad to answer it in great detail. He uploads his slides so don't worry about not catching something; but he doesn't go to fast so it should be okay. Labs take up 40% of your grade, so make sure you put effort into them! Consult your TA as they would most probably guide you in how to answer the questions. Also there's a report in which you write about any plant/animal, which shouldn't be too hard if you have enough resources i.e. use books and websites so it's kind of a freebie. Overall I wouldn't say this is an easy class, as I didn't do too well for the midterm and freaked out, so I studied really hard for the final, and got an A- in the end.
Most Helpful Review
DONT TAKE THIS CLASS. dont take it if youre a geography major, dont take it for a GE, dont take it because it sounds interesting. the prof. is a NICE person. truly he is. but he is possibly the worst lecturer/professor on campus. he doesnt know how to lecture in an organized way and his tests are unrelated to any class material. .... that is all i have to say.
DONT TAKE THIS CLASS. dont take it if youre a geography major, dont take it for a GE, dont take it because it sounds interesting. the prof. is a NICE person. truly he is. but he is possibly the worst lecturer/professor on campus. he doesnt know how to lecture in an organized way and his tests are unrelated to any class material. .... that is all i have to say.
Most Helpful Review
Professor Zackey is the man. He is the best professor I've had at UCLA so far. I didn't take geography 2 with him, but I had to put it sinc there was no option for the class I took. I had his GE Seminar for the environment cluster and loved it. He made the material very interesting and was always concerned with student learning. He is very approachable and easy to talk to. I highly recommend taking any of class he teaches!
Professor Zackey is the man. He is the best professor I've had at UCLA so far. I didn't take geography 2 with him, but I had to put it sinc there was no option for the class I took. I had his GE Seminar for the environment cluster and loved it. He made the material very interesting and was always concerned with student learning. He is very approachable and easy to talk to. I highly recommend taking any of class he teaches!