This class exceeded my expectations regarding level of interest as well as practicality. Going into this class, I expected to be somewhat interested in the topics discussed, hoping to achieve a more solid foundation as to how humans affect our world. Although the first half of the quarter was a bit cumbersome in terms of rote memorization and the sheer number of concepts, the second half of the course truly fascinated me. Professor Cavanaugh covers each topic relating humans to the environment in depth, causing me to pause and be conscious about my own personal effects on the environment. If nothing else, this class made me reconsider my position on Earth and how to live within my--and the Earth's--means. All in all, Professor Cavanaugh genuinely wants to see students succeed and hopes that they gain a firm grasp on the topics at hand and how humans impact the world, both positively and negatively.

Cavanaugh is an excellent professor but be prepared because this class is not as easy as it once was. Prof. has specifically stated that he has been working to change the format of this class, and it is reflected by the difficulty. Entire course is worth 1000 pts and you earn those through labs, iclicker questions, a group project, and the exams. You can earn 2% extra credit on your final grade so definitely take advantage of that as there are many opportunities to earn the EC throughout the quarter. Book is required but you can do fine without reading. Labs *aren't* required but are worth a LOT of points so basically you have to go. He drops two iclicker days off your final score, which you are graded on participation - not accuracy. There is a big group project in the lab requiring a 7-10pg paper and a 10min presentation. Totally doable but annoying in addition to all the other work out there. I thought the material was fairly easy, especially if you pay attention to climate change, GMO arguments, and generic weather info. There are some concepts that may be more difficult like hydrologic cycle and wind patterns but this is definitely not a hard science class.

Overall: SUPER EASY GE. Take this class if you just want to get a GE out of the way. Professor Cavanaugh is so nice and really cares about his students, even though it is a giant lecture. The class material is not hard to grasp and this is coming from someone who hates science. It's basically just environmental science, so if you took APES in high school you're chilling.

Homework: There is no homework besides reading the textbook. If you skim the chapters and just take notes on the bolded words, you're fine. Even if you don't do that, he has slides in class that he posts online that covers what you would have read anyways. The lectures are also Bruincasted so you can go back and watch them. I listened to music during lecture and didn't really pay attention, as the lecture slides were posted so as long as you take those notes, you don't really have to pay attention. Plus, it's a huge class so he won't even notice. Also, if you talk twice in lecture, you can get extra credit.

Attendance: He started using iClickers this year so you do have to go to lecture to get those participation points. He drops two iClicker points though so basically you get two free absences. Lab attendance is mandatory.

Tests/Quizzes: There are no tests or quizzes besides the midterm and final. There is a final research paper about a topic of your choosing that is 10 pages, as well as a presentation based on your research. It sounds scary, but it's a group project so each person just has to write 2 pages each. Also, if you go to his office hours, he'll tell you what he's looking for and what you need to fix.

Midterm/Final: The midterm was 50 questions with short answer and multiple choice. He doesn't have a concrete study guide but he puts the objectives and iClicker questions as the study guide. Just go through lecture notes and study the topics from the objectives he gives you & review the iClicker questions because he uses them on the test! The final was 60 multiple choice questions and it was NOT cumulative so it isn't bad.

TAs: I had Hudson Spivey as my TA and he wasn't terrible. Although he made us do pre-lab assignments, the labs were super easy; they were normally just questions based on an article or a website. He often said that your answers don't really matter, he just wants people to participate and get the gist of the topic. On the final paper, he can be nitpicky about stupid stuff, but he stressed that he wanted the paper to be fun to read (I think he just doesn't want to be bored while reading them). Overall, a pretty average TA, bordering on the dry side.

Cavanaugh is a sweetheart! He cares a lot about students and teaching and this class is extremely easy. The LA specific content is particularly interesting, and while lectures are often very very dumbed down and a bit boring, you can't complain about an easy A. Labs are somewhat mind-numbing in a feels like high school way, but not graded harshly at all. Great class if you want an easy GE and I also actually learned something. Also s/o to Remy and his mangroves

This class was a pleasure to take with Mr. Cavanaugh. He always made lectures entertaining and engaging. You can get 1% extra credit to the overall grade (equal to 10 free points.. he grades out of 1000) every time you participate in class, up to 2% max. Midterm and Final were both very fair, people were finishing the final in about 30-45 min. Also! The class is bruincasted which is very nice, though clickers are required. Overall, I would recommend this class as not only an easy and doable lab GE, but also for personal interest.

I had Hudson Spivey as my TA, overall he was decent and always trying to engage with the students. The final paper he pretty much just wanted the paper to be interesting.

Overall, this class was a joy to take. Professor Cavanaugh was very engaging in his lectures, incorporating videos, demonstrations, and guiding questions. He did use iClickers, which I found helpful given that they were graded for participation and some were repeated on the midterm and final. Lectures were BruinCasted which is appreciated. Lab sections were once a week for two hours and although sometimes long, were never challenging and all lab work (except for the final group paper/presentation) was done in class. Communication between the TAs and the professor was strong too. Both exams were fair and the final consisted only of multiple choice and tested on general concepts, examples, and supplemental readings (i.e. articles). Textbook wasn’t necessary but is helpful if you do not have a general understanding of the topics going in. Prof. Cavanugh did cancel several lectures but still found a way to keep us on track without it feeling overwhelming. I would definitively take a class with him again!

The content of this class was not difficult to understand and was just like the environmental science class I took in high school. Hearing all the positive reviews, however, I think I expected it to be easier then it was. The class was a good amount of busy work, with multiple lecture videos and weekly quizzes and labs. Again not difficult stuff, but you did have to consistently keep up with all the work. Also my weekly lab was mandatory and my TA made us keep our cameras on the whole time and we had to participate and prove we knew the content for a grade. Overall not too bad at all just a lot of little things that made me feel like I was constantly doing work, definitely formatted more like a high school class than college.

This class was a pretty easy and interesting GE. Although it is a clicker class and in general those kind of suck, Professor Cavanaugh makes the class interesting and is pretty lenient with his grading policies. If you show up to most of the lectures, pay some attention, and take decent notes this class is pretty easy. The tests are fair and the lab section is pretty easy, although it did get annoying at times as its pretty long and had a decent workload. In terms of material, the first half is pretty dry as its mostly general science stuff like biomes and wind patterns. The second half focuses a lot on environmental issues and the reasons behind them like global warming, smog creation, wildfires etc. which makes up for the first half. Take this class if you can as its both an easy and interesting GE with a cool professor.

I would highly recommend this class. It was super manageable and an easy science GE. It was also interesting and Professor Cavanaugh was a fun and engaging professor. Lectures were interesting and the lab sections were easy to do well in.

Geog 5 one of most interesting classes I've taken at UCLA. Cavanaugh is a great professor and his lectures are very organized and clear. He also offers up to 2% EC to your final grade for participating in class. You do actually have to show up for lectures because he does clicker questions, but that's graded on participation and you don't have to actually get them correct to get credit. Labs were super simple. We usually just did worksheets and our section always got out early because they didn't take too long to complete. There is a final group project and that's probably the most amount of work. I know everyone says that the exams are easy, but I struggled with them. They're easy enough to get a good grade if you study, but not easy enough to pass without doing any work. But even if you do struggle with the exams, they're not worth enough to actually ruin your grade. I got low Bs on both the midterm and final but I think all the cushion from lab work saved my grade and I still got an A in the class.