LIFESCI 30A
Mathematics for Life Scientists
Description: Lecture, three hours; laboratory, one hour. Preparation: three years of high school mathematics (to algebra II), some basic familiarity with computers. Mathematical modeling as tool for understanding dynamics of biological systems. Fundamental concepts of single-variable calculus and development of single- and multi-variable differential equation models of dynamical processes in ecology, physiology, and other subjects in which quantities change with time. Use of free computer program Sage for problem solving, plotting, and dynamical simulation in laboratory. Letter grading.
Units: 5.0
Units: 5.0
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2024 - This class was.. quite a rollercoaster. If you have taken calc (ex. I took AP Calc BC), the first half of this class will be a breeze. They spend like a month teaching you what a derivative is while avoiding the word "derivative", and then it all derails into some weird math (my friends and I nicknamed it "fake math"). Many parts of it are quite conceptual (like the word problems they give) and can be confusing at first. * to be fair to this class, I barely paid attention during lecture (partly because it was somewhat hard to understand), so my experience may be somewhat biased. I relied on prior calc knowledge and studied the lab worksheets and homework to get by. If you're a bio major, I would recommend taking the other math series (I think it's 31/32 or the 3 series) over this class. If you don't have a background in coding, the python labs aren't explained too well and you may need to spend extra time figuring it out. I've heard from others that these labs weren't even important and they never used what they learned in this class ever again.
Fall 2024 - This class was.. quite a rollercoaster. If you have taken calc (ex. I took AP Calc BC), the first half of this class will be a breeze. They spend like a month teaching you what a derivative is while avoiding the word "derivative", and then it all derails into some weird math (my friends and I nicknamed it "fake math"). Many parts of it are quite conceptual (like the word problems they give) and can be confusing at first. * to be fair to this class, I barely paid attention during lecture (partly because it was somewhat hard to understand), so my experience may be somewhat biased. I relied on prior calc knowledge and studied the lab worksheets and homework to get by. If you're a bio major, I would recommend taking the other math series (I think it's 31/32 or the 3 series) over this class. If you don't have a background in coding, the python labs aren't explained too well and you may need to spend extra time figuring it out. I've heard from others that these labs weren't even important and they never used what they learned in this class ever again.
Most Helpful Review
Summer 2020 - I took Ls30A with Dr. V in Summer 2020 and here is my intake: - The class content is very easy and very manageable - Actually read the textbook and watch the videos recommended for you in the syllabus - Dr. V is not good at lecturing...like at all! going to lectures felt like a waste of time and I did not learn anything through her lectures and learned through reading the book - Super easy to get an A and she provides a lot of extra credit - Homework is manageable but can be a little hard sometimes - Coding is a little challenging but your TAs will help you out a lot so go to their office hours. - The midterm and final were open notebook take home, but were very open-ended so some of the questions were not clear. - Take this class if you want an easy A, but only if you are willing to put in the effort to self-study! - Make study groups!!
Summer 2020 - I took Ls30A with Dr. V in Summer 2020 and here is my intake: - The class content is very easy and very manageable - Actually read the textbook and watch the videos recommended for you in the syllabus - Dr. V is not good at lecturing...like at all! going to lectures felt like a waste of time and I did not learn anything through her lectures and learned through reading the book - Super easy to get an A and she provides a lot of extra credit - Homework is manageable but can be a little hard sometimes - Coding is a little challenging but your TAs will help you out a lot so go to their office hours. - The midterm and final were open notebook take home, but were very open-ended so some of the questions were not clear. - Take this class if you want an easy A, but only if you are willing to put in the effort to self-study! - Make study groups!!
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