Class Distribution:
Midterm 1 - 120 points
Midterm 2 - 120 points
Final Exam - 200 points
Lab Section - 135 points
Clickers - 72 points
Weekly Launchpad activities - 45
Weekly pre-class review questions - 45
Weekly practice exam questions - 45
Total points possible = 782 (Graded on normal, straight scale)

LS7B was an okay class overall. It's very similar to LS7A, with the same type of clickers and launchpad assignments, the only real difference being the lab sections (which are honestly just longer discussion sections, with some of them being entirely useless). The professors were great and very accommodating, making sure they had extra office hours for exams and they were active on Campuswire too. However, the exams were poorly made, with many vague questions with confusing wording. The first midterm involves a lot of probabilities which can definitely be confusing, and the overall exams had a lot of "what if" type questions which were also confusing. Still, there was lots of extra credit given from simple surveys, midterm reflections, mini midterms (a 6 question "midterm" after the actual midterm), as well as a 1 question leeway on all the exams. Instructors also removed questions that they deemed to be unreasonable. There is no group stage for these exams. The best way to study for the exams in my opinion is to review clicker questions, practice exam questions, practice midterm questions, and going to office hours. Problem solving sessions can be helpful, but didn't really help me too much. Also, you are allowed to miss an entire week of class activities/homework and still get a 100%.

My scores: I got a 100% in all the sections except the exams. Lab sections were pretty leniently graded by my TA. Midterm 1 - 114/120; Midterm 2 - 118/120; Final Exam - 180/200; these scores include the added points from the reflection and mini midterm.

Pires herself was a solid professor who takes her time to answer everyone's questions and genuinely cares about her students, but the monotonous nature, the labs often being busy work, and poorly-made exams of the course diminish her teaching skills.

the bruinwalk reviews for Professor pires do not do her justice. She is by far, one of the best professors I have had at UCLA! She makes class enjoyable by always opening each class with an interesting nature video, and she is incredibly caring and sweet. She also has a very cute dog! I was honestly very worried about this class after the week 2 PEQs because they were really hard, and I heard rumors that the exams were impossible. However, if you took AP bio and AP environmental science, you are cruising for this class. Well, maybe not cruising, but you definitely are in a better position! Pires is so great at explaining concepts very simply, and she helps you with problem solving in a way that suits your style of learning. This class was online, but she still did such a great job. I think the fact that we were online actually benefitted my learning because I was able to ask her questions much more easily, and be able to reference her lectures, compared to the bustling and distracting lecture halls. This quarter was especially hard for me because I had an onset of anxiety and OCD, but she made this class way more bearable. She was very reassuring and never got angry at me for asking "unnecessary" questions.

This is more of a complaint for the class structure and the labs:
some of the labs were very useless, like the ones where we are just doing virtual labs isn't very helpful. I found the week 4 lab with the dog pedigree stuff was very helpful and was great review for the exam! Also, PLEASE STOP GIVING PRELAB READING AND PRE-LAB QUIZZES!!! i literally had a panic attack from the workload, and it was very stress inducing. Week 8 was sheer pain: TONS of lecture reading, a midterm, AND prelab reading on plant biodiversity—keep in mind, none of this pre-lab reading was tested for the class, but we still have to do a launchpad reading. It was very unhelpful, and it just removed energy from me studying for the midterm.

My general studying advice for this class!:
Launchpad stuff: review how many "pages" there are for the launchpad reading and divide it up from the day it opens up on friday over to monday for the tuesday and thursday reading. It saved me a lot of stress from cramming in the reading, which was something i struggled with in 7A

Exams: You can lightly review the note u take from launchpad, but I would also review the PCRQs, the PEQs, PLEASE GO TO THE PROBLEM SOLVING SESSIONS. DO NOT JUST DO THE SHEETS!!! Review the labs (they will ask questions that ask similar topics, but u won't have to recall certain aspects. just be able to connect content u learned in class with data that u see in lab), review the practice midterm/final problems from class, THE CLICKER QUESTIONS TOO!!!
I was very stressed out during this class but I ended with a 99%! It is very doable if you just spread out your studying:
midterm 1: 96%
midterm 2: 102.5%
final exam: 94%

TLDR: Pires is an exceptional professor who is great at explaining concepts and will teach you how to problem solve! I highly HIGHLY recommend you to attend the problem solving sessions!

I had a great experience in 7A so I truly thought it would be the same for 7B. However, this class caused me great stress and I strongly feel that it mainly had to do with the professor. Although I do not think she means harm, she is truly has trouble explaining. She states things in such matter a fact ways that is not conducive to learning. She often causes more confusion than clarification. I stopped going to office hours and had to rely on my peers because I would come out of them feeling like I had wasted time. The content itself I think for me was a bit more confusing than 7As so that did not help. However, it definitely is manageable to do well in. The tests are not easy but there is extra credit opportunities as well as mini midterms that are meant to provide a buffer.

I personally hate the LS series and considering I failed all the exams, I still received a passing grade. This class is super interesting but the setup of the class is annoying. You have to learn all concepts and vocab before attending the lecture. We used launchpad/ iclicker reef for our in-class participation and homework.

* Disclaimer* I took this class entirely online

Dr. Pires really does care about her students and is genuinely a good professor. She is a clear lecturer and good at responding to student questions. A lot of the information you need isn't covered in lecture and you need launchpad to get all the material.

The course is graded similarly to LS7A with a little more emphasis on the exams. There are opportunities to do a mini midterm and get points back that can get you almost 7 percent back on your test.

One nice part about LS7B is that the professors communicate between one another well and that even if you have friends with a different professor the class is exactly the same. Dr. Pires is great and I would recommend taking her but if another section fits better in your schedule for this class, I think it ok to go with the other professor.

Easiest of the series… still failed every exam though. You’ll get an a if you dont miss a launchpad like I did…. Labs were not hard, sometimes finished early! It’s not the worst class ever but it is challenging.

As far as the content for LS7B goes, it's really not that bad.
Pires? The TA's? The workload and exams? All suck. Both the Professor and my unfortunate excuse of a TA (Evan D.) were rude and dismissive when students asked questions. The practice exams given out are nothing like the actual midterms or finals and the launchpad is a huge waste of time. The labs are 2 hours long and you never have enough time to finish them and the TA does not give enough guidance yet grades harshly, taking points off for minute things every week. Pre-Labs for 2/10 weeks are like 7 pages long and never show up on the midterms or finals. Honestly, none of the homework we did ever really felt helpful.
Not to mention they're always due 15 mins after the end of the lab period, EVEN IF it's the TA's fault for not being able to get through all of it on time.

All in all, this class is horrible and I would avoid taking Pires at all costs. I just wish we could have Professor Maloy for all the 7 series, that man is the GOAT

If you have a sufficient background in biology then you should do alright in this class. The class has a sizeable workload, but not a drastic jump from 7A. You will have weekly launchpad readings, quizzes and practice exam questions as well as a lab every week. Its super manageable and doing the work is what will allow you to succeed in this class. We all hate the launchoad readings but it only takes about an hour to complete the pre-class assignments and they tell you pretty much everything you need to know to do well in the class. If you liked 7A then 7B should have roughly the same outcome.

I don't understand why Pires has bad reviews. She was extremely kind, welcoming, and helpful as a professor. She speaks at a pace where everyone can follow along and is very clear when explaining. She's good at responding to questions because she never wants anyone to be confused.

The Launchpad and tests are similar to LS 7A. Launchpad reading is not helpful, but the questions are good practice for the tests. Go to office hours to understand those questions on Launchpad.

The midterms were okay. Some of the wording on the questions were confusing and there is no way to get clarification, so it is what it is. However, there's plenty of opportunities for extra credit and to make up points. There's a reflection of how you did on the midterm, so that's a free 2 points to your midterm score. There's also a mini-midterm that has more problems and you can add up to 6 more points on your midterm score.

The labs are pretty easy. They were just extremely tedious. The class still has CLC sessions. These are also very helpful. I didn't think I would like the material, but I found it somewhat interesting. Overall, I would recommend taking Pires.

I know there's a lot of negative reviews about Pires on here, but I personally thought that she was a really sweet professor! She was accommodating and was pretty funny during lectures. The content was pretty straightforward, and in my opinion, was the least difficult course of the LS7 series.