i thought this was a super easy class. i would definitely recommend this not only for the easy A but for the fact that some of the information was really interesting. it was more of an environmental science class than what i thought "geography" would be. either way, i DEFINITELY recommend going to class because his exams are 100% based off of lecture. i wouldn't even bother buying the textbook because his lectures just sum up everything in the book. and another reason to go to class is because a lot of times he would test us on material that he mentioned in class that weren't on his lecture slides. he saw that a lot of people weren't showing up and purposely tested us on material that people attending class would know the answers to (i.e. he would test us on little anecdotes that he would share with us in class that were geography related). it's also super easy to do well in your labs which is worth 1/3 of your overall grade. it's not hard but just more busy work which definitely helped out my grade in the class. needless to say, i got an A and i KNOW anyone else can get it too if they go to class and pay attention.

smith is an awesome professor. his lecture can be a little dry, but he gives you everything you need to pass his class. he posts lecture slides online so many do not attend class, but beware, on the test he puts many questions about random stories he tells in class. he does not have a cummulative final, or a final during finals week. he has a great personality and just gives off a positive attitude. the class for a GE and lab is pretty easy.

So I took this class as a GE and it was incredibly easy. I made an A+ without much effort. All you have to do is memorize the lecture notes. But this class is soo boring. I mean there were 3 lectures on air pollution alone. Definitely bring some coffee or something to survive when he starts talking about soil. Yawn. The lab sections were pretty ridiculous. Prof. Smith tried to keep it balanced during lecture, but the labs were totally "THINK THIS WAY!!!" I mean I'm a liberal democrat and like the enviroment and think it should be protected but seriously some people need to get a grip. The TA I had, Sarah, told me I had "strange" opinions when I disagreed with her once. For those remember- meat, cars, energy usage = bad and biodiversity, walking = good. So if you want an easy A this is the class for you but if you want something interesting- probably not.

I took the class as a GE and expected it to be pretty easy. Being a person who cannot take multiple choice tests, I completely bombed his first midterm because he writes the most confusing questions. I ended up having to take it P/NP just so it wouldn't affect my gpa. His lectures drag on and I had a hard time paying attention. Don't take this course if you expect an easy A