I really recommend Professor Longcore! He's interesting, a little nerdy, and an overall really nice guy. He realy cares about the subject and the students, and he made geography pretty interesting. The course was very easy and I didn't have to read the book at at all because the midterm and final was based on terms. But I recommend going to lectures and taking notes because it helps a lot.

Very average. Nothing special; powerpoint lectures, web-posted notes.

Scantron-(oid) [part scantron] exams, goofy lab excercises (lab = discussion section for this course---a great way to satisfy the lab/demo LIFESCI LS requirement).

The final project is also a bit goofy (critical analysis on an environmentalist's work); you will be working in a group of 4 or 5---join a group that is not lazy.

Again...ordinary, run-of-the-mill, average, pedestrian, professor; ditto for the course.

Going in I had very little interest in the material but had heard that it was an easy GE. Longcore does his best to get his students involved and interested, and you can tell he's really passionate about the material. The final project, while it does take awhile, is well spaced out and not very difficult. Also, this the type of project that GE's should have. It teaches how to use the library system and a lot of the resources and references that UCLA has that I never knew about before. The skills I learned from the project alone were extremely valuable and will come in really handy later when I have to write research papers for other classes. Plus, the reading is a joke, all you have to do is go to lecture and you can get an easy A in the class. The tests are really easy, I didn't even study very much and got 100% - all it takes is going to lecture. His passion for the subject rubs off on you and in the end it turns out to be a great class. I highly reccomend this class to anyone looking for an enjoyable, easy GE.

My first quarter at UCLA,a nd the only class I didn't mind going to. He is young enough to understand his students, his homework/lab assignments are VERY easy...the final was a tad confusing, but he gave us the benefit of the doubt. I could have easily gotten an A if I put forth an extra ounce or two of effort, but I didn't bother. Very good way to satisfy your Life Science GE. No stress in this class whatsoever.

I actually liked this class and thought it was one of the easiest class I've taken here at UCLA. It's true that the workload may be painful sometimes, but all the work can be comparable to a high school environmental class-- work that are assigned just to give you points to help out your grade or something. I thought the class was well organized and loved the fact that I was able to print out the lecture notes whenever I missed class. I think any who went to lectures (or glanced at the lecture notes) and went to labs had an easy time getting an A in the class. Sure it geography is a boring subject, but this class was actually pretty interesting. We had no finals- just two multiple-choice midterms that you dont even need to score A's in but can still get an A overall in the class.

ok, geog 5 really isn't thaaat bad. it's pretty easy stuff that everyone has heard before in high school or somewhere. the midterm was pretty easy, but i thought the final was hard. and watch out for the quarter project because it's such a joke. when i first heard about it, i told my friend that he was making us do research for him in the guise of a "project" and i was right! my group and i basically bs'd the entire thing and my part of the reasearch wasn't even accurate so i hope he uses it in his paper, that would teach him a lesson. lectures are boring, but a nice time for the crossword. just print out the slides and study those. don't even bother buying the book.

Longcore was a pretty good professor. His presentations were organized and relevant to anyone who was paying attention or went to the lectures. He probably went off on a tangent ONCE and it wasnt that long. These other people are exaggerating. He is a good professor and the midterms were SUPER easy if you go to the lectures and actually listen to what he has to say, which is interesting!

I disliked Professor Longcore's teaching style, mainly for the fact that it lacked organization. It was quite difficult to follow his lectures as he often went on tangents. The class isn't difficult, however.

I feel great pain for those who say Longcore has been their best professor at UCLA because that speaks poorly about our education here. There are tons of professors better than Longcore, if not then his course material. Chris Brown, who taught this course before Longcore took over is by and large a better candidate; he's in Kansas now because UCLA didn't have the sense to keep him when they had the chance. I regret not being able to take the class with Chris--his seminar for the GE cluster was one of the most rewarding experiences during my freshman year.

Longcore rambles on about material that is irrelevant for the exams. His lecture slides waste a lot of paper because they are 3 per page instead of 6. You'd think a professor who preaches about the environment could be a bit more considerate. The midterms were trickery; there is no way to get anywhere remotely close to an A after studying all the material.

The group project was 12-page paper and a PRESENTATION, to be "published" in Longcore's "compendium" for his "research" according to the class website. TRANSLATION: we were doing his work for him, paying thousands of dollars in tuition money with tons of stress, lab homework FOR A GE. This GE brought my GPA down considerably, which is rather pathetic considering I know all the material cold. I wish I hadn't enrolled for this class. It's frustrating to fail PE but even more so in a class like this, which was all busy work. My TA wasn't that great either because he was so "meticulous" with his grading: 48.2 for the lab component. Where'd the .2 come from? We had a doubling time problem in our homework once that HE couldn't even do. At least if someone is going to be my superior, they'd better know the material they're going to grade me on... Avoid Geography 5 with Longcore like the plague, or Al Bundy's mother-in-law.

the subject matter, people and their influence on environment, was completely interesting. even longcores presentation was good, very clear and he lets you know what he wants for exams. but the project was full of it. we were asked to research incomplete citations and do a load of work for a 4 unit GE. overall the class was doable, but make sure you dont get stuck with a TA who decides to grade harder than everyone else(like i did), bcuz your discussion grade is half your entire grade. so if this you want a GE make this a last resort.