Fall 2026

General Botany

General Botany introduces basic plant biology principles, focusing on evolutionary sequences and structure-function relationships across organizational levels.

offering recorded5 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Carly SandersChris MuirDenise Ratterman +5 more

Summary

1 / 7

Historical reviews of David Baum, Linda Graham: One review suggests the workload is light if you attend lectures, while another indicates quizzes are difficult despite reading the textbook.

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

None

  • None
BIOLOGY/BOTANY 130 used by

“Used by” includes alternatives; linked courses may have other requirements. This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree
  • None

Professors

Fall 2026

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 2.93 GPA, 35.8% A/AB (n=148 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.24 GPA, 47.8% A/AB (n=157 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.07 GPA, 45.3% A/AB (n=148 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

No reviews exist for current instructors Chris Muir, Denise Ratterman, or Jack Satterlee. Historical feedback covers David Baum and Linda Graham, who taught the course in previous terms.

DAVID BAUM is recorded teaching in Spring 2007, Fall 2010, Fall 2012, Fall 2013, Fall 2022. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

DENISE RATTERMAN is recorded teaching in Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025, Fall 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

LINDA GRAHAM is recorded teaching in Spring 2019. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Fall 2026

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction31 / 1800
LAB 301Classroom Instruction2 / 180
LAB 302Classroom Instruction4 / 180
LAB 303Classroom Instruction2 / 180
LAB 304Classroom Instruction2 / 180
LAB 305Classroom Instruction1 / 180
LAB 306Classroom Instruction3 / 180
LAB 307Classroom Instruction4 / 180
DIS 601Classroom Instruction2 / 180
DIS 602Classroom Instruction4 / 180
DIS 603Classroom Instruction2 / 180
DIS 604Classroom Instruction2 / 180
DIS 605Classroom Instruction1 / 180
DIS 606Classroom Instruction3 / 180
DIS 607Classroom Instruction4 / 180
LAB 309Classroom Instruction3 / 180
DIS 609Classroom Instruction3 / 180
LAB 308Classroom Instruction3 / 180
LAB 310Classroom Instruction7 / 180
DIS 608Classroom Instruction3 / 180
DIS 610Classroom Instruction7 / 180
LEC 001Classroom Instruction137 / 1801
LAB 301Classroom Instruction15 / 180
LAB 302Classroom Instruction13 / 180
LAB 303Classroom Instruction16 / 180
LAB 304Classroom Instruction15 / 181
LAB 305Classroom Instruction17 / 180
LAB 306Classroom Instruction12 / 180
DIS 601Classroom Instruction15 / 180
DIS 602Classroom Instruction13 / 180
DIS 603Classroom Instruction16 / 180
DIS 604Classroom Instruction15 / 181
DIS 605Classroom Instruction17 / 180
DIS 606Classroom Instruction12 / 180
LAB 307Classroom Instruction14 / 180
DIS 607Classroom Instruction14 / 180
DIS 609Classroom Instruction15 / 180
LAB 309Classroom Instruction15 / 180
DIS 608Classroom Instruction10 / 180
LAB 308Classroom Instruction10 / 180
LAB 310Classroom Instruction10 / 180
DIS 610Classroom Instruction10 / 180

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records
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Student experience

the class

Historical reviews describe the course as either easy with straightforward tests or frustrating due to unclear instruction and unexpected quiz content.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 2.93 GPA, 35.8% A/AB (n=148 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.24 GPA, 47.8% A/AB (n=157 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.07 GPA, 45.3% A/AB (n=148 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Historical reviews of David Baum, Linda Graham: One review suggests the workload is light if you attend lectures, while another indicates quizzes are difficult despite reading the textbook.

Historical reviews of David Baum, Linda Graham: Students report mixed experiences, with some finding lectures entertaining and others finding instruction too detailed or lacking necessary context for assessments.

Topics

  • Biology of plants
  • Evolutionary sequences
  • Structure and function relationships
  • Levels of biological organization

Skills

  • Understanding basic principles and concepts of plant biology
  • Analyzing evolutionary sequences in plants
  • Relating structure and function across biological levels of organization

Grades

Historical instructor

Fall 2026 · Projected

Before grades are released

– average GPA

Approximate 80% prediction interval

About this estimate

The course’s semester-average GPA, not an individual student’s grade. The center uses 5 same-season terms, weighted toward recent results.

The range uses the finite-sample 80th-percentile rank of absolute errors from earlier same-season forecasts. Each forecast uses only records from earlier terms. At least four forecasts are required; bounds are rounded outward and limited to 0–4. This is an empirical estimate: changing instructors or grading policies can reduce its coverage.

8 earlier forecasts · 0.20 GPA average error.

Grades over time

Through Fall 2026

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Spring 2026 · all course levels

GPA

Higher than % of other courses in this group.

Course GPAs · red marks this course’s range

letter grades

More recorded grades than % of other courses in this group.

Typical course in this group: letter grades.

About this comparison

1283 courses over the same term, each with at least 30 recorded letter grades. Cross-listed courses count once. GPA is not a measure of difficulty or teaching quality. The typical course is the median by recorded grade count; tied values are not counted as lower. Grade counts describe course scale, not unique students or typical section size.

Descriptions compare GPA with this group’s average: at least 0.20 higher or lower; otherwise close to average. Section size uses median recorded enrollment: small up to 30, mid-sized 31–99, large 100+. Lectures and discussion/lab sections are described separately.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

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Selected offering source records
BIOLOGY/BOTANY 130 · Fall 2026

General Botany

Recorded 2026-09-07
BIOLOGY/BOTANY 130 · Fall 2026

General Botany

Recorded 2026-09-07
Raw records 
[
  {
    "run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
    "semester": "1272",
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1272:205:001943",
    "course_id": "BIOLOGY/BOTANY 130",
    "course_uid": "course_5a690a5b7d8cad6be35bbe20",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "001943",
    "source_subject_id": "205",
    "title": "General Botany",
    "credits_min": 5,
    "credits_max": 5,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring"
  },
  {
    "run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
    "semester": "1272",
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1272:208:001943",
    "course_id": "BIOLOGY/BOTANY 130",
    "course_uid": "course_5a690a5b7d8cad6be35bbe20",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "001943",
    "source_subject_id": "208",
    "title": "General Botany",
    "credits_min": 5,
    "credits_max": 5,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring"
  }
]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
Download part 1
Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-09-07

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4",
  "model_revision": "1355db6a052410cfd62085d94b58866fd0f2c3c5",
  "task_version": "14",
  "output_id": "5d29649d1ab6062ca6b1f294354f95c09460dd621a0d2909af15802c2a78d765",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}