Spring 2027

Animal Biology

Animal Biology covers general biological principles including evolution, ecology, cell structure, genetics, and human physiology.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Sharon Thoma4.1/5Lauren Riters4.0/5Robert Johnson

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Sharon Thoma, Lauren Riters

Exams were described as challenging, with one student noting Lauren Riters' test was the hardest of the semester. Sharon Thoma's exams required significant study time, and students were advised to use the Learning Center and office hours to prepare.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Explain and illustrate how biological concepts connect across levels of organization, from molecules to ecosystems.

  • Explain how the structure of a cell allows it to exhibit each of the functions that characterize living organisms.

  • Describe how genetic information is stored, retrieved, and transmitted during cell division and reproduction.

  • Describe human anatomical systems and understand their role in homeostasis and communication.

  • Evaluate relationships between living organisms and nonliving factors in ecosystems.

  • Describe the mechanisms of natural selection and explain how they drive speciation, biodiversity, and evolutionary change.

  • Recognize and describe examples of the diversity and complexity of life across different biological systems.

  • Explain how biological discoveries and applications impact human society, medicine, agriculture, and global sustainability.

Source: UW Guide 1 UW Guide 2

Grade history

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

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

Not open to students with credit forBOTANY/​BIOLOGY/​ZOOLOGY 151 or 152

BIOLOGY/ZOOLOGY 101 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

Professors

Spring 2027

Sharon Thoma

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.16/5 from 364 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

For this course: 4.1/5 raw quality · 3.2/5 difficulty · 23 reviews

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

Past student reviews · Sharon Thoma

Sharon Thoma delivers engaging lectures and posts fill-in-the-blank notes on Canvas, though students noted the material can move quickly for those without prior biology experience. Exams are demanding and require significant study time, but she is available after class to answer questions.

Some students found the course too difficult for non-science majors, citing challenging tests and quizzes. A recent review described a negative experience where accommodations were denied and extra work for honors credit was not recognized.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 2.57 GPA, 32.8% A/AB (n=574 letter grades); Fall 2025: 2.66 GPA, 30.6% A/AB (n=591 letter grades); Spring 2026: 2.68 GPA, 31.9% A/AB (n=426 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Lauren Riters

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.15/5 from 52 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

For this course: 3.0/5 raw quality · 4.0/5 difficulty · 3 reviews

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

Past student reviews · Lauren Riters

Students describe Lauren Riters as approachable with accessible office hours and informative lectures, though one found it harder to focus during class. Feedback on her exams was mixed; one student called them the hardest of the semester and advised studying extensively, while another found them less difficult but confusing, and a third noted they were the hardest they had ever taken.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2023: 2.66 GPA, 29.5% A/AB (n=501 letter grades); Spring 2024: 2.69 GPA, 32.8% A/AB (n=516 letter grades); Spring 2025: 2.57 GPA, 32.8% A/AB (n=574 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 2.71 GPA, 37.2% A/AB (n=304 letter grades); Spring 2025: 2.57 GPA, 32.8% A/AB (n=574 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Past student reviews · Hilary Dugan, Emily Stanley

Hilary Dugan posted slides for missed classes and students found her lectures informative and kind, though she advised studying extensively for the final exam. Emily Stanley received mixed feedback; one student found her lectures fun but the test super hard, while another described the course as unorganized and boring with an unhelpful teacher.

EMILY STANLEY is recorded teaching in Spring 2007, Spring 2011, Spring 2013, Spring 2015, Spring 2017, Spring 2019, Spring 2023. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

HILARY DUGAN is recorded teaching in Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Spring 2022, Spring 2024, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

KAREN LEE MURPHY STEUDEL is recorded teaching in Fall 2006, Fall 2007, Fall 2008. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

LAUREN RITERS is recorded teaching in Spring 2007, Spring 2008, Spring 2009, Spring 2010, Fall 2011, Spring 2012, Spring 2013, Spring 2014, Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2023, Spring 2024, Spring 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

ROBERT JOHNSON is recorded teaching in Fall 2023, Spring 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

SHARON THOMA is recorded teaching in Fall 2006, Spring 2007, Fall 2007, Spring 2008, Fall 2008, Spring 2009, Fall 2009, Spring 2010, Fall 2010, Spring 2011, Fall 2011, Spring 2012, Fall 2012, Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2014, Fall 2014, Spring 2015, Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Spring 2018, 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.

WARREN PAUL PORTER is recorded teaching in Fall 2006, Fall 2007, Fall 2008, Fall 2009, Fall 2010, Spring 2011. 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

Spring 2027

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 4000
LEC 002Classroom Instruction0 / 4000
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 4000
LEC 002Classroom Instruction0 / 4000

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

Past student reviews · Sharon Thoma

Students found Sharon Thoma's lectures engaging and informative, noting she explains concepts well. Lauren Riters also delivered informative lectures with accessible office hours, though exam difficulty varied by instructor.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 2.57 GPA, 32.8% A/AB (n=574 letter grades); Fall 2025: 2.66 GPA, 30.6% A/AB (n=591 letter grades); Spring 2026: 2.68 GPA, 31.9% A/AB (n=426 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Sharon Thoma, Lauren Riters

Exams were described as challenging, with one student noting Lauren Riters' test was the hardest of the semester. Sharon Thoma's exams required significant study time, and students were advised to use the Learning Center and office hours to prepare.

Past student reviews · Sharon Thoma

Sharon Thoma was praised for making lectures interesting and being available after class for questions. She provided fill-in-the-blank notes on Canvas, which helped some students, though the pace could be fast for those without prior biology experience.

Topics

  • Evolution, ecology, and animal behavior
  • Cell structure, function, genetics, and molecular genetics
  • Physiology of organ systems with emphasis on human function

Skills

  • Explain connections between biological concepts across organizational levels and relate cell structure to organismal functions.
  • Describe genetic information flow during cell division and explain mechanisms of natural selection driving evolutionary change.
  • Describe human anatomical systems' roles in homeostasis and evaluate ecological relationships between organisms and environment.

Grades

Historical instructor

Spring 2027 · 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 · 0.14 GPA average error.

Grades over time

Through Spring 2027

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

1280 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.

Download part 1
Selected offering source records
BIOLOGY/ZOOLOGY 101 · Spring 2027

Animal Biology

Recorded 2026-10-14
BIOLOGY/ZOOLOGY 101 · Spring 2027

Animal Biology

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
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  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:205:019257",
    "course_id": "BIOLOGY/ZOOLOGY 101",
    "course_uid": "course_8c99a612c2020145d67e29b1",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "019257",
    "source_subject_id": "205",
    "title": "Animal Biology",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring, Summer"
  },
  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:970:019257",
    "course_id": "BIOLOGY/ZOOLOGY 101",
    "course_uid": "course_8c99a612c2020145d67e29b1",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "019257",
    "source_subject_id": "970",
    "title": "Animal Biology",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring, Summer"
  }
]
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 2026-10-14

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1Download part 2Download part 3Download part 4Download part 5
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "54b46a68fe073116b34769ffcf2fe1cd3b0844bd9873ab45e5b5226d3f4e0103",
  "requirements_status": "needs_review",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}