Spring 2027

Survey of Botany

Survey of Botany explores the roles of plants and microbes in global ecology and their historical and current uses by humans, including biotechnology applications.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Catherine Woodward3.7/5

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Linda Graham

Reviewers reported more than 50 pages of reading per week and weekly quizzes that drew from specific textbook sections.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Explain what plants are, how they contribute to biological diversity, and how they evolved to dominate life on land.

  • Explain the processes fundamental to all life on Earth, including metabolic processes (photosynthesis, respiration, and protein synthesis), cell division, and evolution, and articulate how these processes are important to humans.

  • Give examples of how plants influence global climate, animal (including human) nutrition, and ecosystem function.

  • Describe how plants are essential to all life on Earth, and the many ways they are utilized by humans.

  • Critically analyze scientific information, make informed decisions, and contribute responsibly to the solution of societal problems.

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

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

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

None

  • None
BOTANY 100 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

Spring 2027

Catherine Woodward

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 3.75/5 from 16 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.

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

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.48 GPA, 72.3% A/AB (n=141 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.07 GPA, 43.6% A/AB (n=110 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

CATHERINE WOODWARD is recorded teaching in Spring 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

INGRID JORDON-THADEN is recorded teaching in Spring 2019, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

LINDA GRAHAM is recorded teaching in Spring 2007, Spring 2008, Spring 2009, Spring 2010, Spring 2011, Spring 2012, Spring 2013, Spring 2014, Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Spring 2020. 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
LAB 301Classroom Instruction0 / 180
LAB 302Classroom Instruction0 / 00
LAB 303Classroom Instruction0 / 00
LAB 304Classroom Instruction0 / 180
LAB 305Classroom Instruction0 / 180
LAB 306Classroom Instruction0 / 180
LAB 307Classroom Instruction0 / 180
LAB 308Classroom Instruction0 / 00
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 900

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

Meeting source records
Download part 1

Student experience

the class

Past student reviews · Ingrid Jordon-Thaden

Students described the course as dense and challenging, with some feeling the material was too complex for an introductory class.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 3.64 GPA, 75.6% A/AB (n=135 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.48 GPA, 72.3% A/AB (n=141 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.07 GPA, 43.6% A/AB (n=110 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Linda Graham

Reviewers reported more than 50 pages of reading per week and weekly quizzes that drew from specific textbook sections.

Past student reviews · Ingrid Jordon-Thaden

One student found the instructor's explanations understandable and appreciated that quiz mistakes could be corrected in subsequent assessments.

Topics

  • Plant evolution, biological diversity, and dominance on land.
  • Fundamental life processes: photosynthesis, respiration, protein synthesis, cell division, and evolution.
  • Influence of plants on global climate, nutrition, and ecosystem function.
  • Roles of plants and microbes in global ecology and emerging biotechnology applications.

Skills

  • Explain plant biology, evolution, and fundamental life processes such as photosynthesis and respiration.
  • Analyze the impact of plants on climate, nutrition, and ecosystems, and understand their utility in biotechnology.
  • Critically analyze scientific information to make informed decisions regarding societal problems.

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 · 0.20 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
BOTANY 100 · Spring 2027

Survey of Botany

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
[
  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:208:001941",
    "course_id": "BOTANY 100",
    "course_uid": "course_fcbbbcaaf5e3f634f4ff4fa5",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "001941",
    "source_subject_id": "208",
    "title": "Survey of Botany",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "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 1
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "29033896d37a09d89def26bcfee753efb3af8295344d5f82eb4ef3a3ebea3da7",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}