Fall 2026

Plants and Humans

BOTANY 240 explores the utility of plant parts to humans, the origins and human modification of domesticated plants, ecosystem services, and the importance of sustaining plant diversity.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Eve Emshwiller2.8/5

Summary

1 / 6

Students must read multiple textbook chapters weekly and memorize content not covered in lectures, while facing tests written with little notice that can be highly variable in scope.

Grade history

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average GPA
letter grades
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Prerequisites

Course map

None

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BOTANY 240 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
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Professors

Fall 2026
/5Adjusted rating
/5RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 2.29/5 from 35 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: 1.8/5 raw quality · 3.8/5 difficulty · 4 reviews

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

Eve Emshwiller’s lectures are frequently described as unorganized, with content that often mismatches exam material. Reviewers note that she prioritizes plant families over the textbook, requiring significant independent reading and memorization despite limited lecture coverage.

Some students find her passion for botany interesting and appreciate the engaging in-class activities like making lotion. However, others find her lectures dry and tests highly detail-oriented, noting that the course feels like a backseat to her broader botanical interests.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.39 GPA, 63.2% A/AB (n=38 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.46 GPA, 60.0% A/AB (n=35 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.10 GPA, 45.8% A/AB (n=24 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Historical review of Lauren Moscoe describes an inspirational lecture style with guest speakers and food samples. The instructor engaged the class through brief meditation and balanced lecturing with other activities. The reviewer found the course engaging and the instructor passionate.

EVE EMSHWILLER is recorded teaching in Fall 2015, Fall 2016, Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Fall 2024, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

LAUREN MOSCOE is recorded teaching in Fall 2014. 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

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SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction25 / 500

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

Eve Emshwiller’s BOTANY 240 is polarizing, with students describing lectures as unorganized and dry, yet others find the content interesting and accessible through significant extra credit opportunities.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.39 GPA, 63.2% A/AB (n=38 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.46 GPA, 60.0% A/AB (n=35 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.10 GPA, 45.8% A/AB (n=24 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Students must read multiple textbook chapters weekly and memorize content not covered in lectures, while facing tests written with little notice that can be highly variable in scope.

Reviewers note that easy extra credit and engaging lecture activities like making lotion help mitigate the difficulty, while others find the course interesting despite organizational issues.

Topics

  • Utility of plant parts to humans
  • Origins of domesticated plants
  • Human modifications of plants
  • Ecosystem services provided by plants
  • Sustaining plant diversity

Grades

Latest available · Fall 2025— not enough history to project Fall 2026.

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

A
AB
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BC
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D
F

Grades over time

Through Fall 2025

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Not enough comparable courses for Fall 2026 in UW–Madison.

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
BOTANY 240 · Fall 2026

Plants and Humans

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": "1272:208:001950",
    "course_id": "BOTANY 240",
    "course_uid": "course_cb0965698022ffab948ded9d",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "001950",
    "source_subject_id": "208",
    "title": "Plants and Humans",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Fall"
  }
]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

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Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

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Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-09-07

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Model outputs & technical records
nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4
LLM outputs across runs
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Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

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Model & dataset provenance
{
  "model": "nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4",
  "model_revision": "1355db6a052410cfd62085d94b58866fd0f2c3c5",
  "task_version": "14",
  "output_id": "e9f03b74a0b771c3c589ffc1f33c69e5a1f02731211ff9be260943f8872e793a",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}