Rainforests and Coral Reefs
Explores the ecology, processes, and conservation of rainforests and coral reefs, focusing on their biodiversity, functions, and current threats.
Summary
Past student reviews · Catherine Woodward
The course involved creating a research project and traveling to Belize over the summer to conduct field research.
What you’ll be able to do
Articulate overarching ecological principles including patterns of biodiversity, process of evolution and natural selection, species interactions, biogeochemical cycles, and community organization, in the context of rainforest and coral reef ecosystems.
Compare and contrast the geographical, abiotic, and biotic characteristics of the tropical and temperate zones.
Describe the ecological characteristics of tropical rainforest and coral reef ecosystems and explain the biotic adaptations of plants and animals that inhabit them.
Identify and describe the major taxonomic groups of organisms found in rainforest and coral reef ecosystems.
Explain the global importance of rainforest and coral reef ecosystems and the major threats to them.
Identify and utilize resources to obtain current scientific and conservation information about tropical ecosystems.
Design a research project and write a proposal for a scientific study.
Apply the process of scientific inquiry to carry out hypothesis-driven ecological field research from start to finish.
Source: UW Guide
Grade history
↗All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors
Prerequisites
Course mapNone
- None
This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.
Prerequisite text tree
- None
Professors
Spring 2027No instructors recorded for this selection.
Historical instructors & teaching patterns
CATHERINE WOODWARD is recorded teaching in 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.
Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
Calendar & sections
Spring 2027Schedule loads here as you scroll.
| Section | Mode | Enrolled / capacity | Waitlist |
|---|
Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections.
Meeting source records
Student experience
the class
Past student reviews · Catherine Woodward
Students described Catherine Woodward as a knowledgeable professor who explained content well and made the class valuable through hands-on research opportunities.
Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.56 GPA, 66.7% A/AB (n=9 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.73 GPA, 85.0% A/AB (n=20 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.58 GPA, 78.9% A/AB (n=19 letter grades).
difficulty & workload
Past student reviews · Catherine Woodward
The course involved creating a research project and traveling to Belize over the summer to conduct field research.
Past student reviews · Catherine Woodward
In-class lectures were considered fun, though online lectures could be tedious; students found the instructor approachable during office hours.
Topics
- Physical, chemical, and biological processes of rainforests and coral reefs.
- History of human dependence on tropical ecosystems.
- Threats to rainforests and coral reefs and conservation actions.
- Geographical, abiotic, and biotic comparisons between tropical and temperate zones.
Skills
- Articulate ecological principles like biodiversity patterns, evolution, and biogeochemical cycles in tropical contexts.
- Identify and describe major taxonomic groups in rainforests and coral reefs.
- Explain the global importance of these ecosystems and their major threats.
- Design a research project and write a scientific study proposal.
- Carry out hypothesis-driven ecological field research using scientific inquiry.
Grades
Latest available · Fall 2025— not enough history to project Spring 2027.
Grade distribution · % of letter grades
Grades over time
Through Fall 2025
More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data
Not enough comparable courses for Spring 2027 in UW–Madison.
Sources & history
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.
Selected offering source records
No offering records for the selected term.
Raw records
[]
Student reviews
Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.
Read original reviews
Grade history
Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.
Explore recorded gradesRecorded 2026-10-14
Model outputs & technical records
LLM outputs across runs
Full model traces
Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.
Model & dataset provenance
{
"model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
"model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
"task_version": "17",
"output_id": "8ddfacd757f470941c6ba527c4d7e2a11c14971b95afa81af24d243aaddb1cdd",
"requirements_status": "valid",
"dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
"observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}