Spring 2027

Ecology of Fishes

Ecology of Fishes covers interactions of fishes with physical, chemical, and biotic environments, including physiological ecology, community ecology, and fisheries sciences, with field trips to Lake Mendota and Shedd Aquarium.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 John LyonsZach Feiner

Summary

1 / 3

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 3.40 GPA, 62.7% A/AB (n=83 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.66 GPA, 79.8% A/AB (n=89 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.67 GPA, 81.6% A/AB (n=98 letter grades).

What you’ll be able to do

  • Use facts to guide conceptual thinking and hypothesis tests about ecological systems.

  • Draw upon aspects of fish evolution, ecology, and conservation to produce an integrated perspective.

  • Summarize the diversity of fishes on Earth, including phylogenetic and geographic patterns.

  • Analyze the relationship between form and function of individual fish.

  • Place fish in the context of the broader food web and ecological community.

  • Describe the management and use of fish by human society.

  • Describe the conservation challenges faced by fish now and in the future.

  • Write clear, concise scientific reports both individually and in teams.

  • Present effective, informative, and persuasive arguments in writing and orally.

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

(ZOOLOGY/​BIOLOGY 101 and 102),ZOOLOGY/​BIOLOGY/​BOTANY 152, or BIOCORE 381

ENVIRST/ZOOLOGY 510 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

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 3.40 GPA, 62.7% A/AB (n=83 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.66 GPA, 79.8% A/AB (n=89 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.67 GPA, 81.6% A/AB (n=98 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

JOHN LYONS is recorded teaching in Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024, Spring 2025, Spring 2026. 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 / 980
DIS 301Classroom Instruction0 / 980
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 1000
DIS 301Classroom Instruction0 / 1000

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

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 3.40 GPA, 62.7% A/AB (n=83 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.66 GPA, 79.8% A/AB (n=89 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.67 GPA, 81.6% A/AB (n=98 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

No workload feedback recorded.

Topics

  • Interactions of fishes with physical, chemical, and biotic environments
  • Physiological ecology, community ecology, and fisheries sciences
  • Fieldwork at Lake Mendota perch fishery and Shedd Aquarium
  • Diversity of fishes on Earth, including phylogenetic and geographic patterns
  • Fish in the context of the broader food web and ecological community
  • Management and use of fish by human society
  • Conservation challenges faced by fish now and in the future

Skills

  • Using facts to guide conceptual thinking and hypothesis tests about ecological systems
  • Producing an integrated perspective using fish evolution, ecology, and conservation
  • Analyzing the relationship between form and function of individual fish
  • Writing clear, concise scientific reports individually and in teams
  • Presenting effective, informative, and persuasive arguments in writing and orally

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 · 0.16 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
ENVIRST/ZOOLOGY 510 · Spring 2027

Ecology of Fishes

Recorded 2026-10-14
ENVIRST/ZOOLOGY 510 · Spring 2027

Ecology of Fishes

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": "1274:360:019327",
    "course_id": "ENVIRST/ZOOLOGY 510",
    "course_uid": "course_59fa32ca63ec972f8e95fb2c",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "019327",
    "source_subject_id": "360",
    "title": "Ecology of Fishes",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Spring"
  },
  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:970:019327",
    "course_id": "ENVIRST/ZOOLOGY 510",
    "course_uid": "course_59fa32ca63ec972f8e95fb2c",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "019327",
    "source_subject_id": "970",
    "title": "Ecology of Fishes",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Spring"
  }
]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews

No records available.

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": "179247b736935aac3e77f7be176d089292f591c26d6ea7fe6aca1aefcaa270d2",
  "requirements_status": "needs_review",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}