Took this class in-person fall 2021. To me, I found the material incredibly boring, and the professors are really terrible at creating slides. Each lecture consists of hundreds of slides with either a. repetitive information, b. useless information c. boring information. Most of the information you need to know for tests is not covered in lecture. Fall quarter is all astronomy and creation of the earth. Basic knowledge of elementary physics/chemistry would help, but you don't need any strong math/science skills. The class is really more a writing class since the essay is what makes/breaks your grade.

Class is taught by like 3 professors so consistency is a huge issue and each professor teaches class differently, which makes it aids logistically for you and the TA.

Never talked to any of the professors so can't really say how helpful/willing to help they are.

Quizzes are 30%, consisting of 10 at 3% each. 5 free response quizzes that are super easy, 5 multiple choice that are ridiculously hard. 35% discussion work, this is basically a free grade booster, 35% essay.

Your TA grades everything: get a bad TA and you are finished since you really can't afford to lose points in discussion since your quiz grade is going to be okay at best.

Overall, it's not that hard of a class, but you will need to put in a little effort to get by. Curve is very nice, professors feel the need to give every a grade bump should they feel not enough kids get As. Probably >50% of the class gets As, and you can pass the class without any effort.

Jewitt is the man! Lecture is not necessary, but I went to every single one because Jewitt is so interesting and passionate about the subject. He gives you a list of questions the class before the final, then picks about 40 of them for the actual final. It's pretty much a race who can fill out their scantron the fastest...I got a 100% on it!

You watch BBC movies in the class which star Jewitt...he's a giant in the science community. Section was also pretty fun...both TAs are always looking to help. There is a ton of extra credit offered and I ended up with an A+ in the class.

Take ESS9--you will not regret it!

I love this professors and teaching staff for this cluster, but the quizzes are actually really hard and oftentimes the lectures aren't really helpful in preparing for them. It IS a cluster, so there is more workload (bi-weekly quizzes, weekly discussion labs and a 5 page paper due at week 10), but it's manageable. I rather do this cluster than fulfill my science GEs with other classes, so I do recommend taking it!

I didn't find the class as interesting as others did, but the class is easy and the professor is great. There's a lot of extra credit opportunity. The midterms were tough so I was worried about my grade, but he gave us the questions to the final so I got a 100% and passed with A+. You have to go to discussions for lab but not lectures.

Previous reviewer hit it correctly. Professor is amazing, class overall is easy. The multiple choice midterms were hard, and I did get low grades on those. No worries though since there is a ton of extra credit stuff the prof. hands out. We had to go to Griffith observatory and even build a telescope among others to get extra credit. I think the extra credit stuff amounted to 20-25% of the overall grade. The final was also easy since he gives you the questions beforehand. I also got a perfect score in the final and an A+ in the class. Going to class sometimes was kinda boring though, but powerpoints were posted anyways so I didn't really miss that much, although I wouldn't recommend missing a lot of classes since the professor also talks about some stuff not really found on the powerpoints.

This professor is by far the best professor I've had at UCLA and not because he gives lots of extra credit (which he does) but because he wants his students to learn without the stress of grades. This professor is well known across the world because he has discovered so much! We watched two videos throughout this course and he was in both of them! He found an object in the asteroid belt that had an icy tail and this discovery helped prove where earth's oceans/water came from. Really cool! He also knows so much information but explains it in a way so everyone understands the information. I actually enjoy going to this class because he makes a few jokes and clearly goes through his PowerPoint slides. This class has made become so interested in astronomy and I would definitely take another class with this professor! Take this class, you won't regret and you will learn so much with the benefit of receiving a good grade!!

Professor Jewitt is a true master of the skies, despite having ruined my childhood by being the one who proved that Pluto isn't a planet by discovering the Kuiper Belt. No, seriously, he's the reason; he's discovered like a hundred moons, too.

At first, I was scared to take this course because I heard horrible things about some other instructor of ESS 9 who made this course as hard as a graduate class.

Glad this isn't the case for Jewitt. This class was probably the easiest A I've ever gotten in my life. You have the chance to get up to 30% extra credit of the ENTIRE GRADE by going to the Griffith Observatory and checking out other cool astronomical things around LA and UCLA.

The class content was very interesting and fun, too.
This is one of those classes all the super North Campus people take when they have the mathematical and science skills of an 8th grader.

All in all, I very highly recommend Professor Jewitt for a fun and easy class; he's hilarious and engaging, and almost always lets us out 15-20 minutes early... Plus, he's currently one of the most famous men in astronomy; people like Jewitt are the reason I'm so damn proud to be at UCLA.

Great, humorous professor. he gives interesting homework and extra credits,too.

Anyone who needs to by the textbook: The Solar System 6th edition by Bennet, please text me Cindey : 310-717-4237. Used but in very good condition, no longer needed.:)

Best professor on the planet. He is soo nice and so interesting. You will WANT to go to his class. He is amazing and a flippin genius.

A great professor. I am so glad that I have him this quarter. His homework assignments are easy and interesting. He gives out questions before the final and picks about 40 of them as final. So if you are prepared well, the only thing you need to do during the final is fill out your scamtron. I think many people did well.