I can't seem to find much info on these courses.. if anyone has taken any of those and provide any information on it I'd much appreciate it!

As well as biochem 2ee3 and 2bb3.. thanks

enviroSci 2c03 - taught by dr. arain. he's a pretty good prof who really knows his stuff. had him two years ago but judging from the outline the material hasn't changed. you'll be given handouts (or at least the opportunity to download them) that are very detailed. You usually just had to show up, listen, and dot jot a few things here and there. The midterm and exam were pretty much entirely conceptual. I think the biggest calculation was a bowen ratio. speaking of which, the material is an extension of 1a03. It goes more in depth obviously but isn't too challenging. Essentially, if you liked envirosci 1A03, you should like this...especially considering its not at 830 where you are particularly susceptable to arains soft-spoken and sleep inducing persona. and I can't remember anything about the labs because our TA just gave us all the answers before he mysteriously disappeared. And the textbook is small and not worth it as it is kind of hard to follow...but apparently it is 'the' text for introductory climate science...something to keep in mind.

http://www.science.mcmaster. ca/geo...se_Outline.pdf

envirosci 2q03 - this class has a notorious reputation for being horrible. Don't pay attention though as all it requires is a little work. Dr. warren expects alot. You really have to know the material for the midterm and you REALLY need to know the material for the exam. By that I mean, you really have to be able to extrapolate concepts into application. For example, you'll have to write and balance chemical equations, work through some calculations to get some concentration of say, Calcium carbonate in solution, explain what that means, and then do the whole thing over again after some acid/buffer is added...again, explain what the means or postulate as to why it happened in such and such an environment. The labs were pretty easy, the first one was a short presentation on a geochem paper you had to find. The next one involved proper graphing I think. And somewhere along the line you do a really long and arduous titration lab. All in all, I found the material to be the most interesting out of all the envirosci courses at that point, but I know others hated it. It all depends. If you don't really understand basic chemistry concepts, you'll have to work a lot harder.

http://www.science.mcmaster. ca/geo...se_Outline.pdf

envirosci 2w03-I took this class this year with dr. waddington. he's an alright prof but you can tell he really does enjoy the material. It deals with water...in case you didn't pick that up...and how it moves on the terrestrial environment. You'll be dealing with energy budgets and water budgets in the context of a watershed/drainage basin. The first have of the course deals with methods of budget calculation and then you apply it later on. Not the most interesting stuff in the world. There are several equations but nothing to serious. You'll mostly just have to memorize what terms in the equation mean and overall concepts. The actual math components are reserved for lab. The lecture material didn't sync with the labs we were doing so everyone was always confused and angry so heads up. Midterms and labs, mostly conceptual.

http://www.science.mcmaster. ca/geo...se_Outline.pdf

Hope that helps!

Here's a review of Biochem 2BB3:http://www.macinsiders.com/showthrea...9.html?t=18359
Biochem 2EE3: http://www.macinsiders.com/showthrea...t=biochem+2ee3

oh wow thanks a lot!! It most certainly did help; I really appreciate it. I took enviro sci 1a03 and 1b03 with Bernier and I enjoyed taking 1a03 so I was looking for level ii course/s that are like 1a03 (so kinda like weather/climate-based material?) and by the 2c03 description on website I thought that would be it and by your description it sounds like it too : )

Did you enjoy all those courses you took, and did you find any of them hard? As well.. have you taken any other enviro sci courses like 2g03, 2e03, 2ei3 etc? I see that Bernier will be tching 2ei3 but I'm not too sure just by reading the course description. Sorrry but I'm really lost here as to what courses to choose.

Yes, I've taken pretty much all of them (except 2ei3...and 2e03 I dropped but taking it this year coming up). In my opinion they are all good and quite easy to do well in provided you go to class and do the labs. They start getting more difficult in 3rd year (for instance earthsci 3T03 had a 35 page paper this past year). As for 2g03, I'm pretty sure that course is phased out and replaced by 'introduction to field work.' Are you in the earthsci/envirosci program?

2G03 is now 2I03

2EI3 was a great course when I took it last year. If you like Bernier and are interested in learning about environmental issues than you will definitely like this class.

Thank you alll.

I'm kinda iffy about 2q03 since I am not good in chemistry and from your/btdt's review it seems like there's going to be a lot of chemistry reaction/ calculations involved.. so I am thinking of taking that out and switching it to 2EI3; mainly because I liked Bernier last year and don't know how Warren is like. I'm still not quite sure just yet though

It says 2I03 is pretty much about interpreting and mapping datas and such. Seems kinda interesting too, but I can't seem to make up my mind. Has anyone taken this course before?

I'm in biology and environmental science.

2I03 is new this year so no one will have taken it.

Definitely replace 2Q03 with 2EI3, you won`t regret it! On the midterm for 2Q the prof told us that more people failed than got A`s, so that should tell you something. 2EI3 has much less work and is much less complicated. Warren is also a pretty harsh prof and her lectures can be fairly hard to follow as she basically writes wherever she wants on the board.
As for 2I03, unless you are planning on taking the field camp course (3FE3) there is probably no point on taking this because it is basically a prep course for 3FE3.

Okay the trick with 2Q03: When she assigns you questions, DO THEM! And if you can't get the right answer or don't understand what's going on. ASK HER! She appreciates and respects those who put effort and express interest in the class. Imagine teaching a class where the vast majority of them are just taking it because they have to, and have no interest.

I recommend really looking at what courses you want to take in upper years because not taking one or the other may limit you in the furture. Especially really cool courses like 3L03.


Go talk to Luc. He can help you plan your path of courses.

Doing the questions is a must for 2Q as taylojl said so if you aren't looking for a lot of work then stay away from this class. On that note, howeve,r the midterm for 2Q this year was out of 30 and one particular question was out of 12 and was not covered in class, in the text or in the assigned questions. So needless to say no one did well, with no one actually getting it right. If you are not interested in chemistry and therefore wont want to take upper year geochem classes there really is no point on taking this class.

I'll most likely drop out of 2q03 and replace with 2ei3.. but when looking at undergrad calendar for bio&enviro sci program, 2EI3 isn't one of required courses. It says:

9 units from ENVIR SC 2B03, 2C03, 2E03, 2G03, 2I03, 2Q03, 2W03

I already have selected 2C03 and 2W03, and if 2EI3 isn't a required course I don't see why I should take it. I'm not planning on taking 3FE3, so 2I03 is automatically out. which leaves me with 2B03 (Soils and Environment) and Earth History (2E03). Earth history sounds boring yet interesting.. but I have a feeling essays will be involved with this course and I'm not a big fan of essays and I would like to avoid it as possible. but then again, soils doesn't sound too interesting either.. any suggestions?

Are you planning on getting your APGO certification (to be registered as an ontario geoscientist)? Because if you are, you'll need to take 3FE3 as your field course component. I've had conversations with some profs about the certification...their only reply was 'do you want to work?' So it might be a good idea to take it...As for 2E03, there are no essays but a final project that involves building your own island (on paper of course). I was in it for a bit before dropping it (for schedual reasons, not because it sucked) and it was pretty interesting...the title doesn't do it justice and its a requirement for pretty much every geology course in the upper years. Soils, no that course is kind of boring, at least for me but it is one of the pre reqs for physical hydrologeology, which is probably one the best classes you can take in my opinion (due to quality of teaching, challenge, and applicability).

Anyways, to be honest, your best bet to make your life easier (and with the biology aspect in mind) would be to take soils 2b03, hydrology 2w03, and 2c03. these are the ones that are most applicable to biology\. but, if you think you might be interested in geology later on, see if you can take 2e03.

Originally Posted by taylojl

Okay the trick with 2Q03: When she assigns you questions, DO THEM! And if you can't get the right answer or don't understand what's going on. ASK HER! She appreciates and respects those who put effort and express interest in the class. Imagine teaching a class where the vast majority of them are just taking it because they have to, and have no interest.

I recommend really looking at what courses you want to take in upper years because not taking one or the other may limit you in the furture. Especially really cool courses like 3L03.


Go talk to Luc. He can help you plan your path of courses.

I agree with you 100%...I honestly hated chem first year (and swore to never take it again, that's how badly I did)...then something told me to try 2Q03 (plus it's mandatory for me to graduate from my program lol) and I LOVED it!!! This course actually confirmed the career path I've chosen, and what I want to do my Masters (and possibly PhD) in. The key to this course is taking the initiative to do your homework...and always ask questions!!!