Abstract
Chlupáč's Museum of Earth History is a unique academic museum focusing on the development of the planet Earth from the perspective of both living and inanimate nature, which is primarily intended for teaching university students. However, its clarity, and, in a sense, its compactness, allows it to be used to educate students at lower levels of education, especially if accompanied by explanatory commentary.
The museum was created on the basis of original geological-paleontological collections amassed at the Faculty of Science of Charles University, after World War II, from several Prague universities. The collections were inaccessible to the public until the turn of the millennium, when it was decided to renovate and rebuild the museum and open it to the public for at least a limited amount of time.
The museum's (own) exhibition is a comprehensive set of fossil materials, illustrative models, and information posters describing the evolution of the Earth from its origins to the present day. It is supplemented by examples of some paleoecological relationships in selected periods and unique visual reconstructions.
Since its official opening, the museum has been used by numerous schools (especially secondary schools) to supplement or replace geological science teaching. Currently, students on school excursions are key visitors to the museum.
In addition to lectures organized by the museum, students can also complete worksheets, which make the material easier to interpret and memorize. In the future, the museum could certainly be used more intensively to complement the teaching of geology, which is a very neglected area at secondary schools.