Digital Classroom | National Library of Australia (NLA)

Digital Classroom

Explore Australia's history at the National Library's Digital Classroom, aligned with the Australian Curriculum. With over 10 million items, we support diverse learning styles, fostering inquiry-based learning for students to analyse sources and draw conclusions about the Australian story.
Showing 1 - 12 of 15 results
Woman sitting on a stool looking thoughtful in front of a red banner with the words 'The Sell: Australian Advertising 1790s to 1990s'
The Sell: Australian Advertising 1790s to 1990s

Module

Examples of advertising and media drawn from the National Library of Australia’s exhibition The Sell: Australian Advertising 1790s to 1990s and looks at their influence over time.

Arts
English
Humanities
Year 10
Art, drawing and illustration
Australian history
Literature and writing
fan depicting king parrot eating an Arnott's cracker

[Food industry - biscuits and cakes : trade catalogues ephemera collected by the National Library of Australia], nla.gov.au/nla.obj-84640628

Iconic brands and early ads

Topic

Advertising campaigns for iconic Australian brands and early ads.

Arts
English
Humanities
Year 10
Art, drawing and illustration
Australian history
Literature and writing
Colourful Billy Tea advertisement

(1930). The famous Billy Tea : with the distinctive flavour, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-138235161

Cup of Tea?

Topic

British tea culture, imported with the arrival of the British in Australia in 1788, has been adapted by Australians into something distinct from its roots. One of the key early differences is the use of the ‘billy’, a lightweight metal can used most commonly for boiling water or cooking over a campfire.

Arts
English
Humanities
Year 10
Art, drawing and illustration
Australian history
Literature and writing
simpson washer flyer

Simpson (Firm) (issuing body.) (1950). Hooray! It's washday! - my day off!. [Australia] Simpson

Selling modernity

Topic

The postwar era saw advertising reflect notions of the ideal Australian home, of masculinity and feminine beauty and of health.

Arts
English
Humanities
Year 10
Art, drawing and illustration
Australian history
Literature and writing
blue, yellow, and red poster advertising the beach

Gert Sellheim & Australian National Travel Association. (1936). Sunshine and surf : Australia, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn6385925

Art in advertising

Topic

Poster artists working for The Australian National Travel Association (ANTA) had to decide which pictorial styles would best convey Australia’s attractions.

Arts
English
Humanities
Year 10
Art, drawing and illustration
Australian history
Literature and writing
Engineering faculty, interior with students

Wolfgang Sievers, Engineering faculty, interior with students, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology 1969, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-161377160

The message

Topic

The advent of the Internet has transformed the way advertising and consumers interact with each other. Because of the personal information we share either voluntarily or involuntarily online, advertising can now be targeted to a degree that would have boggled the minds of early advertisers.

Arts
English
Humanities
Year 10
Art, drawing and illustration
Australian history
Literature and writing
painting of small house in the Australian bush

Atkinson, Robert, 1863-1896. (1889). Sheedy's Castle, Balmoral Beach [picture] / Robt. Atkinson. nla.gov.au/nla.obj-135211215

A Nation Imagined: The artists of the Picturesque Atlas

Module

This resource is aligned with the Australian Curriculum: Visual Arts for Year 9 and 10 students. It adopts an inquiry approach to develop students’ skills as art historians.

Arts
Year 9
Year 10
Art, drawing and illustration
sketch of a man smoking a pipe

Mahony, Frank, 1862-1916. (1900). [Self-portrait] [picture] / F.P.M. nla.gov.au/nla.obj-136050024

Personalities

Topic

The Picturesque Atlas of Australasia and its principal Sydney-based artists - Julian Ashton, A. Henry Fullwood and Frank Mahony - transformed the way settler colonial Australia was seen both here and around the world.

Arts
Year 9
Year 10
Art, drawing and illustration
colour painting of man with pack and billy can

Mahony, Frank, 1862-1916. (1896). Henry Lawson in 1896 [picture] / F.P. Mahony. nla.gov.au/nla.obj-136254778

Illustration and black-and-white art

Topic

The publication of the Picturesque Atlas was situated within a ‘golden age’ of illustration: the great global explosion of mass-produced images that occurred between 1850 and 1900 with the rise of the illustrated press.

Arts
Year 9
Year 10
Art, drawing and illustration
painting of small house in the Australian bush

Atkinson, Robert, 1863-1896. (1889). Sheedy's Castle, Balmoral Beach [picture] / Robt. Atkinson. nla.gov.au/nla.obj-135211215

Australian impressionism

Topic

The Picturesque Atlas of Australasia helped to establish the iconography of Australian impressionism, often also identified as the Heidelberg School.

Arts
Year 9
Year 10
Art, drawing and illustration
Ballerina Justine Summers strikes a pose for the camera. She is standing en point wearing a black tutu. She is standing infront of a textured curtain. She is staring directly at the camera.

Jim McFarlane, Justine Summers in "Divergence", the Australian Ballet, 1994, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-136367403

On stage

Module

This resource is aligned to the Australian Curriculum: The Arts for years 5 & 6 students.

Arts
Year 5
Year 6
Performing arts
A black and white photograph of a billboard advertising the 'Big Show of 1936', a variety performance

(1936). Frank Neil presents new international variety stars in the Big show of 1936. nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2404782107

Performing arts in Australia

Topic

Sydney’s first theatre was said to be opened in 1796 and was managed by Robert Sidaway.

Arts
Year 5
Year 6
Performing arts

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