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 150 results
Australia and the Great War newspaper article

(1919, January 6). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 5 (The Argus War Review). nla.gov.au/nla.news-page402797

World War 1: 1918

Topic

By late 1918, the Allied forces had won a series of key battles that forced the German troops into retreat.

Humanities
Year 9
Military history
The Sunday Times front page, featuring a cartoon of a skeleton flying a glider

(1917, October 7). Sunday Times (Sydney, NSW : 1895 - 1930), p. 1. nla.gov.au/nla.news-page13215182

World War 1: 1917

Topic

Ypres offensive - Western Front (1917)

Humanities
Year 9
Military history
Map of France drawn pictorially.

Daily Mail (London, England). (1916). The Daily Mail bird's eye map of the British front [cartographic material]. nla.gov.au/nla.obj-230052264

World War 1: 1916

Topic

After Gallipoli, the AIF reorganised two divisions into five and troops were sent to the Western Front in France. 

Humanities
Year 9
Military history
Shows British and Allied landings on 25 April 1915 and later; the range of 12 and 15 inch naval guns depicted. Relief shown by shading, and pictorially.

Farrow Falcon Press, issuing body & Dillon, Cyril. (1915). Robur tea war map, Turkish Empire ; Robur war map, Gallipoli and the Dardanelles : bird's eye view, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2972839934

World War 1: 1915

Topic

The Gallipoli campaign came about because of the deadlock on the Western Front, which turned Britain’s attention towards other possible theatres of war.

Humanities
Year 9
Military history
A caricature map of Europe with each country depicted as an angler having various levels of success in hooking colonies.

Rose, Fred. W. (Frederick W.) & Hewardine, Matt & G.W. Bacon & Co. (1899). Angling in troubled waters = Der Fischfang im Trüben = La pêche en eau trouble = La pesca nelle acque turbes : a serio-comic map of Europe / by Fred. W. Rose, author of the "octopus" map of Europe ; Matt. Hewardine, from design by Fred. W. Rose. nla.gov.au/nla.obj-232519231

World War 1: 1914

Topic

Tensions were building across the Balkans throughout the early nineteenth century. Six great powers ruled Europe, including Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Austria–Hungary and Serbia, all of which were looking to expand their territories.

Humanities
Year 9
Military history
Portrait of ANZAC soldier for Smith's Weekly, between 1919 and 1937

Frank Dunne and Smith's Weekly, Portrait of ANZAC soldier for Smith's Weekly, between 1919 and 1937, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-452465819

World War 1

Module

This resource is aligned with the Australian Curriculum: History for Year 9 students. The resource engages students with a rich selection of sources and challenges them to draw their own conclusions about the role of media in World War 1.

Humanities
Year 9
Military history
An aerial view of a large street procession with participants dressed in white, marching in rows and carrying banners. The crowded scene is framed by towering buildings on one side and tree-lined streets on the other. Spectators line the sidewalks, watching the organised march as cars and horse-drawn carriages are scattered among the crowd.

Bessie Mabel Rischbieth, Photographs of suffrage demonstrations and campaigning activities, 1900 - 1967, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-439976984

Women's suffrage

Topic

Learn about the history, struggles and triumphs of women in their fight for the right to vote. Reflect on how women's suffrage movement shaped democratic societies and influences political advocacy today.

Humanities
Senior Secondary
Australian history
Australian women
Democracy
Government and politics
Law and legislation
Protest and dissent
A gold medal standing upright on a white cotton surface. The medal shows a figure holding a trumped and a wine amphorae. Behind the figure is a bust on a stand. In raised lettering around the edge of the medal are the words 'Olympiska Spelen Stockholm' The year '1912' is also present.

Olympic gold medal won by Miss Fanny Durack at Stockholm, 1912, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-139311257

Women in sport

Topic

Today, at the Commonwealth Games, Olympic Games, tennis tournaments and a host of other sporting events, men and women can compete at elite levels. But this has not always been the case for sports and recreational physical pursuits.

Health
Humanities
Year 7
Year 8
Year 9
Year 10
Sport and recreation
Man leaning against gate

Sievers, Wolfgang, 1913-2007. (1991). [Photograph of Wolfgang Sievers], Berlin, Germany, 1991 [picture] / Wolfgang Sievers. nla.gov.au/nla.obj-161009403

Wolfgang Sievers

Topic

Wolfgang Georg Sievers, AO (1913–2007) was a well-known modernist photographer who documented Australian architecture and industry over a career spanning almost 60 years.

Humanities
Technologies
Year 5
Year 6
Architecture and design
Photography
Science and technology
This image shows two handwritten journal pages: the left features structured, titled entries, while the right is filled with continuous cursive text, densely covering the page in a narrative style.

James Cook, Excerpt from Captain James Cook's Journal of the H.M.S. Endeavour, Friday, 23rd March, 1770, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2354391495

Who writes history?

Topic

How did our national story take shape? In this lesson, students explore how and why Captain James Cook has been portrayed so prominently in Australian history.

Humanities
Senior Secondary
Australian history
Explorers
First Australians
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill is seated at a table wearing glasses. He is signing a document. Standing behind him and leaning over his shoulder is Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies. Both men are wear dark suits with white shirts. Menzies is wearing a dark tie, Churchill a bow tie.

Portrait of Prime Ministers R.G. Menzies and Winston Churchill at Downing Street, London, 1941, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-137388175

War in Europe again - 'My melancholy duty'

Topic

At 9:15 pm on Sunday 3 September 1939, Australia’s Prime Minister, Robert Menzies (1894–1978), gave a radio address, announcing that Australia was at war with Germany

Humanities
Year 10
Military history
A collage of black-and-white photographs showing different items and types of clothing worn by members of the Australian Women's Land Army, including socks, gloves, boots, shirts, overalls, frocks, coats, and hats.

Australia. Department of Supply and Shipping, The uniform dress, Australian Women's Land Army, 1943, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-14120362

War as a catalyst for change

Topic

Examine the evolving roles women took on during the First and Second World Wars and how they impacted on women's labours, gender expectations and women's rights in Australia.

Humanities
Senior Secondary
Australian history
Australian women
Democracy
Government and politics
Law and legislation
Protest and dissent

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