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 13 - 24 of 150 results
etching of the Endeavour in  Botany Bay

Geoffrey C. Ingleton, (1937), H.M. Bark Endeavour, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-135348965

Voyages of discovery

Topic

For centuries, explorers had been funded by their governments and by private investors to set out into unknown parts of the world. Many of these adventures were driven by the potential for profit and resources.

Humanities
Senior Secondary
Explorers
World cultures and history
watercolour reproduction of pacific island

William Hodges, (1773), Otaheite, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-135152176

Transit of Venus

Topic

Officially, Cook had been instructed by the British Admiralty to observe the transit of Venus, at Otaheiti (now Tahiti) for the benefit of the Royal Society.

Humanities
Senior Secondary
Explorers
World cultures and history
Law books stacked on a desk
Trailblazing women lawyers

Module

Explore the stories of Australian women who broke barriers in the legal profession in this learning module.

Humanities
Year 10
Australian women
Law and legislation
A black and white photo showing how two half shells and the round pieces cut out of them

Frank Hurley, [Cut shell] showing the method of cutting shells commercially, 1921, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-149364077

Torres Strait Islander conservation

Module

This resource is aligned to the Australian Curriculum: Geography for Year 10 students. It engages students with a rich selection of sources and challenges them to draw their own conclusions about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ approaches to custodial responsibility and environmental management in different regions of Australia.

Humanities
Year 10
First Australians
Geography
Black and white photo of an Aboriginal girl dressed in white clothing

(1910). A real Australian native girl, Australian Aborigines' Mission, La Pérouse, New South Wales, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-137118878

Timeline: Events that led to the 1967 Referendum

Topic

Timeline of events from 1901 to 1967

Humanities
Year 10
First Australians
Government and politics
A streetscape of Bourke street, Melbourne.

Tom Roberts, Bourke Street, Melbourne, 1885, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-134285521

Time and place

Module

Explore how communities evolve over time, how different cultures influence and contribute to communities, and how symbols convey meaning.

Humanities
Year 3
Australian history
Preah Khan, rows of stone posts lined towards gopura

Yves Coffin, [Preah Khan, rows of stone posts lined towards gopura], nla.gov.au/nla.obj-140374253

The way of life in the Khmer Empire

Topic

The Khmer Empire lasted almost 630 years.

Humanities
Year 8
Asia-Pacific
World cultures and history
A map of southern Asia which details the early development of the English East India Company.

Herman Moll & William Dampier, Collection of voyages. (1729). A map of the East-Indies and adjacent countries [cartographic material] : with settlements, factories, and territories : explaining what belongs to England, Spain, France, Holland, Denmark, Portugal, etc. with many remarks not extant in any other map / by H. Moll, geog. nla.gov.au/nla.obj-231221936

The Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie

Topic

The Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie from the Netherlands (VOC or United East Indies Company) was established in 1602 with the purpose of buying spices from East Asia for trade on the European market.

Humanities
Year 4
Explorers
A black and white page with four seperate images. Each image depicts famous Japanese military generals in uniform. Their names are written in script next to their pictures.

[Ehon cover drafts], nla.gov.au/nla.obj-151544183

The Tokugawa

Topic

Japan’s transformative Sengoku Jidai, or Warring States Period, is a time marked by internal conflict and powerful military leaders.

Humanities
Year 8
Asia-Pacific
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
stone carvings, two rows of Buddhas

Yves Coffin, [Banteay Kdei, pediment], nla.gov.au/nla.obj-140372605

The rise of Angkor and the Khmer Empire

Topic

The Khmer Empire has its beginnings somewhere in the late eighth century when Jayavarman II (c. 770–835) is said to have returned to Chenla from exile in Java.

Humanities
Year 8
Asia-Pacific
World cultures and history
Gold Digging Boardgame

(1855). [Board game titled: Race to the gold diggings of Australia] [realia]. nla.gov.au/nla.obj-139615708

The promise of gold

Topic

Race to the Gold Diggings of Australia is a boxed, children’s board game produced in England around 1855. It is the earliest known board game that has Australia as its theme.

Humanities
Year 5
Australian history
First Australians

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