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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.
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A colorful vintage poster promoting Australia as the "Land of Tomorrow." The illustration features a vibrant rural scene with a man riding a horse in the foreground, surrounded by sheep and blooming trees. In the background, a farmhouse with a red roof is set amidst rolling green hills, with a farmer driving a tractor and a windmill spinning. Smoke rises from the house's chimney, adding to the idyllic countryside feel. The words "Australia" and "land of tomorrow" are prominently displayed.

J. G & Australia. Department of Information, Australia land of tomorrow, 195- , nla.gov.au/nla.obj-137199963

Selling the dream

Topic

Understand how advertising to attract migrants and visitors is linked to Australia's immigration policies with this teaching resource.

Humanities
Year 6
Migration and immigration
An image from an old Dutch book showing some text with a pen drawing above the text of several tents on an island and many people fighting with each other.

Francisco Pelsaert, Ongeluckige voyagie van't schip Batavia na Oost-Indien uyt-gevaren onder de E. Franç̧ois Pelsaert : gebleven op de Abriolhos van Frederick Houtman op de hooghte van 28 en een half graden by Zuyden de Linie Equinoctiael : vervattende 't verongelucken des schips, en de grouwelijcke moorderyen onder 't scheeps-volck, op't eylandt Bataviaes Kerck-hoff nevens de straffe der handtdadigers in de Jaren 1628 en 1629 ; hier achter is by- gevoeght eenige discourssen der Oost-Indische Zee-vaert als mede de gantsche gelegentheyt der Koopmanschappen diemen in Indien doet. t' Utrecht : Lucas de Vries, Boeck-verkooper in de Snipper-vlucht, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-39984464

Shipwrecked!

Topic

At least four VOC ships were shipwrecked on the Western Australian coast in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Humanities
Year 4
Explorers
A marathon runner smiles and holds his fists up as he runs

Michael Jensen, Robert de Castella winning the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games Marathon, Brisbane, 1982, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-136995791

Sport and Australian culture

Module

This resource is aligned to the Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education for Year 7, 8, 9 and 10 students. Students will engage with a rich selection of sources and be challenged to draw their own conclusions about the role of sport in Australia’s culture and history.

Health
Humanities
Year 7
Year 8
Year 9
Year 10
Sport and recreation
A pencil drawing of a large opossum with trees in the background.

Peter Mazell, James Cook & John Webber, An opossum of Van Diemen's Land, 1784, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-136182204

Strange creatures

Topic 

Explore the excitement and wonder of the First Fleet as they encountered Australia’s unique flora and fauna for the first time. 

Humanities
Year 4
Australian history
Migration and immigration
A colourful illustration featuring a group of anthropomorphic koalas dressed in clothes, along with other animals like rabbits and birds, gathered in a grassy area. A caption reads, "What shall I name this young bear?"

Dorothy Wall, Blinky Bill: The Quaint Little Australian, 1933, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-943876

Symbols in children's literature

Topic 

For students to explore the depiction, representation and meaning of Australian symbols through beloved stories like Blinky Bill and Possum Magic.

Humanities
Year 3
Australian history
Literature and writing
french hand inked map of China and Tibet

Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville & Henri Scheurleer & Gerardus Condet, Carte la plus generale et qui comprend la Chine, la Tartarie chinoise, et le Thibet, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-232293356

Territory

Topic

The Qing dynasty, sometimes referred to as the Empire of the Great Qing, or the Manchu dynasty, was the last imperial dynasty of China.

Humanities
Year 9
World cultures and history
Conscription referendum poster 'The crime of those who vote 'no''

G. H. Dancey, (1916), The crime of those who vote "No!", nla.gov.au/nla.obj-136421813

The 1916 conscription debate

Topic

Reflect on the deep divisions this referendum imposed and its long-term effects on Australian society

Humanities
Year 9
Military history
A campaign poster for the 1967 Australian referendum, featuring a close-up photograph of a young Aboriginal child with a serious expression. The text on the poster reads: 'YES for Aborigines. Write YES for Aborigines in the lower square. May 27th. Authorized by Faith Bandler, 13 Kens Road, Frenchs Forest.'

Faith Bandler and Jerry Rind, Yes for Aborigines : write yes for Aborigines in the lower square May 27th, 1967, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-136875607

The 1967 Referendum

Module

This resource is aligned with the Australian Curriculum: History 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’ struggle for civil rights in Australia.

Humanities
Year 10
First Australians
Government and politics
Angkor Wat, view of main temple from western side

Yves Coffin, [Angkor Wat, view of main temple from western side], nla.gov.au/nla.obj-140376204

The Angkor/Khmer Empire (802–1431)

Module

This resource is aligned to the Australian Curriculum: History for Year 8 students. It adopts an inquiry learning approach that develops students’ skills in investigating Asia-Pacific societies in depth.

Humanities
Year 8
Asia-Pacific
World cultures and history
A detailed historical map of Sydney Cove, Port Jackson, depicting early settlement areas, marked camps, and referenced landmarks such as gardens and marine camps. Includes a list of ship names from the First Fleet and geographical details.

Francis Fowkes, Sydney Cove, Port Jackson, in the County of Cumberland, 1789, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-230578175 

The Colonies

Topic

Explore how the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, bringing convicts, soldiers, and settlers to Gadigal Country, marked a turning point in Australia’s history that initiated profound changes to the land and its peoples.

Humanities
Year 6
Migration and immigration
Wat Ek, comprehensive view, southern side

Yves Coffin, [Wat Ek, comprehensive view, southern side], nla.gov.au/nla.obj-140371255

The decline of the Khmer Empire

Topic

The Khmer Empire flourished on the rich and fertile mountains, lakes, and plains of Cambodia for 629 years.

Humanities
Year 8
Asia-Pacific
World cultures and history
The Japanese print set depicts the ceremonial scene of marriage of very high class couple, possibly the emperor and his would be wife; various traditionally Japanese customs can be observed, and at the same time, Western influences in clothing and decorations are also eminent.

Nobukazu Yōsai & 楊斎延一, Kōi konreishiki no zu Hasegawa Tsunejirō, Tōkyō, 1900, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-151494111

The final act and the restoration

Topic

Dive into the transformative period of Japan's history as it transitioned from feudal isolation to modernisation with the decline of the Tokugawa Shogunate and the Meiji Restoration.

Humanities
Year 8
Asia-Pacific

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