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 41 results
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
Two men are gathered under the shelter of a thatched roof structure. On top of the structure, offerings of meat and fish are strewn. In the foreground there are twelve signs or totems sticking out of the ground. To the left of the structure is a larger thatched roofed hut. The compound is surrounded by vegetation

John Williams & John Webber & James Cook, A human sacrifice in a morai in Otaheite, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-136423378

Religious and social significance of marae in Polynesian chiefdoms

Topic

Many European explorers, sailing across the eastern Pacific islands from the eighteenth century onwards, reported with astonishment their visits at religious sites, the impressive carved statues and the complex ceremonies they witnessed.

Humanities
Year 8
Asia-Pacific
World cultures and history
A colourful woodblock print showing a warrior gripping a spear in battle. He wears a detailed robe with bold patterns, including phoenix designs. Arrows are embedded around him, and swords are visible at the bottom of the image.

Kuniyoshi Utagawa & 歌川国芳, Honchō Suikoden gōyū happyakunin no hitori : Eda Genzō Hirotsuna [Kagaya Kichibei], 1830, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-151535028

Pre-Shogunate Japan

Topic

Take your students on a journey through Japan’s early political and cultural development, leading up to the rise of the shogunate.

Humanities
Year 8
Asia-Pacific
A colourful watercolour showing the mountainous coastline of Tahiti. The mountains are shades of grey, blue and purple. The sky has billowing clouds.The shore is dotted with vegetation. In the foreground, two figures row a long canoe along the coast. The canoe is carrying something, although it's unclear what it is.

Nicholas Chevalier, (1868), Otaheite [i.e. Tahiti], nla.gov.au/nla.obj-134623111

Polynesian expansion across the Pacific (c.700-1756)

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 photo of a large number of protestors gathered in front of the Victorian state library.

Francis Reiss, Protesters gathered outside the State Library in Swanston Street, Melbourne peace rally, 14 February 2003, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-147324313

Participation and protest

Module 

This resource is aligned with the Australian Curriculum: Civics and Citizenship for Year 8 students. It adopts an inquiry-based learning approach that develops a student’s understanding of Australians’ rights, freedoms and opportunities to participate in Australia’s democracy.

Humanities
Year 8
Australian history
Protest and dissent
The front page of To Ethnico Vema, a Greek-Australian newspaper

(2021). To ethnico vema : Greek national vema, nla.gov.au/nla.news-title1592

Modern Greek

Topic

While significant numbers of Greek migrants arrived during the gold rush, the greatest numbers arrived in the years between World War II and the 1970s.

Languages
Year 7
Year 8
Year 9
Year 10
Languages
Black and white photo of British migrant women waving on the deck of a ship

London News Agency Photos Ltd, British women migrants aboard passenger ship, London, ca. 1920s, https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-138115134

Migration and sport

Topic

With new people and cultures come new ideas and practices. These could be new foods, new religions, new art forms or even new sports.

Health
Year 7
Year 8
Year 9
Year 10
Sport and recreation
A colourful image of a feast. Men and women are dressed in colourful clothes. There is a table with a white tablecloth. There is a plate of food on the table.

PIC MSR 14/8/2 #PIC/14340/1-51-Early Flemish, German, Italian, Spanish, French woodcuts, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2902124119

Medium Aevum - The Middle Age

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 the Medieval Europe and the early modern world sub-strand. 

Humanities
Year 8
World cultures and history
Woodblock print showing 5 men. Three men are kneeling before one seated man holding a sign, Tokugawa Mitsukuni. Behind the seated man crouches an advisor.

Toshitsune Inano, Tokugawa Mitsukuni [Tokyo], 1880, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-152444502

Life under the Shoguns

Topic

Explore the intricate social hierarchy of feudal Japan during the shogunate era, characterised by distinct classes and roles.

Humanities
Year 8
Asia-Pacific
A man looking at newspapers in multiple languages at a newspaper kiosk on Elizabeth Street, Melbourne.

Australia. Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Overseas Information Bureau. (1991). Ethnic newspapers are prominent on this kiosk in Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, 1991 [transparency]. nla.gov.au/nla.obj-136834359

Language in print

Module

This resource is aligned to the Australian Curriculum: Languages for years 7–10.

Languages
Year 7
Year 8
Year 9
Year 10
Languages
The front page of the Japanese Perth Times. The masthead is written in Japanese. There is a stylised rat on the front page with the text 'A Happy New Year!! 1996'

(2018). Japanese Perth times, nla.gov.au/nla.news-title1386

Japanese

Topic

Japanese migrants first came to Australia in the late 1800s.

Languages
Year 7
Year 8
Year 9
Year 10
Languages
The Japanese print shows the major members of the Satsuma Rebellion, surrounding Takamori Saigo, the leading figure; the text at the back of each image explains more details about each figure.

Yoshitoshi Taiso & 大蘇芳年, Kagoshima bōto shōzō ryakuden Morimoto Junzaburō, Tōkyō, 1877, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-152241305

Japan under the Shoguns (794-1867)

Module

Examine Japan under the Shoguns (794-1867), focusing on the feudal system and its societal impacts.

Humanities
Year 8
Asia-Pacific

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