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 181 - 192 of 206 results
drawing of the Eastern Shore of Murray Island looking North West

Supreme Court and Australia High Court (1981) Papers of Bryan Keon-Cohen [manuscript]: the Mabo case, 1981-2000, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-224081463

Challenging terra nullius

Topic

Explore evidence of Aboriginal agriculture and settlement in pre-colonial Australia to challenge the concept of terra nullius.

Humanities
Senior Secondary
Australian history
Explorers
First Australians
Complete Map of the Everlasting Unity of the Great Qing (Da Qing wannian yitong dili quantu)

After Huang Qianren (1694–1771), Complete Map of the Everlasting Unity of the Great Qing (Da Qing wannian yitong dili quantu), Jiaqing period (1796–1820), National Library of China

Celestial Empire

Module

This resource is aligned to Australian Curriculum: History for Year 9 students. It engages students with a rich selection of historical sources and challenges them to draw their own conclusions about the Qing Dynasty.

Humanities
Year 9
World cultures and history
Catherine Branson

Catherine Branson

Catherine Branson - Former judge and human rights lawyer

Topic 

Catherine Branson QC, AC, former judge, and former President of the Australian Human Rights commission has also spent her career advocating for equality, gender issues, and the rights of marginalized communities in Australia and beyond.

Humanities
Year 10
Australian women
Law and legislation
A black and white portrait photo of a young, freckle faced, smiling woman with very short, wild, fair hair, holding a book open.

Virginia Wallace-Crabbe, Portrait of Judy Horacek, cartoonist, 1997, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-136400722

Cartoons: Judy Horacek

Topic

The term ‘cartoon’ is from the Italian cartone, meaning paper. In the middle ages, it was used to refer to sketches that had been drawn for larger works, such as canvases, frescos, tapestries or mosaics. From the nineteenth century, a cartoon came to mean an amusing illustration in newspapers, magazines or online.

English
Year 7
Literature and writing
Angkor Wat, perron of main temple and sculptures

Yves Coffin, [Angkor Wat, perron of main temple and sculptures], nla.gov.au/nla.obj-140376052

Building Angkor

Topic

The Khmer kings were prolific builders.

Humanities
Year 8
Asia-Pacific
World cultures and history
A print of a woman within an oval frame. She is wearing an elaborate ruffled collar and dress. She is wearing a crown. Below her portrait are words in Latin: 'Elizabetha D.G. Regina Ang: Fran: et Hib.'

(1600). Elizabetha D.G. Regina Ang. Fran. et Hib., nla.gov.au/nla.obj-136050723

Bound to service

Topic

Following the collapse of the western Roman Empire, Europe entered a period of cultural, political and economic change. The stabilising force of the Roman Empire gave way and new states and rulers stepped in to fill gaps.

Humanities
Year 8
World cultures and history
Small red christening gown with black buttons down the centre

Christening gown worn by members of the Kwong family from the Papers of the Kwong family, 1891-2001, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn3006822

Becoming Australian

Topic

Explore the different ways and reasons that people came to Australia and stayed through the personal migration stories of Kwong Mui Ying, Lorenzo Abrogar Gamboa and Thomas Frankovitz.

Humanities
Year 6
Migration and immigration
A photo of a woman standing and speaking to a room of seated and standing people.

Francis Reiss, [Anna Burke, Federal member for Chisholm, at the Chisholm Aged Care Forum, Mt. Waverly Community Centre, Melbourne, October or November, 2001], nla.gov.au/nla.obj-146654777

Be informed, get involved: Participating in Australia’s democracy

Topic

While the majority of Australians participate in our democracy during elections, there are ways of participating and sharing your beliefs throughout the year.

Humanities
Year 8
Australian history
Democracy
Protest and dissent
woman leaning against glass partition smiling at camera

Professor Kim Rubenstein, photo courtesy of Michael Silver

Australian Women Lawyers as Active Citizens

Topic 

Women lawyers stand at the forefront of women's participation in Australian civic life.

Humanities
Year 10
Australian women
Law and legislation
Two boats with rope hanging between them filled with men, women and children coming from Vietnam

Michael Jensen, Vietnamese boat people, Darwin, 1977, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-149648567

Australian migration

Module

Discover how migration has shaped Australia’s diverse identity through stories from the first colonies, the gold rush, refugees and more in this learning module.

Humanities
Year 6
Migration and immigration
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
Detailed botanical illustration of a vibrant red waratah flower with long, green leaves on a white background.

George Raper, Wa-ra-ta [waratah (Telopea speciosissima)], 1788, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-150069197

Australian emblems and official symbols

Topic 

Learn about Australia’s national emblems and official symbols, and the emblems of your state or territory using images and objects from our collection.

Humanities
Year 3
Australian history
Geography
Literature and writing

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