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 25 results
A photograph of a Whale Shark (black with white spots), swimming underwater, Copyright Commonwealth of Australia (Reef Authority).

K. Hoppen, Whale Shark, 2008. Copyright Commonwealth of Australia (Reef Authority).

Using science research to aid conservation

Topic
This topic uses an oral history interview with Bradley Norman talk about his research into Whale Sharks, particularly in reference to observations, data and evidence.

Science
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
Year 6
A sweeping landscape of a mountain range. The mountains are craggy and rocky. They are covered in mist.

Peter Dombrovskis, Frankland Range, Southwest National Park, Tasmania, 1995, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-150007802

Understanding the living world

Module

Explore the connections between living things, the environments they inhabit, and the forces that shape them. 

Science
Year 4
Environment and biodiversity
painting of Australian bush landscape

Eugene Von Guerard, Source of the Wannon, 1867, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-135740687

Timeline of Australian innovations

Topic

Australians have a talent for ingenuity and creative thinking. From ancient times, Australians have used the materials around them to develop unique and practical tools to help them live and prosper.

Science
Year 9
Science and technology
cartoon of a man gesturing to a diagram of the uranium atom

Stewart McCrae, "Of course, in the matter of uranium, it's a case of the atom splitting people!" [Nuclear physicist giving a lecture on the uranium atom], 1963, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-145842939

The use and influence of science

Module

This resource is aligned to the Australian Curriculum: Science for Year 9 students. It draws on the Library's Oral History and Folklore Collection, which has recorded the thoughts and stories of thousands of influential Australians from all disciplines.

Science
Year 9
Science and technology
An image of an open book, with the left page featuring a full-page hand drawn colour image of two platypus from 1863 and the right page featuring a large block of text.

John Gould and Henry Constantine Richter, The mammals of Australia, 1863. http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2334463667

The Platypus Mystery

Topic
This topic encourages students to research why European naturalists and scientists first thought the platypus was a faked animal.

Science
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
Year 6
Cover of the book 'The Last Dragon'

Charles Massy & Mandy Foot, The last dragon, 2021, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn8612818

The Last Dragon

Topic

The Last Dragon, written by Charles Massy and illustrated by Mandy Foot, is the story of a small, rarely seen lizard, Timpo, who is the last of his kind in his valley. Convinced he is not the only Monaro grassland earless dragon left, Timpo and his companion Wolfie the spider set off across the windswept Monaro plains in search of others.

Science
Year 4
Environment and biodiversity
A sepia image of a weather almanac for 1894.

New South Wales weather almanac for ... : a general handbook for the year, 1894, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-406743496

Recording weather

Topic

In colonial Australia, there was a useful household book called an almanac. It contained lots of information, including weather forecasts and pictures of the flags used to signify approaching storms.

Humanities
Science
Year 4
Year 5
Year 6
Environment and biodiversity
Geography
Sheet music featuring an illustration of a child looking out an open window

Edith Harrhy and Bronnie Taylor, Songs for young Australians [music] / words by Bronnie Taylor ; music by Edith Harrhy, 1941, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-175231656

Presenting weather

Topic

The weather is an important part of our lives, and this is reflected in the arts and other sources we consume.

Humanities
Science
Year 4
Year 5
Year 6
Environment and biodiversity
Geography
Cover for 'Peculiar Parents' by Stephanie Owen Reeder and illustrated by Ingrid Bartkowiak, featuring illustrations of framed animal pictures on a blue background
Peculiar Parents – Nature and the Development of Science

Module
This Digital Classroom module encourages students to dive into the science behind Australia’s peculiar fauna. Aligned with Australian Curriculum: Science and Humanities and Social Sciences for Year Three to Six students, this module encourages students to develop their understanding of how scientific research development and technologies has helped aid our understanding and ability to protect unique Australian fauna.

Science
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
Year 6
black and white photograph of a man lecturing at a lecturn

John Aloysius Mulligan, Sir Mark Oliphant lecturing at the University of Sydney, 1 September 1970, 1970, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-145323842

Oral history: Sir Mark Oliphant

Topic

Sir Mark Oliphant was an Australian physicist who is known for his work in nuclear physics and radar, and, later, for becoming governor of South Australia.

Science
Year 9
Science and technology
black and white photograph of Sir Howard Florey

Australian News and Information Bureau. [Portrait of Howard Florey] [picture] / [Australian News and Information Bureau]. nla.gov.au/nla.obj-136743351

Oral history: Sir Howard Florey

Topic

Sir Howard Florey was an Australian medical scientist.

Science
Year 9
Science and technology
photo of a woman standing against a purple background

Philip Gostelow, Professor Fiona Stanley at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, Subiaco, Perth, 21 August 2013, 2013, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-153312966

Oral history: Professor Fiona Stanley

Topic

Professor Fiona Stanley is an Australian paediatrician and epidemiologist who is best known for her work linking deficiencies of folic acid in pregnant women with birth defects - specifically, spina bifida and related conditions.

Science
Year 9
Science and technology

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