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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 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: Participate 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
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.'

Elizabetha D.G. Regina Ang. Fran. et Hib., 1600, 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
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 black and white photo of a bearded man with collar length hair and a large metal peace medallion hanging down his front, holds a burning piece of paper up high, while several people watch and take photos.

Tim Aickin, A protester burns his draft card, standing in front of Jim Cairns, Vietnam War Moratorium Day, Melbourne, May 1970, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-138060747

Direct action

Topic

Direct action can be separated into two categories: civil resistance and civil disobedience.

Humanities
Year 8
Australian history
Democracy
First Australians
Protest and dissent
A photo of 2 people with their backs to the camera, facing Australia's Parliament House, holding hands, lifting them high. Each is holding a large sign in their outside hands that reads 'Australia said Yes to equality' and 'Australia said Yes to equality, not discrimination'.

Sean Davey, Marriage Equality Ambassadors holding up 'Yes' signs in front of Parliament House, Canberra, 7 December 2017, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-735351644

Dissent in society

Topic

Many protest movements in Australia have resulted from dramatic shifts in public opinion on contentious issues, and as a response to how governments of the time dealt with these shifting opinions.

Humanities
Year 8
Australian history
Democracy
Protest and dissent
A detail of an old handwritten document

Illuminated Psalter, 1330-1350 [manuscript], Detail from (1330), nla.gov.au/nla.obj-182166477

Documentary evidence

Topic

For most of human history beyond living memory, the main way we know what life was like during the Medieval period is from documentary evidence that remains available to us.

Humanities
Year 8
World cultures and history
A colourful watercolour showing the coast and mountains of Tahiti. The whole scene is rendered in pastel pinks, greens and blues. In the foreground a grassy shoreline is dotted with palm trees. a bay or inlet seperates the island with the jagged mountains int he background. water craft are dispersed around the water.

Charles Hamilton Smith and Robert Elwes, Sketcher's tour round the world. Parana in the island of Tahiti, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-136489091

Environments, innovations and horticulture

Topic

Looking at Polynesia on a world map can be deceiving, as the vast majority of the Polynesian islands appear as near-identical green specks scattered across vast oceanic areas.

Humanities
Year 8
Asia-Pacific
World cultures and history
A watercolour drawing of two canoes and two types of oars/paddles

Louis Choris, Canoes, and a club from Easter Island, 1822, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-136165362

Expansion and exploration

Topic

When European explorers began to enter the Pacific they were astounded by its vast extent and fact that most of the islands were already inhabited.

Humanities
Year 8
Asia-Pacific
World cultures and history
Black and white image of a poster titled 'First Australian Team of Cricketers that visited England, 1868'

Photoline Printing Co., First Australian team of cricketers that visited England, 1868, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-141855333

First Nations people in sport

Topic

The first Australian cricket team to tour overseas was an Aboriginal one.

Health
Humanities
Year 7
Year 8
Year 9
Year 10
First Australians
Sport and recreation
A photo of lots of different coloured plastic love hearts on a wire, stuck in a grassy area. The hearts are decorated with writing about freedom, and drawings.

Loui Seselja, [Section of the field of hearts display in close-up view, United Nations World Refugee Day and Field of Hearts event, Canberra, 20 June 2004], nla.gov.au/nla.obj-130944424

Freedoms and rights

Topic

Australia is a signatory of various international treaties and laws. Treaties, conventions, protocols and covenants are agreements between nation states on how best to respond to international issues.

Humanities
Year 8
Australian history
Democracy
Protest and dissent
A large very ornate illuminated letter 'O'. The letter is drawn in gold (the original is guilded and shiny, the digital copy is matt). Surrounding the letter are columns of blue and pink. Leaves and fronds decorate the top and bottom. Within the middle of the "O" is a figure in a blue and red robe riding a white horse. He has a halo on his head. He is leaning off of his horse to drape his red cloak over a naked man walking alongside his horse. The men are looking at each other.

Early Flemish, German, Italian, Spanish, French woodcuts. /Item PIC/14340/41, ([14--?]), nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2902124787

Illuminating the dark

Topic

As time progressed, the number of people who could read did begin to increase, as some countries began to increase the emphasis on educating their people to basic levels.

Humanities
Year 8
World cultures and history
A colourful drawn map of the 'ancient world'. The territory of the Roman Empire is shaded in yellow. Inset around the map and border are depictions of people and cultures around the map.

Ellis Luciano Silas and Evans Brothers Ltd, A picture map of the ancient world / specially painted by Ellis Silas, 1939, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2378561352

Imperium Romanum - The Roman Empire

Topic

Throughout human history, societies have grown, matured, and then collapsed, making way for new innovations, people and philosophies to begin the cycle again, building on what came before. The history of Medieval Europe is no different: it has its roots in the collapse of the western Roman Empire in 456 CE.

Humanities
Year 8
World cultures and history

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