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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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Family of aboriginal people sitting by a bay surrounded by trees.

Joseph Lycett, Family of Aborigines taking shelter during a storm, 1817, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-138500126

First peoples

Topic 

Explore the rich cultural heritage of Australia's First Peoples through the art of Joseph Lycett, a convict artist who captured the rituals and customs of Indigenous communities. 

Humanities
Year 4
Australian history
Migration and immigration
A scene of a hillside completely ablaze. A large fire front is moving up the hillside. The image is blanketed with smoke. The lights of a fire engine can be seen through the smoke. A station wagon is parked in the forground.

Cutting, Jeff, 1945-. (2003). Freshening north-westerly winds drove the Stockyard fire down Apollo Road onto Ballineen in the hour before midnight on 17th January 2003. [picture] / Jeff Cutting. nla.gov.au/nla.obj-149584789

Forces of nature

Topic

The Earth and its environments are constantly changing. For millions of years, the wind has shaped and eroded mountains and sand dunes; the constant crashing of waves has changed and sculpted the coastline; and drought and fire have charred and renewed bushland. This process is ongoing and is a natural part of life.

Science
Year 4
Environment and biodiversity
Clipping of a newspaper article titled 'Weather Prophets'.

WEATHER PROPHETS, The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), p. 17, 4 November 1937 nla.gov.au/nla.news-article205560442

Forecasting weather

Topic

As cub reporter Betty Wilson (aged nine in 1937) tells us, forecasting the weather is not all about maps and laboratory science!

Humanities
Science
Year 4
Year 5
Year 6
Environment and biodiversity
Geography
Cover of book All Among the Fairies

Ethel Jackson Morris, All among the fairies, 1909, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-22387121

Imagination and fantasy

Topic

Authors and illustrators of children’s books bring imaginary and distorted worlds to life, creating works inhabited by curious creatures and magical beings. These works include fairy tales and fantasy books.

English
Year 4
Literature and writing
A large autumnal fern tree with a canopy that takes up most of the image. It's leaves a brilliant reds and oranges. Many leaves have fallen on the grass below. In the background many lush green ferns can be seen

Peter Dombrovskis, Acer in autumn, Dombrovskis' garden, Fern Tree, Tasmania, 1993, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-150387361

Intertwined

Topic

The Earth is inhabited by a vast number of living creatures. Some scientists believe there are around 8.7 million species of plants and animals that call our planet home. These living creatures exist in almost every corner of our world with only the most barren of deserts and deepest of oceans remaining unpopulated save for microscopic organisms.

Science
Year 4
Environment and biodiversity
an image of a map showing an outline of the eastern half of Australia with about 30 towns down the side with their minimum and maximum temperatures.

WEATHER MAP, 9 am 3 FEBRUARY, 1877. (1877, February 5). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 6. nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13389140

Mapping weather

Topic

In 1877, meteorologist and astronomer Henry Russell produced the first published weather map for the colony of New South Wales.

Humanities
Science
Year 4
Year 5
Year 6
Environment and biodiversity
Geography
Book cover for 'Lee’s Priceless Recipes'

William H Lee, N T Oliver & C Van Zandt, Lee's priceless recipes : the standard collection of famous formulas and simple methods (detail), 1912, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2334677540

Measurement

Topic

The Metric System became Australia’s formal measurement system in 1970.

Mathematics
Year 3
Year 4
Black and white photo of a factory floor lined with steaming pressure cookers.

Robert Deane, Retort line cooking tins of pie apple. Mountain Maid Pty., Ltd., Batlow, New South Wales, 1997, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-143408852

Multiplication

Topic

Recipes can be multiplied (scaled up) to increase the number of serves (portions) or people being fed. 

Mathematics
Year 3
Year 4
A black and white photo of a large group of men, women and children from a Tasmanian field expedition in 1912.

E.W Searle, Field naturalists at Maria Island, 1912 [Tasmania], 1912. http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-142164875

Naturalist observations and citizen science

Topic
This topic explores the contribution of citizen science to scientific studies.

Science
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
Year 6
Orange cover titled Rumiyakamu Lungkata

Charlotte Phillipus Nupurrula, Abraham Stockman Tjungarrayi and Papunya Literature Production Centre, Rumiyakamu lungkaṯa, 1987, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-3285463123

Papunya, Country, and Community

Topic
Focus: place, people, languages, everyday life 

Arts
English
Humanities
Year 4
Year 5
Year 6
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
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

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