Digital Classroom | National Library of Australia (NLA)
Search

What can we help you find?

Not sure where to start or need help? Ask a Librarian

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.
Clear filter
Showing 13 - 24 of 31 results
Sort by:
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
Three young girls smile and sit together inside a wooden boat cabin. A customs officer stands outside near a vessel labeled "Customs." Two bowls rest on a barrel near the cabin.

Michael Jensen, Three girls in cabin on the boat from Vietnam, Darwin 1977, nla.gov.au/catalog/3209932

Refugees

Topic

Examine the journeys and challenges of refugees to Australia and reflect on government policies related to asylum and detention in this learning resource.

Humanities
Year 6
Migration and immigration
A torn buff coloured page with the words 'Draft of A Bill to Constitute the Commonwealth of Australia', with handwritten notes at the top and bottom of the page.

Sir Edmund Barton, Papers of Sir Edmund Barton, 1827-1940, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-225140407

Documenting Federation

Module

This resource is aligned to the Australian Curriculum: HASS for Year 6 students.

Humanities
Year 6
Australian history
bronze cast of Henry Lawson's hand

Nelson Illingworth, Cast of Henry Lawson's hand, ca. 1922 [realia], nla.gov.au/nla.obj-139632985

The poet of Australia

Topic

Henry Lawson is celebrated as one of Australia’s greatest poets. The Library’s collection of Henry Lawson realia helps contemporary Australians understand Lawson’s popularity in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. 

Humanities
Year 6
Australian history
Literature and writing
A buff coloured manuscript of 'Waltzing Matilda'

From Macpherson, Christina Rutherford. & McCall McCowan, Joan, Papers relating to the song "Waltzing Matilda", nla.gov.au/nla.obj-224075208 nla.gov.au/nla.obj-224076484

A national identity

Topic

Waltzing Matilda is recognized as Australia’s most popular folk song.

Humanities
Year 6
Australian history
A torn buff coloured page with the words 'Draft of A Bill to Constitute the Commonwealth of Australia', with handwritten notes at the top and bottom of the page.

Sir Edmund Barton, Papers of Sir Edmund Barton, 1827-1940, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-225140407

Documenting Federation

Topic

The Library holds the archive of the first prime minister of Australia, Edmund Barton (1849–1920). 

Humanities
Year 6
Australian history
An oval shaped bronze medal. The oval is made of a belt buckled at the bottom. At the top is a stylised royal crown. In the centre of the oval is a monogram made up of an intertwined "V.A." Behind the monogram is pattered red glass. Around the oval in raised letters are the words 'For gallantry in saving life on land'. The medal is held by a ribbon of red and white vertical stripes

(1912). Albert Medal presented to Aya-I-Ga, also known as Neighbour, for gallantry, 1911 [realia], nla.gov.au/nla.obj-139608611

Neighbour and his bravery

Topic

The National Library of Australia’s collection includes the Albert Medal awarded to Aya-I-Ga, known as Neighbour, for gallantry.

Humanities
Year 6
Australian history
A colour pencil hand drawing of Murray Island with hand written notes.

Keon-Cohen, Bryan, 1945- & McIntyre, Greg & Queensland. Supreme Court & Australia. High Court. (1981). Papers of Bryan Keon-Cohen [manuscript] : the Mabo case, 1981-2000. nla.gov.au/nla.obj-224077217

Edward Koiki Mabo

Topic

In 1992, a decade-long legal battle over Indigenous land rights came to an end.

Humanities
Year 6
Australian history
A gold medal standing upright on a white cotton surface. The medal shows a figure holding a trumped and a wine amphorae. Behind the figure is a bust on a stand. In raised lettering around the edge of the medal are the words 'Olympiska Spelen Stockholm' The year '1912' is also present.

Olympic gold medal won by Miss Fanny Durack at Stockholm, 1912, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-139311257

Fanny Durack

Topic

One of the most significant events at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics was the admission of women into the Olympic swimming competition.

Humanities
Year 6
Australian history
Sport and recreation
A stylised, abstract architects model of the Sydney Opera House. The model shows a hemisphere with triangular segments removed, another hemisphere shows the segments replaced to create a smooth surface.

Jørn Utzon, [Architects model for the geometry of the Sydney Opera House shells] [realia], nla.gov.au/nla.obj-139591596

Designing the Sydney Opera House

Topic

In 1957, Danish architect Jørn Utzon (1918–2008) was announced as the winner of an international design competition for a Sydney opera house, to be built at Bennelong Point.

Humanities
Year 6
Architecture and design
Australian history
National Gallery of Victoria forecourt

Wolfgang Sievers, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne - Forecourt with Rodin's Balzac, 1968, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-160765377

Documenting modernity

Topic

Sievers’ work is a pictorial timeline showing Australia’s social, technological and industrial transformation.

Humanities
Technologies
Year 5
Year 6
Architecture and design
Photography
Science and technology
Cover of the book 'Australia's Weird Wild Wonderful Weather'
Australia's wild weird wonderful weather

Module

This resource is aligned with the Australian Curriculum: Humanities and Social Sciences (Geography), and Science for Year 4, 5 and 6 students.

Humanities
Science
Year 4
Year 5
Year 6
Environment and biodiversity
Geography

Need help?

Our librarians are here to guide you.

Ask a librarian