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 210 results
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. 

Humanities
Year 6
Australian history
Literature and writing
A page one which all the letters of the English alphabet are printed in capital letters. They are printed by type setting.

PIC MSR 14/8/2 #PIC/14340/1-51-Early Flemish, German, Italian, Spanish, French woodcuts. /Item PIC/14340/40., nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2902124765

The press

Topic

Since ancient times, most documents were written by hand. If multiple copies were needed, it would mean making multiple handwritten copies; even with a team of scribes, this was time consuming. It also meant that information could be difficult to read, depending how good a scribe’s handwriting was.

Humanities
Year 8
World cultures and history
Gold Digging Boardgame

Board game titled: Race to the gold diggings of Australia] [realia], 1855, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-139615708

The promise of gold

Topic

Race to the Gold Diggings of Australia is a boxed, children’s board game produced in England around 1855. It is the earliest known board game that has Australia as its theme.

Humanities
Year 5
Australian history
First Australians
stone carvings, two rows of Buddhas

Yves Coffin, [Banteay Kdei, pediment], nla.gov.au/nla.obj-140372605

The rise of Angkor and the Khmer Empire

Topic

The Khmer Empire has its beginnings somewhere in the late eighth century when Jayavarman II (c. 770–835) is said to have returned to Chenla from exile in Java.

Humanities
Year 8
Asia-Pacific
World cultures and history
Woman sitting on a stool looking thoughtful in front of a red banner with the words 'The Sell: Australian Advertising 1790s to 1990s'
The Sell: Australian Advertising 1790s to 1990s

Module

Examples of advertising and media drawn from the National Library of Australia’s exhibition The Sell: Australian Advertising 1790s to 1990s and looks at their influence over time.

Arts
English
Humanities
Year 10
Art, drawing and illustration
Australian history
Literature and writing
A black and white page with four seperate images. Each image depicts famous Japanese military generals in uniform. Their names are written in script next to their pictures.

[Ehon cover drafts], nla.gov.au/nla.obj-151544183

The Tokugawa

Topic

Japan’s transformative Sengoku Jidai, or Warring States Period, is a time marked by internal conflict and powerful military leaders.

Humanities
Year 8
Asia-Pacific
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
A map of southern Asia which details the early development of the English East India Company.

Herman Moll & William Dampier, Collection of voyages, A map of the East-Indies and adjacent countries [cartographic material] : with settlements, factories, and territories : explaining what belongs to England, Spain, France, Holland, Denmark, Portugal, etc. with many remarks not extant in any other map, 1729, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-231221936

The Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie

Topic

The Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie from the Netherlands (VOC or United East Indies Company) was established in 1602 with the purpose of buying spices from East Asia for trade on the European market.

Humanities
Year 4
Explorers
Preah Khan, rows of stone posts lined towards gopura

Yves Coffin, [Preah Khan, rows of stone posts lined towards gopura], nla.gov.au/nla.obj-140374253

The way of life in the Khmer Empire

Topic

The Khmer Empire lasted almost 630 years.

Humanities
Year 8
Asia-Pacific
World cultures and history
A streetscape of Bourke street, Melbourne.

Tom Roberts, Bourke Street, Melbourne, 1885, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-134285521

Time and place

Module

Explore how communities evolve over time, how different cultures influence and contribute to communities, and how symbols convey meaning.

Humanities
Year 3
Australian history
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
A black and white photo showing how two half shells and the round pieces cut out of them

Frank Hurley, [Cut shell] showing the method of cutting shells commercially, 1921, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-149364077

Torres Strait Islander conservation

Module

Engaging students with a rich selection of sources and challenges them to draw their own conclusions about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ approaches to custodial responsibility and environmental management in different regions of Australia.

Humanities
Year 10
First Australians
Geography

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