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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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Image of a colour sketch of a heavily snow covered town of Hobart houses with water and mountains in the background in 1882

H.J. Graham, Severe snow storm over Hobart, 1882, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-135529606

Experiencing weather

Topic

There are many stories of extreme weather and descriptions from those who survived the ordeals of droughts, bushfires, floods and cyclones in Australia.

Humanities
Science
Year 4
Year 5
Year 6
Environment and biodiversity
Geography
painting of ship at sea

Samuel Atkins, (1794), HMS Endeavour off the coast of New Holland, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-135273911

Indigenous responses to Cook and his voyage

Module

This resource is aligned with the Australian Curriculum: Modern History for Senior Secondary students, with specific reference to content descriptions for Unit 2: Movements for Change in the 20th Century, and specifically those that fall under the examination of ‘Recognition and rights of Indigenous peoples’.

Humanities
Senior Secondary
Explorers
World cultures and history
This illustration from 1865 showing Captain James Cook's arrival in Australia. Cook is depicted with his crew raising the British flag as they take possession of the land on behalf of the British Crown in 1770. Indigenous people are shown in the background observing the scene. Ships are anchored in the bay, while a variety of people, including soldiers and sailors, are engaged in various activities.

Calvert, Samuel & Gilfillan, J. A., Captain Cook taking possession of the Australian continent on behalf of the British crown, AD 1770, under the name of New South Wales, 1865, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-135699884

Essay: Unkept promises

Topic

Mark McKenna is one of Australia’s leading historians, based at the University of Sydney.

Humanities
Senior Secondary
Explorers
World cultures and history
A black-and-white photograph of a statue of Captain Cook on a tall pedestal. The statue shows Cook standing with one arm raised and holding a rolled document in the other hand. Trees and part of a lamppost are visible in the foreground.

Frank Hurley & Thomas Woolner, Captain Cook's Statue, Hyde Park, Sydney, 1, 1910, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-160162538

Essay: ‘I’m Captain Cooked’: Aboriginal perspectives on James Cook, 1770-2020

Topic

Professor John Maynard is a Worimi man from the Port Stephens region of New South Wales.

Humanities
Senior Secondary
Explorers
World cultures and history
A large book open at a midway point. The paper is yellowed and stained. The writing is written in highly decorative cursive. The book is being held open on a stand which sits atop a richly varnished cabinet with draws and a fold out desk surface.

Cook, James, 1728-1779 & Hutchinson, John & Wallis, Samuel, 1728-1795 & Bolckow, Henry William Ferdinand, 1806-1878. (1768). Journal of H.M.S. Endeeavour, 1768-1771 [manuscript], nla.gov.au/nla.obj-228958440

James Cook's Endeavour Journal

Topic

Lieutenant James Cook’s 753-page account of the voyage of His Majesty’s Bark Endeavour (also known as HMS Endeavour) from 1768 to 1771 is the story of one of history’s greatest journeys of discovery.

Humanities
Senior Secondary
Explorers
World cultures and history
handwritten papers

Joseph Banks, Papers of Sir Joseph Banks, 1745-1923 (bulk 1745-1820), nla.gov.au/nla.obj-223065342

Hints offered to the consideration of Captain Cook

Topic

Preserved in the National Library of Australia’s Manuscripts Collection, along with Cook’s handwritten journal, are another set of instructions.

Humanities
Senior Secondary
Explorers
World cultures and history
handwritten letter

James Cook and Great Britain Admiralty, Cook's voyage 1768-71, 1768, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-229102048

James Cook's secret instructions

Topic

James Cook’s famous Endeavour voyage was originally commissioned by the Royal Society of London as a scientific mission. When the Admiralty (Royal Navy) became aware that the Society was planning to commission a sea journey to the Southern Hemisphere to collect scientific data, its members saw an opportunity to become involved. However, their motivations were very different to those of the Royal Society.

Humanities
Senior Secondary
Explorers
World cultures and history
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
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
Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies sits at a desk holding several pieces of paper. He is looking melancholic and stares off camera to the left. He is a middle-aged white man with blonde hair swept to one side. He wears a dark suit and tie with a dark tie. There is a black Bakelite telephone on the table in front of him

The Rt. Hon. R.G. Menzies P.M. of Australia broadcasting to the nation the news of the outbreak of war, 1939, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-136636422

Internment, World War 2 (1939-45)

Module

This resource is aligned with the Australian Curriculum: History for Year 10 students. It engages students with a rich selection of sources and challenges them to draw their own conclusions about World War 2. Using the lens of internment, this resource looks at home front human stories, impacts of war and genocide, migration and multiculturalism.

Humanities
Year 10
Military history
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill is seated at a table wearing glasses. He is signing a document. Standing behind him and leaning over his shoulder is Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies. Both men are wear dark suits with white shirts. Menzies is wearing a dark tie, Churchill a bow tie.

Portrait of Prime Ministers R.G. Menzies and Winston Churchill at Downing Street, London, 1941, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-137388175

War in Europe again - 'My melancholy duty'

Topic

At 9:15 pm on Sunday 3 September 1939, Australia’s Prime Minister, Robert Menzies (1894–1978), gave a radio address, announcing that Australia was at war with Germany

Humanities
Year 10
Military history
Map of the world during World War II showing Japanese and German influence and occupation, international boundaries, transportation, oil fields etc. Scattered around the map are depictions of war technology including battleships, aircraft and artillery. Some countries have depictions of animals or 'things' relevant to the country eg. in the middle of Australia is a kangaroo, emu, a platypus and sheep. Inset at bottom left and right are close ups of the Mediterranean and Solomon Islands respectively.

(1942). [Japanese map of World War ll]. nla.gov.au/nla.obj-234704475

'Enemy aliens' and war With Japan

Topic

As the outbreak of war was announced, police forces around Australia moved swiftly to ensure there were no concerns about security at home.

Humanities
Year 10
Military history

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