The Australian Curriculum: History includes an overview of the historical period and then elective depth studies that focus on a particular society, event, movement or development.
The list below may provide some useful multimedia resources to support the teaching of the depth studies at Year 8.
The Vikings
The Vikings timeline
Medieval Europe
Charlemagne videos
The Dark Ages – Part 8 – The Greatest King (includes beheadings) 10 mins http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGkUNK8kmDw&feature=related
Renaissance Italy
Niccolo Machiavelli
Also mentions da Vinci, Galileo
Shogunate Japan
Japan's Secret Empire (Part 1 of 5) The Will of the Shogun http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKQNJG3s710&feature=related
The end of Shogunate Japan Japan's Secret Empire (Part 5 of 5)
The Polynesian expansion across the Pacific
Attenborough Explains Easter Island