General instructions: TOK exhibition is a compulsory individual task for all IB DP students. No group work is allowed. Use all possible materials you can find. You can start with the materials and links below. Remember the school's TOK handbook.

The idea of the TOK exhibition is to explore how TOK manifests in the world around us. Keep your eye on knowledge and knowing and how they come alive in real-life. The instructions below will help you to accomplish the task. Moreover, TOK teachers will help you to the best of their ability throughout the whole TOK exhibition process.

STEP 1: Familiarize yourself with the example TOK exhibitions. Before seeing the examiner's comments, try to evaluate at least a couple of the samples with the TOK exhibition assessment instrument and the TOK exhibtion assessment rubric. How many marks would you give to each sample you cover?

STEP 2: Choose ONE theme. This can be the core theme or one of the optional themes you have studied. All possible themes are listed below:
(1) Core theme: knowledge and the knower
(2) Optional theme: knowledge and technology
(3) Optional theme: knowledge and language
(4) Optional theme: knowledge and politics
(5) Optional theme: knowledge and religioin
(6) Optional theme: knowledge and indigenous societies

The selection of a theme creates a framework for the whole task. Furthermore, one theme helps you to select potential objects for the TOK exhibition. Remember to write down the chosen theme into your TOK exhibition document!

STEP 3: Choose ONE IA prompt from the list below. The chosen IA prompt must be used exactly as given; it must not be altered in any way. Remember to write down the number of the IA prompt into your TOK exhibition document!

STEP 4: Choose THREE objects for your exhibition. Bear in mind the following things:
(1) All three objects must be linked to theme you have chosen (see step 2)
(2) All three objects must be linked to the same IA prompt (see step 3).
(3) Make sure that no one else is using the same objects in your TOK class. Multiple students in the same TOK class can use the same IA prompts, but students in the same class are not allowed to use any of the same objects. In other words, each student in a TOK class must have their individual objects for the TOK exhibition.

TOK teachers will provide a document for each year group where each students' objects can be monitored. Each student must mark their objects in the document and see that no one else is using the same objects.

How to choose the three objects?

An extremely wide variety of different types of objects are suitable for use in a TOK exhibition. Students are encouraged to choose objects that are of personal interest and that they have come across in their academic studies and/or their lives beyond the classroom. In addition, the chosen theme also gives a source of inspiration for the objects (see step 2).

They objects don’t have to be physical objects. They may be digital. However, the objects need to have a real-life context. The objects need to exist in a particular time and space, including virtual spaces. Moreover, the objects must be specific in the chosen real-life context. Using too general and/or generic objects is not a good idea.

The objects may be something that the student has created themselves, but they must be pre-existing objects rather objects created specifically for the TOK exhibition.

The TOK guide lists the following examples as possible objects for the TOK exhibition:
- A tweet from the President of the United States
- An image of the painting Guernica by Pablo Picasso
- The student’s own extended essay (EE)
- A basketball used by the student during their physical education lessons
- The graphic novel The Colour of Earth by Kim Dong Hwa
- A painting that the student created in their DP visual arts course
- A refillable water bottle provided to each student in a school as part of a sustainability initiative
- A news article from the popular website Buzzfeed
- A photograph of the student playing in an orchestra

STEP 5: Produce the first submission of the TOK exhibition in a single file in ManageBac containing the whole TOK exhibition. This file must include the following:
(1) A title clearly indicating their selected IA prompt with the number and their selected theme.
(2) Images of their three objects.
(3) A typed commentary on each object that identifies each object and its specific real-world context, justifies each object’s inclusion in the exhibition and links to the IA prompt with appropriate support by evidence.
(4) Appropriate citations and references.

See Referenging in TOK Exhibition to learn more about referencing in TOK exhibition. It is important to implement the correct principles of referencing in order to avoid plagiarism and malpractise.

Implementing the knowledge framework and the 12 key concepts will help you to keep your focus on knowledge and knowing and addition to your selected IA prompt. 

The maximum overall word count for the TOK exhibition is 950 words. This word count includes the written commentaries on each of the three objects. It does NOT include:
- Any text contained on/within the objects themselves
- Acknowledgments, references (whether given in footnotes, endnotes or in-text) or bibliography.

Use the TOK exhibition assessment instrument and TOK exhibition assessment rubric to self-assess the state of your TOK exhibition.

STEP 6: Wait for the TOK teacher’s feedback. Each student is allowed to have ONE feedback session from ONE TOK teacher on ONE draft of this work.

STEP 7: Prepare to showcase your TOK exhibition during our school’s Core Afternoon in December. The TOK teachers will provide the time and date for the event each year. The actual TOK exhibition event enables you to present your own TOK work and to familiarise yourself with other TOK exhibitions. Moreover, IB2 students, pre-IB students, Finnish curriculum students, and parents and friends alike are welcome to participate the TOK exhibition event. You have lots of possibilities to get various feedback from your work. This is the highlight of your TOK career during IB1 year!

STEP 8: Finalise the TOK exhibition with the help of the TOK teacher’s feedback (see also step 5) and the feedback you received from the TOK exhibition event. When finished, upload the file to ManageBac by the deadline provided by the TOK teachers.

STEP 9: Relax and enjoy life.