Exhibition Unpacking Document

Summative 1: Due Friday November 13th
Directions: You must select one of the prescribed prompts for the TOK Exhibition. You will
then complete each section of the prescribed unpacking planner (as shown below) on a
separate piece of A3 paper (handwritten). Once this is completed and signed off by your
teacher, you will begin your formal draft for object 1. Your planner will be digitized and uploaded
along with your formal written task. Please see the exemplar and examiner comments as well
as the rubric. You will be given time in class to complete this assignment and feedback will be
given based on a narrative from the rubric and your approach to learning. Your final written
product should not exceed 320 words (the final exhibition has a 950 word count). This excludes
citations, charts, pictures, etc. This will not be the final product as you will have the opportunity
to revise all three narratives on the object before submitting a draft to your teacher at the end of
April.
1. What counts as knowledge?

2. Are some types of knowledge more useful than others?
3. What features of knowledge impact on its reliability?
4. On what grounds might we doubt a claim?
5. What counts as good evidence for a claim?
6. How does the way that we organise or classify knowledge affect what we know?
7. What are the implications of having or not having knowledge?
8. To what extent is certainty attainable?
9. Are some types of knowledge less open to interpretation than others?
10. What challenges are raised by the dissemination and/or communication of knowledge?
11. Can new knowledge change established values or beliefs?
12. Is bias inevitable in the production of knowledge?
13. How can we know that current knowledge is an improvement upon past knowledge?
14. Does some knowledge belong only to particular communities of knowers?
15. What constraints are there on the pursuit of knowledge?
16. Should some knowledge not be sought on ethical grounds?
17. Why do we seek knowledge?
18. Are some things unknowable?
19. What counts as a good justification for a claim?
20. What is the relationship between personal experience and knowledge?
21. What is the relationship between knowledge and culture?
22. What role do experts play in influencing our consumption or acquisition of knowledge?
23. How important are material tools in the production or acquisition of knowledge?
24. How might the context in which knowledge is presented influence whether it is accepted
or rejected?
25. How can we distinguish between knowledge, belief and opinion?
26. Does our knowledge depend on our interactions with other knowers?
27. Does all knowledge impose ethical obligations on those who know it?
28. To what extent is objectivity possible in the production or acquisition of knowledge?
29. Who owns knowledge?
30. What role does imagination play in producing knowledge about the world?
31. How can we judge when evidence is adequate?
32. What makes a good explanation?
33. How is current knowledge shaped by its historical development?
34. In what ways do our values affect our acquisition of knowledge?
35. In what ways do values affect the production of knowledge?
Unpacking of the Prompt
1. What is the title asking?

2. What real-world connections do you see within the title?
3. What is implied within the question?
4. How does the title connect to your learning?
5. What knowledge questions can you think of in relation to the prompt?
TOK Concepts
Evidence
Certainty
Truth
Interpretation
Power
Justification
Explanation
Objectivity
Perspective
Culture
Values
Responsibility
Chose two and justify their connection to the prompt:
Areas of Knowledge & Optional Themes

History
Maths
Natural Science
Human Science
Arts
Core theme: Knowledge and the Knower

Knowledge and Technology
Knowledge and Politics
Choose two (one theme & at least one AOK) and justify the connection to the prompt:
Knowledge Framework
Scope
Perspectives
Methods & Tools
Ethics
Choose two (2) and justify the connection to the chosen AOK
Selection of Objects
Select one object and provide a concise one paragraph rationale for its connection to the
prompt. Incorporate TOK concepts and language into the explanation. Please provide an
MLA Works Cited for the object and any sources used.
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.
It is strongly recommended that students base their exhibition on one of the themes (the core
theme or one of the optional themes). This can be an extremely useful way to help students
narrow down their choice of objects and give a focus to their exhibition.
Digital or physical objects
The objects may be digital rather than physical objects. For example, students could include a
photograph of an object, such as a historical treaty, where it would not be practical/possible
for them to exhibit the physical object. Students may also use digital objects such as a tweet
by a political leader. However, they must be specific objects that have a specific real-world
context—objects that exist in a particular time and place (including virtual spaces). They may
be objects that the student has created themselves, but they must be pre-existing objects
rather than objects created specifically for the purposes of the exhibition.
Context of an object
The specific real-world context of each object is extremely important to the task. It is,
therefore, important that students identify specific objects to discuss rather than using generic
objects and generic images from the internet. For example, a discussion and photograph of a
student’s baby brother is an example of an object that has a specific real-world context,
whereas a generic image of “a baby” from an internet image search is not.
Examples of the diverse kinds of objects students could select include the following.
● 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
Further guidance on the role of objects in the exhibition and examples of student exhibitions
can be found in the Theory of knowledge teacher support material.
Images of objects
The image of each object used in the exhibition must be appropriately referenced. If an object
is the student’s own original work (for example, a painting that they created in a visual arts
class) then this should be identified and acknowledged to ensure that teachers and
moderators are clear about the origins of the object.
Word count
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.
● If an exhibition exceeds the word limit, then examiners are instructed to stop reading
after 950 words and to base their assessment on only the first 950 words. Extended
footnotes or appendices are not appropriate to a TOK exhibition.
Authenticity may be checked by discussion with the student on the content of the
work, and scrutiny of one or more of the following:
● The student’s initial proposal

● The first draft of the written work
● The references provided
● The style of writing compared with work known to be that of the student
● The analysis of the work by a web-based plagiarism detection service
References:
● International Baccalaureate Organization, Theory of Knowledge Guide, Cardiff, 2020.

● International Baccalaureate Organization, Programme Resource Centre, 2020.

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Summative 1: Due Friday November 13th

1. What counts as knowledge?

Unpacking of the Prompt

1. What is the title asking?

Chose two and justify their connection to the prompt:

Areas of Knowledge & Optional Themes

Core theme: Knowledge and the Knower

Digital or physical objects

● A tweet from the President of the United States

● any text contained on/within the objects themselves

● The student’s initial proposal

● International Baccalaureate Organization, Theory of Knowledge Guide, Cardiff, 2020.

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