Get a free response within 2 hours
Choosing Your Three Objects for the TOK Exhibition
The objects are the heart of your exhibition. Learn how to select objects that are specific, meaningful, and able to carry genuine TOK analysis.
Real & Specific
Objects must be concrete real-world items — not concepts. A specific 1963 photograph is valid. “Photography” as a concept is not.
Connected to One Prompt
All three objects must connect to your one chosen IA prompt. Each connection should be distinct — different facet of the same question.
Range > Similarity
Three objects from different domains, cultures, or time periods score better than three variations of the same type of thing.
What Makes a Strong Object?
The IB definition of a valid object is intentionally broad: it must be real, specific, and present in the actual world — physical or digital. Beyond that, the quality of the object choice is determined entirely by the richness of TOK analysis it enables. An object is strong when it:
- Embodies a knowledge claim or question — not just illustrates a topic
- Has a specific context — a named artist, a dated event, a real organisation, a named study
- Surprises — connects to your IA prompt in a non-obvious way that reveals something interesting
- Differs meaningfully from your other two objects — explores a different aspect of the prompt
The Seven Categories of Valid Objects
Photographs & Images
Documentary photographs, propaganda posters, scientific images (X-rays, satellite imagery), artworks, memes. Powerful because they sit at the intersection of evidence, interpretation, and cultural meaning.
Documents & Texts
Newspaper headlines, court rulings, scientific papers (especially retracted ones), religious scripture passages, treaties, personal letters. Texts embody the knowledge claims of institutions and individuals.
Physical Artefacts & Tools
Scientific instruments, everyday objects with cultural significance, artworks, maps, coins, medical devices. Physical objects often embody the knowledge of the civilisation that produced them.
Data Visualisations & Diagrams
Graphs, infographics, statistical charts, anatomical diagrams. These are knowledge claims in visual form — they make choices about what to show, how to frame it, and what to exclude.
Digital Objects
Specific social media posts, Wikipedia articles (especially their edit histories), AI-generated content, algorithmic outputs, error messages, screenshots of online platforms.
Audio & Video Clips
A specific segment of a documentary, a recorded speech, a piece of music, a film scene. Must be described precisely (not just “a clip from a documentary”) and the specific content, not just the medium, must carry the TOK claim.
Mathematical & Scientific Objects
A specific theorem and its proof, a graph of experimental results, a periodic table, a molecular model. These connect directly to questions about the nature of mathematical and scientific knowledge.
The Object-Prompt Connection Test
Before committing to any object, write the following three sentences about it:
- “This object is [specific description including context].” — If you cannot complete this with a proper noun or specific date/place, the object is too vague.
- “This object raises the TOK question [X] because [Y].” — The TOK question should connect directly to your IA prompt. If it does not, the object is off-prompt.
- “This object illuminates the prompt differently from my other objects because [Z].” — If you cannot answer this, the object is redundant.
Sample Object Sets That Work
Prompt: “To what extent is certainty attainable?”
- Object 1: Euclid’s proof of the infinitude of primes (Mathematical knowledge — certainty through deductive proof)
- Object 2: A specific retracted COVID-19 vaccine safety paper (Scientific knowledge — certainty claimed and then withdrawn)
- Object 3: The Dead Sea Scrolls (Historical knowledge — physical evidence that overturned and then complicated certainty about ancient texts)
Together these objects explore certainty across three AOKs — each with a genuinely different conclusion — without repeating the same argument.
Choosing objects that are personally significant but epistemically empty. Students often want to choose objects that mean something to them personally — a family photograph, a trophy, a favourite book. Personal significance is not irrelevant, but it is not sufficient. The object must do TOK work — it must raise a knowledge question that connects to the IA prompt. If a personal object happens to do this, use it. If not, find an object that does and then bring your own perspective to the analysis.
- Each object is real and specific — I can name it precisely (title, date, creator, or context)
- I have written one “knowledge question” sentence for each object
- All three connect to my single IA prompt — via different aspects of it
- My three objects come from at least two different domains or AOKs
- None of my objects is so generic that it could be used by any student for any prompt
- I have run the three-sentence Object-Prompt Connection Test for each object