IB Theory of Knowledge 2.7 the Year 1 Exhibition Calendar Notes

2.7 The Year 1 exhibition calendar

Working backwards from the internal deadline

1. The exhibition is designed for completion in the first year of the DP, and schools are strongly encouraged to schedule it then. Confirm your school's timetable before planning your work.
2. Use your school's internal exhibition deadline. Put it alongside the internal deadlines for your other subjects so you can see where the work may compete for time.
3. Working backwards, note the final hand-in and draft deadline, then set your own target for choosing the three objects. The first two depend on your school's schedule; the object target is a planning aid.
4. Your explanations depend on the objects, so leave time to establish their contexts and test their contributions. You can begin notes while choices are provisional, then revise them once the set is settled.
5. If the exhibition deadline falls near two other subjects' tasks, aim to finish the object search earlier. Check your available time rather than assuming the final fortnight will be free.
6. Approximately eight hours of teaching time are recommended for the task, including requirements, questions and progress checks. Ask how your school allocates that time and plan any independent work around it.

Where object-hunting has to sit in the term

1. Start looking for objects early. They must already exist independently of being created specifically for the exhibition, but you may discover them after learning about the task.
2. You cannot make a new object solely to illustrate the prompt. You can take a new photograph of an existing object, and you can research an object you have only recently encountered.
3. You and a classmate may both build an exhibition on the same IA prompt, but nobody in your class may use any of the same objects. A late choice can turn out to be one somebody else settled on weeks ago.
4. Leave yourself more than one search session if possible. An object may come to mind during class or outside school, and time between sessions lets you check its context and compare it with alternatives.
5. A shortlist of six candidates can give you room to drop an object whose context or contribution you cannot establish. Six is an optional planning choice; only the final set of three is required.
6. Save an image and its source when you find a candidate. Digital material can change or disappear, so an archived copy may save you a difficult search later.

The single draft, and the rule that governs it

1. Your teacher may read and advise on one draft. Agree with them when to submit it and how planning discussions will work, rather than assuming that every question uses the draft opportunity or that partial drafts can receive repeated reviews.
2. After advice on that draft, the next version you hand to your teacher must be the final version for submission. Leave time to make your own revisions before that hand-in.
3. Your teacher can give oral or written advice on how the work could be improved, but may not edit the draft. You make the decisions and write the revised commentary.
4. You can ask questions and seek clarification during planning and preparation. That support remains available within the one-draft boundary; it is not a route to repeated feedback on revised drafts.
5. You can revise your own file as often as you need before and after the advised draft. Keep the version you submitted for advice so you can distinguish it from your later revisions.
6. Submission is a point of no return. You confirm that the file is your own authentic work and the final version of it, and once that final version has been officially submitted it cannot be retracted.

Timing your one round of advice so it can still change something

1. The draft-feedback limit concerns one draft, not all contact with your teacher. Agree a draft date that follows your school's schedule and leaves time to use the advice.
2. Advice can improve the work only if you have time to consider it. Since the next version handed to your teacher must be final, allow time to investigate missing evidence and revise explanations yourself.
3. A late draft leaves less time for substantial changes such as replacing an object or rebuilding a justification. Such changes may still be possible, but you need to judge what the remaining time allows.
4. Aim to submit a draft with all three objects and attempted links and justifications. That gives your teacher more of the exhibition to discuss than a file with large gaps.
5. Do not miss the draft deadline while trying to make the work perfect. Prepare as complete a version as you can, identify what you are unsure about and leave time after feedback for revision.
6. Set a draft-ready target as well as noting the final deadline. Include the time your teacher needs to respond when you judge how much revision time remains.

The theme you are studying is the exhibition's raw material

1. Basing the exhibition on the core theme or an optional theme is strongly recommended. It can help narrow your search and connect the task to questions you have explored in class.
2. A theme you have studied may provide useful starting points. You may still need research to establish the context of a particular object or check a claim about it.
3. Your course includes Knowledge and the knower and two of the five optional themes. Any theme you have studied may help you find objects; the course sequence depends on your school.
4. Review class notes for objects and questions worth investigating. A theme may give you a manageable starting list, but each candidate still needs a supported link to the selected IA prompt.
5. The link still runs to the IA prompt, not to the theme. The instrument asks about your three objects, their real-world contexts and their links to the prompt, so the theme is a way in rather than something the descriptors weigh.
6. If you have not yet studied the optional theme that interests you, discuss your plans with your teacher. You can use material already studied or investigate possible objects without assuming the school's deadline will move.

What gets cut when you start late, and what that costs

1. A late start leaves less time to test your choices. You still need three objects, their contexts, explained links and justified contributions, so prioritise any part you have not yet established.
2. A rushed shortlist can leave you with the first three candidates rather than three you can justify. Check each contribution before spending hours polishing commentary about it.
3. Missing the draft deadline may leave you without the planned advice. Contact your teacher about the schedule instead of assuming a final-night draft can still receive feedback.
4. Leave time to reread the file. A draft sent without review may retain long descriptions where an explanation of the object's contribution is needed.
5. If time is short, identify the largest gap in the submitted work. A missing context, unsupported claim or repeated justification may need attention before sentence-level polishing.
6. Keep a fallback object if you can. If a classmate has chosen the same object or its context proves hard to establish, an alternative may save you restarting the search near the deadline.

A realistic run of the term, from prompt list to hand-in

1. The following nine-week example is optional planning advice. Adapt the dates and pace to your school's draft and final deadlines; there is no required nine-week exhibition schedule.
2. Weeks one and two: read the prompt list, shortlist promising questions and record possible objects. Make brief notes on ideas, sources and details to verify.
3. Weeks three and four: test one prompt against several candidate objects. Write a short context note for each and investigate gaps before choosing your three.
4. Weeks five and six: draft the three commentaries and check the combined word count. Review how each object contributes and reserve time for any further research.
5. Week seven: submit the draft at the date agreed with your teacher. Note the questions you want the advice to help you resolve.
6. Weeks eight and nine: consider the advice, revise the work yourself, check image and source references, and submit by the internal deadline. Adjust this sequence if your school's dates differ.