Natural sciences
Within this section, you’ll find free and premium content to help you take ownership of the natural sciences, and help you to draw on it to create a great TOK essay.
Follow the links below to access quotes, knowledge questions, real-world issues, and key ideas and thinkers related to this area of knowledge.
Explore the natural sciences
Explore the natural sciences by clicking on the images below to take you to a huge amount of content to help you understand this area of knowledge. We’ve divided each page by both Big Question and by the different aspects of the knowledge framework, so whether you are following a conceptual approach to TOK, or a more traditional structure, you can use it to study and teach the course.
Quotes on the natural sciences
These quotes will kick-start your exploration of the natural sciences, and help you reflect on your own understanding of this area of knowledge. Which quotes do you find the most and least insightful? How do the quotes interlink this AOK with other aspects of TOK? Decide for yourself here.
Natural sciences knowledge questions
Knowledge questions help to drive the TOK course, providing us with the opportunity to discuss, explore, and sometimes argue about the way we acquire, use, and evaluate our understanding of the world. Check out the knowledge questions for the natural sciences here.
Real-world issues about the natural sciences
These real-world issues will help you to explore knowledge questions, analyse the latest events and issues related to this area of knowledge, and apply TOK terms, ideas, and concepts to authentic situations. Discover the real-world issues for the natural sciences here.
Key thinkers on the natural sciences
The ideas of these brilliant thinkers have shaped the way we understand the world, will help you take ownership of TOK, and which you can draw to support and explore your essay arguments. Meet our key thinkers for the natural sciences here.
Receive regular updates about the natural sciences
Our free TOK newsletter provides you with monthly news stories related to TOK, enabling you to explore the natural sciences and the other areas of knowledge within an authentic context, and understand how TOK concepts manifest in the world around us. Subscribe here.
How does the TOK course fit together?
The optional themes are our personal and societal affiliations which shape the way we produce and acquire knowledge.
The areas of knowledge the the ways in which we categorize ideas and concepts in order to understand and take ownership of them.
Both the themes and the AOKs help to define us as knowers, which we focus on within the core theme – knowledge and the knower – as well as looking at the different communities of knowers to which we belong.
Notes on the natural sciences
Follow the links below to access a range of notes, essays, and observations on the natural sciences. Use it to research this area of knowledge, and augment your arguments and discussions in your TOK essay.
Exploration points
Explore the quotes, knowledge questions, real-world issues, and ideas that feature on the site via questions and unpacking ideas, links to additional media sources, guidance on using the key concepts of TOK, and other suggestions. To gain access to the exploration points, become a member.
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