Internal Assessment (IA) in Maths consists of a single internally assessed component (i.e. marked by the teacher) called a mathematical exploration (or just the “Exploration”). The Exploration contributes 20% to your overall IB score for the course. Your Exploration is a written report (6-12 pages) involving a mathematical topic that interests you. You will choose a topic in consultation with your teacher after conducting your research. Your Exploration will earn a score out of 20 marks based on the following five criteria. Further details for each criterion and guidance for addressing them is provided later in this guide. IB Math Exploration ( IB Math Expo ) helps students to understand how mathematics works.

Some important points to consider about IB Math Exploration ( IB Math Expo ):

• In your IB Math Exploration, you need to write about mathematics and not just do mathematics.
• Any idea, method, content, etc that is not your own must be cited at the point in the Exploration. Where it is used. Just listing your sources in a bibliography is not enough and may lead to the IB deciding that malpractice has occurred.
• The Exploration is an opportunity for you to learn more about a mathematical topic in which you are genuinely interested.
• You will be rewarded (personal engagement) for explaining your interest in the topic, and for demonstrating curiosity, creativity & independent thinking.
• Your audience is your fellow students – that is, you need to write your Exploration so that your classmates in Maths can read and understand. Thus, it is not necessary to explain in great detail basic mathematics that will be familiar to a student in Math.
• You will be rewarded (reflection) for expressing what you think about the mathematics you are exploring. You should endeavor to pose your questions. Then, try to answer them using suitably sufficient level of mathematical ideas and procedures.
• You will be required to submit a complete draft of your Exploration – containing an introduction, conclusion and all planned content to sufficiently address all five criteria.
• You will receive feedback on the draft and then be allowed to revise it to submit a final version.
• All of the work you do on your IB Math Exploration ( IB Math Expo ) must be your own. When finished with your final version you will be required to sign a ‘declaration’ that states. It contains this “I confirm that this work is my own and is the final version. I have acknowledged each use of the words or ideas of another person, whether written, oral or visual.”