At NYSCI, we believe that computer science is best learned contextual to solving problems important to students and society. Building on decades of research on how people learn, we create experiences for our visitors that invite them to get active, observe carefully, ask their own questions. We engage families, classes and teacher learners with urgent scientific and mathematical topics such as environmental sustainability, network science, and urban planning. At NYSCI, we see computer science the same way we see science, engineering and mathematics – as a set of tools, and a way of thinking, that we can all use to answer questions we’re curious about, better understand our place in the world, and solve problems we care about. Many schools and programs seek to help kids learn how to code. But computer science isn’t just about coding. Learning scientists and computer scientists agree that the heart of computer science is really about a way of thinking about problems called computational thinking. When we thinking computationally, we: • Use coding to solve problems – we write new programs to help us overcome obstacles or better understand things we have questions about. • Build models of complex systems – we find ways to represent key features of the system we’re studying. • Iterate on problems – we find partial solutions to problems, we study them, and we improve them over time. • Explore functions – we explore how changes in one place lead to changes in another place, and try to understand how they relate to one another. These activities are core to developing the habits of mind that are characteristic of any good computer scientist. They’re also experiences that NYSCI supports in many ways through our hands-on exhibits, after-school and family programs, professional development for teachers, and digital tools.