Students blend robotics, environment and art at Newport nature center

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Keely O’Connor, 12, of Newport Beach works with a Lego Mindstorms robot at the Environmental Nature Center in Newport Beach. The center and Girls Inc. presented an Art and Robotics event Friday for students in third through eighth grades. (Scott Smeltzer / Daily Pilot)

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Cecilia Nelson, 9, and her sister Emily, 7, work with Lego Mindstorms robots on Friday at the Environmental Nature Center in Newport Beach. (Scott Smeltzer / Daily Pilot)

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Itzel Torres, 13, tries to control a Lego Mindstorms robot at the Environmental Nature Center in Newport Beach. The center, along with Girls Inc., presented an Art and Robotics event Friday for third- through eighth-graders. (Scott Smeltzer / Daily Pilot)

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Akary Santos, 13, center, creates a robot at the Environmental Nature Center in Newport Beach during an Art and Robotics day Friday. (Scott Smeltzer / Daily Pilot)

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Tami Wilhelm of Girls Inc. of Orange County, center, works with Melissa Martinez, left, and Itzel Torres, both 13, in operating and programming Lego Mindstorms robots during Art and Robotics day Friday at the Environmental Nature Center in Newport Beach. (Scott Smeltzer / Daily Pilot)

By Daily Pilot staff

Feb. 20, 2016 7:43 PM PT

The Environmental Nature Center in Newport Beach and Girls Inc. offered students from across Orange County a chance to flex their artistic and scientific muscles Friday afternoon.

The Art and Robotics event at the nature center welcomed students in third through eighth grades to learn the basics of robotic construction and programming. Students also were invited to build their own robots and take them home.

The one-day program was meant to help children discover how technology relates to the environment, according to the nature center’s education director, Lori Whalen.

The center is home to walking trails and 15 types of California native plants.

Girls Inc., a national nonprofit with sites in all 50 states, works to provide girls with mentorship and educational programs.