Students are challenged to "give the polymers a personality based on their properties," he explained, and each student must demonstrate why his or her assigned polymer "deserves to win the 2011 Ms. Polymer crown."
Eager to talk about his polymer, Miller told the class that in the 1950s, melamine resin replaced ceramic as a cheaper material for making bowls and utensils.
Helmets are also made from melamine resin, which, Miller explained, emits an odor when the helmet cracks - a warning that it's no longer as protective.
"The bigger the crack, the more it will stink," said Miller, who plans to study mechanical engineering next year at Drexel, if he receives enough scholarship support to make it affordable.
Despite his enthusiastic participation in the pageant, Miller said that he has trouble being creative and had to solicit the help of his mother. "Personally, a textbook is more me," he said.
Yanni Mai, 17, isn't sure whether science is in her future - she signed up for Patton's class as a way to test her interest - but as a Philadelphia Eagles fan, it was easy for her to get excited about her polymer.
Polyisobutylene makes the airtight inner lining for sports balls.
"Without polymers, football wouldn't even exist!" said Mai, who couldn't get her hands on the waterproof butyl tape made from it. Instead, she constructed an outfit out of duct tape and garbage bags and wore that instead.
For Mai, the Polymer Pageant was a divergence from the "traditional sit there and read your book and ask some questions" approach to learning, a chance to flex different brain muscles.
"This allows me to learn in my own way."
